Crimson Peak (2015)

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.

Director:

Guillermo del Toro

Writers:

Guillermo del Toro, Matthew Robbins

Stars:

Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston

6 wins & 39 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mia Wasikowska	...	Edith Cushing
Jessica Chastain	...	Lucille Sharpe
Tom Hiddleston	...	Thomas Sharpe
Charlie Hunnam	...	Dr. Alan McMichael
Jim Beaver	...	Carter Cushing
Burn Gorman	...	Holly
Leslie Hope	...	Mrs. McMichael
Doug Jones	...	Edith's Mother / Lady Sharpe
Jonathan Hyde	...	Ogilvie
Bruce Gray	...	Ferguson
Emily Coutts	...	Eunice
Alec Stockwell	...	Finlay
Brigitte Robinson	...	Secretary Jane
Gillian Ferrier	...	Society Girl
Tamara Hope	...	Society Girl

Storyline

Edith Cushing's mother died when she was young but watches over her. Brought up in the Victorian Era she strives to be more than just a woman of marriageable age. She becomes enamored with Thomas Sharpe, a mysterious stranger. After a series of meetings and incidents she marries Thomas and comes to live with him and his sister, Lady Lucille Sharpe, far away from everything she has known. The naive girl soon comes to realize not everything is as it appears as ghosts of the past quite literally come out of the woodwork. This movie is more about mystery and suspense than gore.

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Plot Keywords:

ghost | incest | loss of mother | gothic | knife | 

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Taglines:

Love makes monsters of us all.

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for bloody violence, some sexual content and brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 October 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Haunted Peak

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Toronto Studios, Port Lands, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,143,310, 16 October 2015, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$31,056,945, 22 November 2015

Company Credits

Production Co:

Double Dare You (DDY), Legendary Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Benedict Cumberbatch has stated that there was no bad blood between him and director Guillermo del Toro. His pulling out of the project was an amicable arrangement between the two.

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Goofs

When Edith discovers the collection of hidden phonograph records, they are marked as the Edison Gold Moulded wax cylinders. These types of records were pre-recorded and mass produced by an injection molding process. They were not the blank type that home users could use to make their own audio recordings.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Edith Cushing: Ghosts are real, that much I know. I've seen them all my life...

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Crazy Credits

The Universal Pictures and Legendary Pictures opening logos are bloody red with creepy music and humming in the background.

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Connections

References The Shining (1980)

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Soundtracks

In the Sails of Your Dreams
Written by Guillermo del Toro and Fernando Velázquez (as Fernando Velásquez)

User Reviews

Love in the almost traditional Gothic horror

This was highly anticipated film. The director didn't succeeded in fulfilling the expectations of audience and not at all film-critics. Still this picture does not belong to the category of completely useless pictures that you wouldn't enjoy.

The art design including costumes, scenery, stylization, camera operating and everything made to satisfy the eye is perfectly done with detail. The topic for it's self must be the house of the Sharp family. The building has its own spirit, which the characters itself unfortunately lack.

And characters is the next important thing to talk about. There is quite a top actors basis. Mia Wasikowska representing a young Victorian woman absolutely fits. Tom Hiddleston as the wanted perfect man with dark secrets is a natural choice. And finally the amazing Jessica Chastain showed a perfect performance as the evil sister. She nearly stole the whole spectacle for herself. But still it does not work very well. The main problem is that the relationship between Edith and Thomas is not believable. They lack ''chemistry''. Some converging and strongly intimate scenes are missing. The other problem is Edith Cushing herself. When arriving at the house, she suddenly changes from an intelligent emancipated woman to classic scared horror virgin type who needs a protection and loses a good deal of sympathy.

The story itself is predictable, and so does not need to be focused on. Maybe the reason is that Guillermo del Torro planned to shoot this picture a long time ago and he simply lost the connection with the topic and focused on technical stuff. On the other hand, this is an opportunity to see a pure cliché, not meant in a bad way, horror- drama movie with all its attributes and great visual quality. The treatment with sounds for increasing the tension is comparable to The Woman in Black (2012).

It does not deserve to be strongly criticized nor praised, but since I'm fan of all three actors and Guillermo del Toro, I must say I enjoyed it quite a lot.