Trailer Trashin’: Guillermo del Toro Returns to Horror in Crimson Peak
Hello again, dear readers. I hope you all had a good Valentine’s Day weekend, and that a lot of you got out to see Kingsman: The Secret Service, which is totally awesome. This coming Sunday also brings us the 87th Academy Awards, during which I’ll be both hoping Michael Keaton wins Best Actor for Birdman, and cursing the Academy for not giving a Best Animated Feature nomination to The Lego Movie. But in this meantime, this week’s installment of Trailer Trashin’ is our first look at one of my most anticipated films of the fall, Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak.
Premise: In the aftermath of a family tragedy, a young author is torn between the 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.
My take: I’ve written many times about my love of Mexican writer/director Guillermo del Toro, who I consider one of the greatest genre filmmakers working today. One of the most interesting things about del Toro’s career is that his directorial work can be pretty neatly divided into two categories – his Spanish-language films have been lyrical dark fantasy and Gothic horror pieces like The Devil’s Backbone (2001) and Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), while his English-language films have been more mainstream action and science-fiction fare like Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004), and Pacific Rim (2013). But del Toro’s next project as director, the period horror film Crimson Peak, looks like the closest he’s ever gotten to making one of his Spanish films in English. This is our first trailer for Crimson Peak, and while it doesn’t show much, it does make me eager for more.
Del Toro has assembled a pretty great cast for this film. Our lead is Mia Wasikowska as young author Edith Cushing. While Wasikowska is probably still best known for playing the title role in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (2010), she’s also done great work in films like Albert Nobbs (2011), Stoker (2013), and Only Lovers Left Alive (2013). Tom Hiddleston, who we all know as Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, plays Edith’s husband Sir Thomas Sharpe, who is described as a “charming hero with a mysterious past.” Jessica Chastain, most recently seen in Interstellar (2014) and A Most Violent Year (2014), plays Sir Thomas’s sister Lady Lucille Sharpe. Charlie Hunnam, best known as the lead on Sons of Anarchy and who starred in del Toro’s Pacific Rim, plays Dr. Alan McMichael, a learned man who is “madly in love” with Edith. Also in the cast are Jim Beaver, Leslie Hope, Burn Gorman, and del Toro regular Doug Jones.
This teaser is all about creating mood and atmosphere, rather than going the conventional route of cheap jump scares and quick montage editing. The production design and costumes look absolutely gorgeous, and has a real vibe of the old Hammer Films horror movies. And the music – PJ Harvey’s slow, eerie cover of “Red Right Hand” by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – fits perfectly with the onscreen imagery. My only complaint is that the brief shots of the actual ghosts seem a little rough. I can only assume the visual effects are still being worked on, and will look better in the final film.
But that one qualm aside, I’m really excited for this one. I always look forward to whatever del Toro is doing next, and he hasn’t let me down so far. When the middle of October rolls around, I’ll definitely be checking out Crimson Peak at my local theater.
ANTICIPATION: I’ll gladly accept an invitation to this old dark house.
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam, Jessica Chastain, Jim Beaver, Leslie Hope, Doug Jones, and Burn Gorman
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writers: Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins
Timothy Monforton
