Crimson Peak

Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain in Crimson Peak

Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak ranks with such relative clunkers as Blade 2 and Mimic in his oeuvre rather than reaching the summit of his twin peaks of The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth. The film displays del Toro's visual panache, but his material is misbegotten pulp.

Crimson Peak is set within the 'sick house' subgenre of horror. Its cinematic and literary forebears include The Turn of the Screw, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Shining, and Mandingo. In the subgenre, the decayed manse reflects the corruption of its owners. Unfortunately, the gothic tropes (incest, orphans, poisoned tea) parade by with little surprise or invention. Décor and F/X are top-notch, but the story is dreadful in only one fashion.

None of the leads seems well cast. Hiddleston has a snaky charm when he is cast as a Rathbone like villain, but fails to find a romantic spark with either Mia Wasikowska or Jessica Chastain. Wasikowska is fine with the more modern aspects of her character, but seems at sea when stuck in a trite Victorian mode. She did convey a sense of a 19th century character with Tim Burton, so the blame seems to rest with del Toro here. Chastain is technically fine, but any number of Brit thesps could have assayed the role with more continental aplomb. Jim Beaver, as always, is wonderful.

On the whole, I prefer del Toro to Burton because his concerns are more adult. Crimson Peak, though, is a misfire. (4/24/22)