SPOILERS AHEAD, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
First off, I hate horror movies. The creepy trailer ads for Crimson Peak that have been playing on Spotify and YouTube for the past few weeks had been scaring the crap out of me. But when I heard that this was a gothic romance and "a story with ghosts", I ended up at war with myself about whether or not I wanted to subject myself to the possibility of shitting in my pants in a movie theater in order to see all of my favorite Gothic romance tropes.
In the end, the significant other convinced me to go--though I suspect his motives may have partly been influenced by the prospect of his PDA-adverse girlfriend clinging onto his arm in fright.
My initial reaction after the credits ended was a bit lukewarm, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about it--and my impression of the film has changed as I let the story stew in my brain.
The short of it: I liked Crimson Peak. It was not as scary as I feared, save Edith's mother at the beginning. (Was that really necessary, Mrs. Cushing? Do you really have to scare the crap out of your daughter in order to warn her about Crimson Peak?) Visually, the movie was a feast---the costumes were gorgeous, the house was breathtaking. I loved the casting and can't even imagine how different the movie would have been if Benedict Cumberbatch and Emma Stone had actually stayed on the project to be Thomas Sharpe and Edith. I never understood the Hiddleston craze before, but in this movie DAYUMM he did a great job. Mia Wasikowska didn't leave a strong impression on me, but she definitely fit the role of Edith better than I can imagine Emma Stone in it. And Jessica Chastain as Lucille Sharpe was BATSHIT INSANE AND I LOVED IT.
The reason why my initial reaction to this movie was tepid, however, may have to do with the fact that I was somewhat underwhelmed by the story. I'm not sure if my experience would be different from someone not so familiar with the conventions of dark fairy tales and Gothic romance, but the plot felt predictable. Even before I watched the film, when I knew that Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain were playing a creepy pair of brother/sister, I was like "Oh, maybe they're incestuous siblings... nah, that's too easy." And when that turned out to be the big reveal, I felt almost deflated. The dead wives aspect was also an idea I dismissed, thinking: "No, that's too obvious. That's straight out of the fairytale Bluebeard." But in a way, I guess the film is also paying homage to its roots. Kind of like how you go into a Cinderella retelling expecting it to hit certain beats, if I'd gone in expecting Crimson Peak to hit the beats of Bluebeard, I wouldn't be bothered that the storyline followed standard fare.
Still, this film basically contains all the ingredients that my sixteen-year-old self would have devoured. The twisted love triangle, the ghosts, the creepy imagery, the sad ending. (Also, some people might have thought it was sappy/tacky but I LOVED the last scene with Edith saying goodbye to Thomas's ghost. I'm such a sucker for bittersweet fare.) I really can't recommend it everyone, but for certain people with a particular taste for the beautiful and creepy, Crimson Peak will hit the right notes.
