[31 Days of Halloween 2015: CRIMSON PEAK is now playing in theaters everywhere.]
Review by Bob Ignizio
*Note: As with last year’s 31 Days of Halloween marathon of
horror movie reviews, we’ll be diving deep into the new release section looking
for modern horror fare, hoping for the best, but frankly expecting the worst.*
Review by Bob Ignizio
Given his known love of classic horror films, not to mention
his track record for making effective horror films of his own (CRONOS, THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE, PAN’S
LABYRINTH), the prospect of filmmaker Guillermo del Toro putting his spin
on a gothic horror/romance inspired by early Hammer films, Roger Corman’s Edgar
Allan Poe adaptations, and Mario Bava’s color saturated sixties shockers is a
tantalizing one.
The film in question is CRIMSON
PEAK, in which heroine Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) falls for Sir Thomas
Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), a charming aristocrat fallen on hard times. Along with
his sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain), Sir Thomas is doing everything he can to
acquire the necessary cash to perfect an invention he believes will change
their fortunes. To this end he goes before an investment group led by Edith’s
father Carter (Jim Beaver), but the soft Englishman doesn’t impress these
hardscrabble Americans who worked to get to where they are. Dr. Alan McMichael
(Charlie Hunnam) provides the requisite love triangle as a longtime friend of
Edith’s who gamely accepts that his puppy dog crush goes unreturned.
