Guillermo del Toro is a beautiful filmmaker. His films are, if nothing else, a visual spectacle and come loaded with creative and imaginative imagery. Fortunately he also happens to make films with great stories. Well, at least the ones that I have seen. 'The Devil's Backbone' (2001), 'Pan's Labyrinth' (2006) and 'The Shape of Water' (2017) are those films and I loved all three of them and so I was more than happy to be returning to the mind of del Toro when I sat down to watch 'Crimson Peak' (2015). And, I am sad to say, I was pretty disappointed with it. It was in no means a bad film and there were several aspects of it that I enjoyed, but my overall opinion of the film is that it is just okay. The film follows Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska), an aspiring writer, who has a knack for seeing ghosts. After the untimely death of her father, she moves to England to live with her new husband, Lord Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddlestone), and his sister, Lucille (Jessica Chastain). While there she has to not only contend with the ghosts that haunt her new manor home, but also has to survive a mysterious and potentially deadly plot against her life.
I remember when this film first came out the main feedback it was getting was that it was sold as being a horror film when it wasn't one and, after seeing it, I partially agree with this view of the film. I agree with it in the sense that this film is definitely not a straight up horror, nor does it try to be. But to say that this film is not a horror at all is not a view I agree with at all and I think is a view based on where horror was a genre in 2015. It is not a film filled with jump scares, screaming teenagers or barely visible sequences. Instead, the horror in this film comes from creepy and disturbing and visuals and when the film goes for these scares there a quite effective. they don't hit all the time but that is a problem I will come to later. The horror visuals themselves did manage to get under my skin and I thought were really well done. they also looked great, which is where this film really shines. As expected the visuals in this film are beautiful. The costume design, sets and composition are all brilliant in not only establishing the time period and settings in your mind but also keep you visually entertained throughout the running time. I very much expected this to be the case from everything I had seen from the film before watching it and the fact that it is a del Toro film and I can confirm that he knocks it out of the park. These visuals are laos completed from two good performances from Hiddleston and Chastain. They are able to portray their characters with sophistication and class when needed but also do well in turning on the derangement and psychotic nature of their characters. Both performances were engaging and they kept me hooked throughout the narrative.
Unfortunately, there were also a couple of performances in the film that I thought were not great. I felt like Mia Wasikowska's performance was very up and down, going from pretty okay in parts to being stilted and wooden in others. Then there is the situation of Charlie Hunnam as Dr. Alan McMichael. His performance is not necessarily bad, but his accent is all over the place and fully took me out of the film. Not since 'Green Street' (2005) has his accent been so poor. I can look past these performances though because, on the whole, they're both fine. The two big problems I had with this film was how the narrative seemed rushed and sometimes unfinished in several parts and the tonal shifts didn't particular sit right with me either. A creepy tone is set immediately out of the get in this film with a ghost appearing in the opening minutes, but then the next 20 minutes or so turn into a whimsical time period film and it is just a bit jarring. I understand what del Toro was going for with these tonal shifts but it didn't work for me. As for the narrative, it is interesting for the most part but there are several character developments in the film that seemingly come out of nowhere. An example of this is the apparent disdain Chastain and Wasakowski's characters have for eachother. There is a moment where they both have swipes at each other which are shown in a way where this is not a new occurrence for them but it was a new occurrence for me as an audience member. It was an established relationship between the two which had not been shown to the audience at ll and it just left me confused and wondering if I had missed something earlier in the film, and it was not the only time that this occurred.
Overall I think 'Crimson Peak' was an okay film. I never felt bored and I bought into the narrative mostly, even when it was falling a bit on its face. But, other than Chastain and Hiddlestone, the performances aren't the best and the sharp changes in tone didn't particular do anything for me either. What this film does have is stunning visuals, both in its more whimsical and creepy moments, and I think that alone makes it worth the watch. One thing I can say about this film though is that it intrigued me. This may be because it is a del Toro film, but there was something about it that gripped me despite the big problems I had with it. So, despite my rather negative review, I would recommend it, mainly as a visual spectacle, but also because it has something to it that I just can't put my finger on. I feel like it may be a film I appreciate a lot more on repeat viewings, so watch this space. This may be the first ever film I do a retroactive review on somewhere down the line.