Crimson Peak

Ghosts are real. Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) has known this since childhood when her mother died and her spirit warned her, "Beware of Crimson Peak." As a young woman, she's trying to publish her ghost story only to face sexism. English baronet Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston) has come to America seeking investments from Edith's father Carter Cushing (Jim Beaver) for a clay-mining machine invention. Carter distrusts the failing aristocrat and his sister Lucille Sharpe (Jessica Chastain). His investigator Holly finds something damning and he pays Thomas to leave his lovesick daughter Edith. Carter is murdered and Edith marries Thomas. They go back to England but Dr. Alan McMichael (Charlie Hunnam) is suspicious as the Cushing fortune is liquidated to the Sharpes in England.

This is a beautiful Gothic horror from Guillermo del Toro. It is simply gorgeous. On the other hand, the story lacks thrills or scares. There is no real mystery since the Sharpe siblings lay out their cards early on. It's also unlikely that Carter wouldn't reveal the secret to his daughter. All of it takes away the tension. The Sharpe mansion looks beautiful in a haunted manner. The story needs some reworking to inject more thrilling tension.