I finally saw Crimson Peak this weekend. It has been at the top of my list since it came out in October. The closest theater around me is a 'Disney' theater and it only lived at the box office for three weeks so more family friendly features could be shown so I had to wait to get my paws on a copy.
I am a big fan of Guillermo del Toro and how he is able to construct films with beauty, fantasy and nightmares. I really enjoyed and own The Orphanage and Pan's Labyrinth. After seeing the trailer, I was sold. Sadly, I can't say the same after watching the full length feature.
I guess I will begin with what I liked...
I liked the visuals. The house set was incredible. The costumes were amazing. Beautiful scenery. The use of color was stunning. I also was pretty happy that there was a papillon in the movie... my little gremlin is a papillon and you don't see many of them.
With all that said...
The story was most of the problem. It was very predictable and I felt like I heard it before but can't place it. It is the story of the young naive rich girl, blinded by love whisked away by a man with the past. I am not wooed by Tom Hiddleston so I saw through the whole plot and didn't believe he was a prince charming.
The group I watched the film with agreed that it was slow moving and lacking in action from beginning to end.
I can't believe that this was selected for Halloween horror nights house for 2015 because it is lacking monsters/ghosts. The only feature it would have is a beautiful set? Just like the movie actually.
Why are the ghosts smokey? Was that Guillermo's twist to make it spooky, unique and complicated? That might work nice for a demon or victim of a fire but I wasn't sold on that effect for every spirit. Why were there so few ghosts? And the ghosts were really not interactive. I would be more terrifying than that if I had that big of a secret to tell someone.
Overall, I was disappointed and glad I didn't inconvenience myself by heading to AMC Disney to see it. I would skip this film and move onto the next. You aren't missing anything. Sorry Guillermo.
-xoxo, Pretty Scary
Overall Ratings-- Scare Factor: Pretty looking but 'Blah'. Skip it. Rating: ❤
