“The crimson snow, the voices you hear, all you know is ghostly fear” when you are engaged in the thriller “Crimson Peak.”
“Crimson Peak,” directed by Guillermo del Toro, is a suspenseful and gruesome film set in the early 20th century.
The film begins with the introduction of a little girl, Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska), who witnesses the ghostly appearance of her deceased mother.
As the wealthy Edith gets older, she discovers her passion for literature and struggles to become a writer. Various suitors begin to vie for her attention, but only one man catches her eye.
Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston) is a British inventor who seeks the financial support of Edith’s father in order to create his latest contraption but, instead, seems to capture the personal approval of young Edith herself.
Disapproval of their romance is clearly expressed by Edith’s father, who pays Sir Sharpe and his sister, Lucille Sharpe (Jessica Chastain), to leave America and break his daughter’s heart.
With this odd request completed, Edith receives a letter explaining Sharpe’s actions and she immediately goes after him.
Soon, Edith’s father is brutally murdered by an unidentified person, which is initially categorized as an accidental death. Upon becoming an orphan, Edith decides to marry Sir Sharpe and to follow him back to Allerdale, his English estate.
When Edith settles in the dilapidated manor with Sir Sharpe and his sister Lucille, she begins to hear odd noises and voices, and she sees strange ghostly manifestations.
The tale of the siblings’ past begins to unravel, and Edith is trapped in the haunted manor by a wintery storm.
She soon learns that the ghosts are the least of her worries in this twisted tale of love and murder.
“Crimson Peak” is not necessarily a scary movie but a haunting thriller that contains many exhilarating theatrics.
Overall, the film’s attention to detail is what makes it so appealing and believable. The details of the film’s 20th century setting are carried out through period-accurate set design, costumes and characters.
Most of the plot’s suspense comes from the haunting background music and the eerie set design, which struck worry and fear into the hearts of the viewers as the film advanced from scene to scene.
“Crimson Peak” evokes an emotion from the audience that will keep them guessing and questioning the motives of the characters as the plot twists and turns in every direction — except the one they thought it would go.
Ghosts and gore come to life in “Crimson Peak”
Courtesy of NBC Universal
As the forbidden love between Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) and Sir Thomas Sharpe (Thomas Hiddleston) develops, it becomes clear that something more sinister is lurking.
