In the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author is torn between love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds…and remembers.
I love a good ghost story. If there is one thing to be said about Guillermo del Toro, it’s that he has a vision, and he commits to it. This movie is absolutely beautiful. Everything from costuming, to even the decay of the withering manor, every detail is a work of art.
I have a bit of a reputation of nitpicking, but I really found nothing to not love here.
Allerdale Hall struck a particular chord with me. I have a reoccurring dream of a room in the apartment that a girlfriend had, back in New England.. this dream would consist of a particular room, it was octagon in shape.. and in my dream, the floor and ceiling would collapse due to water damage. Now, this never actually happened.. but seeing the gaping void in the peaks of Allerdale Hall brought that dreamlike, almost nightmare, feeling to me.
I think about the film I just saw, and it almost reminds me of the House of Usher. And I honestly thought that’s where this story was going.. but I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t the case. The ghosts take a back seat, as the Gothic love story progresses, more as whispers in the past and shadow.. warnings of things to come, and hints at what has gone before. For there are more horrible things, within the walls of Crimson Peak.
