Crimson Peak looks like a scary movie, perfect for a Halloween date; however, it’s much more of a mystery-thriller. Sure, there were one or two parts that made me lose a little popcorn as I jumped, but I was enthralled by the two-hour mystery behind the story. Edith Cushing, played by Mia Wasikowska, is the beautiful young daughter to a wealthy man in the turn of the 20th century. Spoiler alert for the first 10-ish minutes: She suddenly loses him after he is inexplicably beaten to death. She then falls in love and marries a man, Sir Thomas Sharpe, played by Tom Hiddleston, and moves to his enormous and decrepit estate in England: Crimson Peak. Sharpe’s sister, Lady Lucille Sharpe, played by Jessica Chastain, lives at the mansion with the newlyweds, constantly lurking around Edith. As Edith begins to meet the ghosts trapped at the manor, she learns about the Sharpe family’s dark and horrifying secrets. You’ll have to watch the movie to find out why a spirit warned Edith as a young girl to “beware of Crimson Peak.”
I was impressed by the acting and the plot; it is becoming rare to find a movie that gives you that perfect amount of fright—without making you sleep with a night light for the next week—while still carrying a decent and interesting storyline. Crimson Peak brings life to those who have died tragically (yes, fictionally, but still tragically) through hope in Edith. And yes, there is of course a gothic romance.
FYI
Cost: $10 to $14 at most major movie theaters, $15 to $18 at IMAX