Thursday, October 22, 2015

Review of Crimson Peak

I'm a fan of Pacific Rim. I like bit bots and I can not lie.

I was looking forward to seeing another film from Guillermo del Toro in another genre I like.

When I got home from watching the movie, I told my husband and son all about my trip to the movies. I had a weird guy in my row. He felt the need to speak to everyone in the theatre (not during the movie) and moved around during the movie. Weird couple that moved away from weird guy twice. Couple in the front that asked the usher about getting RiffTrax to the theatre. I also told them about the 'prize' I found in my popcorn.



I didn't want to leave because I discovered it as the movie started and didn't want to miss a moment of del Toro imagery. It was a piece of the popcorn machine.

My son finally asked, "But did you like it?".

I don't know.

I am a fan of the gothic genre. I am a fan of del Toro. I don't think I am a fan of this movie. That doesn't mean I didn't like it.

Dear Guillermo,

Please stop casting Charlie Hunnam as an American. He can't do the accent and he sounds weird when he tries. He is pretty. His acting isn't bad. His American accent is bad.

Love, Me

I think Crimson Peak would have worked better as a mini series. I would give del Toro more time to develop the characters and to develop the reveal. For me, there was too much time on the set-up of characters and story and not enough time on the reveal and motivations. The last 1/4 of the movie felt rushed. I wanted to know more about the ghosts and their motivations.

If del Toro had put a 10c sticker in the corner of the poster, I would have loved the gothic romance reference. I read a lot of gothics. The 10c was the price when they were considered 'pulp fiction'.

Most of the gothic romances were written in the 60s and 70s. Later stories had more paranormal elements. A gothic can have a range of none to some paranormal things going on before it gets reclassified as a paranormal. Crimson Peak reminds me of many of the gothics I have read.

I enjoyed the visuals. The mansion was delightfully spooky. The characters were dressed for their parts. The villains were in dark colors and the heroes were in light colors. I have read that del Toro is very conscious of color when he makes a movie. Except for Hunnam's accent, the acting was good.

Will I see it again?

Yes.

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