Movie Review: Crimson Peak

Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak is a gothic romantic thriller. Set in the early 20th century, this movie is a visual win. The cinematography is captivating. The costumes are gorgeous. The ever-present red clay is both beautiful and horrifying. (Part of you will want to touch it, but you’d probably recoil your hand at the last second.) Although the plot is somewhat predictable, the story is nonetheless enjoyable, in a creepy horror film sort of way.

After marrying the charming and seductive Sir Thomas Sharpe, young Edith finds herself swept away to his remote gothic mansion in the English hills. Also living there is Lady Lucille, Thomas’ alluring sister and protector of her family’s dark secrets. Able to communicate with the dead, Edith tries to decipher the mystery behind the ghostly visions that haunt her new home. As she comes closer to the truth, Edith may learn that true monsters are made of flesh and blood.

Yes, the story is at times silly, but the film wins big in the visual department. This is goth horror at its brutal finest.