Guillermo Del Toro is an accomplished, highly-skilled director. His final products are always gorgeous to look at, and they are always creative, very unique. With films under his belt such as 1997's underseen "Mimic," the "Hellboy" series, and "Pan's Labyrinth," he is truly a well-respected, highly-respected director whose films always come with high anticipation.
"Crimson Peak" was a film that had a lot of hype prior to its release. Its trailer was very stylish and creepy, advertised as a ghost story. Its cast included Mia Wasikowska and Jessica Chastain, two actresses who have gained popularity within the past 5 years or so, and they are incredibly talented to boot. Stephen King himself said it was gorgeous and terrifying. I have to say I only agree with half of his statement.
To be frank, "Crimson Peak" is, quite simply, a bore. The movie drags on at such a slow pace without building any real suspense, and it really is not a horror movie at all. Is it even a thriller? Not so sure. All I know is that when the film ended, someone in the upper rows of the auditorium shouted, "Boo!" I turned to my friend and said, "Yep, that pretty much sums it up."
Part of the problem is that it was VERY falsely advertised. This is not a ghost story at all. In fact, I am not really sure why there are even ghosts in the film in the first place. Perhaps just to make the film appear to be scary, to draw interest. With the October release, I bet they hoped to draw in horror film fans. Well, that didn't work, as it flopped at the box office over the weekend, and quite honestly, it deserved it.
I am not going to go into the story with too much detail, but basically, Mia Wasikowska writes ghost stories, she meets a guy (the guy who played Loki, who is just awful), they get married, and then they go and live in his big, old house with his sister (Jessica Chastain). Their relationship is strange, there are rooms in the house that she should not go to, there are ghosts, yada, yada, yada. The way I described the plot is essentially how the film plays out. It is a big mess, and it is a huge disappointment.
Del Toro is capable of better quality films like this. While I certainly didn't think the film would be a modern-day horror masterpiece, I did expect a solid film with glorious visuals (which it does have, I will give it that), some good scares, and an interesting story. I love scary movies, especially around this time of year, and I thought this would deliver the goods. Sadly, it did not. Skip it.
"Crimson Peak" was a film that had a lot of hype prior to its release. Its trailer was very stylish and creepy, advertised as a ghost story. Its cast included Mia Wasikowska and Jessica Chastain, two actresses who have gained popularity within the past 5 years or so, and they are incredibly talented to boot. Stephen King himself said it was gorgeous and terrifying. I have to say I only agree with half of his statement.
To be frank, "Crimson Peak" is, quite simply, a bore. The movie drags on at such a slow pace without building any real suspense, and it really is not a horror movie at all. Is it even a thriller? Not so sure. All I know is that when the film ended, someone in the upper rows of the auditorium shouted, "Boo!" I turned to my friend and said, "Yep, that pretty much sums it up."
Part of the problem is that it was VERY falsely advertised. This is not a ghost story at all. In fact, I am not really sure why there are even ghosts in the film in the first place. Perhaps just to make the film appear to be scary, to draw interest. With the October release, I bet they hoped to draw in horror film fans. Well, that didn't work, as it flopped at the box office over the weekend, and quite honestly, it deserved it.
I am not going to go into the story with too much detail, but basically, Mia Wasikowska writes ghost stories, she meets a guy (the guy who played Loki, who is just awful), they get married, and then they go and live in his big, old house with his sister (Jessica Chastain). Their relationship is strange, there are rooms in the house that she should not go to, there are ghosts, yada, yada, yada. The way I described the plot is essentially how the film plays out. It is a big mess, and it is a huge disappointment.
Del Toro is capable of better quality films like this. While I certainly didn't think the film would be a modern-day horror masterpiece, I did expect a solid film with glorious visuals (which it does have, I will give it that), some good scares, and an interesting story. I love scary movies, especially around this time of year, and I thought this would deliver the goods. Sadly, it did not. Skip it.