Crimson Peak (2015)

[Athena]

Directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by del Toro and Matthew Robbins. The film stars Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, Charlie Hunnam, and Jim Beaver.

Release date: October 16, 2015.

[Rick Kitchen]

it looks a lot like Rebecca.

[coppersin]

I got a Rebecca vibe too. Also, Poe - "Fall of the House of Usher" especially. I could've sworn I read an interview with del Toro back when they were filming this, where he mentioned his inspirations for the film, but I can't find it now. (Edit: I did find this recent article though, that mentions Rebecca and Usher, as well as The Haunting and The Innocents - these comparisons are definitely adding to my enthusiasm.)

 

I'm psyched that the house seems to play a prominent "role" and that a lot of attention has gone into set design - del Toro's sets often feel like real, lived-in locations instead of sets, and that feeling really adds to a horror movie. With mansions especially, the feeling of age and history, and the sounds of echoing hallways and creaky old floorboards elicit more of a genuine shiver from me than the constant jump scares of most recent horror movies. I don't mind violence and I'm certainly expecting it in Crimson Peak - I just want it properly paced and moderated so that when something gory or scary happens, I actually care about it - not just frights for the sake of adrenaline. I loved black-and-white movies as a kid, so my idea of horror is more creepy and suspenseful than slasher flicks and constant bloodshed, which are fine but tend to feel like uninspired overkill by the end credits. A looming gothic mansion with a mysterious family in residence is my siren song, and so close to Halloween!

 

Though, honestly, this movie could turn out to be two solid hours of ghosts killing off the cast with zero plot and I would still be invested because of the awesome actors. And they're in period clothing!

Edited October 11, 2015 by coppersin

[Dandesun]

I am a gigantic weenie when it comes to scary movies... yet I am weak to the siren song of something interesting and I find I like to test myself. I will probably wait for this movie to hit the channels or the streaming services because I can't be reaching Scary Stuff Critical Mass in a movie theater. I might start whimpering loudly or something.

 

But it looks beautiful (and terrifying) and I am really torn about it all. I scare easily but this one is very alluring all the same. I'm torn between two worlds.

[nomodrama]

 

I am a gigantic weenie when it comes to scary movies...

Man is it comforting seeing this coming from someone else! This is totally me as well. Except, I will be fine while I am watching the movie and then I will literally lie awake at night terrified for a week after. It's a bit embarrasing to say that but I can't help it. Not since the original The Ring have I given into the temptation of an intriguing horror movie. I just can't justify losing all that precious sleep these days. 

 

I rue the day that every A list actors suddenly decided to start making horror films. Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain AND Charlie Hunnam....that is just totally unfair and it looks so beautiful and mysterious. I can't wait until this is out so someone will hopefully give us a good review here. Then I will have to decide whether I can suffer thru a couple days of sleeping with the lights on.....

[vavera4ka]

I'm such a sucker for Guillermo del Toro's movies!

Got tickets to Thursday night showing!

Can't wait.

[Shannon L.]

 

I am a gigantic weenie when it comes to scary movies...

Man is it comforting seeing this coming from someone else!

Me, too!  I stopped going to scary movies years ago because I was embarrassing myself in the theater.  But, there's something a bit different about me:  All kinds of scary movies make me jump and gasp, but I don't usually have a problem sleeping afterwards--unless it's a ghost story.  I can watch slasher films all night in the comfort of my own home and sleep well, but ghost stories scare me to death and will keep me up all night.  This is why I've never seen The 6th Sense and, as much as I love the cast, will probably not watch this one, either.

[OakGoblinFly]

The film looks lush but I'm too much of a chicken to see this - I do not do well with scary/horror films (though I have no problem reading scary/horror novels ....go figure).

[OakGoblinFly]

So HSN, Heidi Daus, and a few other designers have created Crimson Peak inspired jewlery.  The jewlery is a bit pricey, however I will say that I do own a few Heidi Daus watches and they are gorgeous.

[Dandesun]

Man is it comforting seeing this coming from someone else! This is totally me as well. Except, I will be fine while I am watching the movie and then I will literally lie awake at night terrified for a week after. It's a bit embarrasing to say that but I can't help it. Not since the original The Ring have I given into the temptation of an intriguing horror movie. I just can't justify losing all that precious sleep these days. 

 

The Ring destroyed my life for, like, a week. I didn't sleep well at all and finally had to come up with Dande's Plan to Defeat the Creeping Evil Thing That Will Crawl Out of Her TV.

 

It was: Develop supernatural powers and destroy her.

 

Seriously, people, I was so tired... after a week of minimal sleep that was enough to give me peace of mind at last.

 

Crimson Peak is all gothic and lush and beautiful looking but a part of me laughs whenever I see the commercials because looking at that house... of course it's haunted!!! Look, as far as I'm concerned it's just a fact that all Victorian houses come with at least one ghost simply because they look like they should. Ironically, I did the midnight, flashlight tour of the Winchester Mystery House and was seriously disappointed in the distinct lack of supernatural anything. (Worth it, though, if only for that one moment everyone in the group turned their flashlights onto this huge Tiffany glass window in one of the many stairwells... it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life.) I assume that all the Winchester ghosts were in one of the other areas of the house playing cards or whatever... bored with tour groups by then, I guess.

 

The house in Crimson Peak is like WAY beyond that... 'we found a whole lot of ghosts and demons and built a house around them instead of waiting for them to come to it' level of obviously haunted. I am certain I will judge the new bride brought to the house if she doesn't take one look at it and at least think to herself 'shit happened here and it was baaad' -- it's like the game Phantasmagoria from the 90s. Apparently, the couple bought the house (owned by a magician so there's a red flag right there storytelling-wise) sight unseen because I could not imagine anyone would walk inside that place and think 'Yes. Cozy. Totally a place to raise a happy and healthy family.' Aside from the fact that the main character has to be a stupid horror movie character in order to proceed with the game... let's just say that I didn't have a lot of patience for that.

 

As beautiful as everything looks in Crimson Peak I sit there thinking 'People recognize that place is seriously fucked up even before things start crawling out of the carpet, right?' Based on the trailers, thus far, the new bride seems pretty freaked out constantly even if she's asking whatever's there to show themselves or to tell her that they're there. (And not in the hilarious 'Ghost Adventures' kind of way.) I want to believe that the second she sees the place she's all 'What fresh hell is THIS?!' but decides sex with Tom Hiddleston is totally worth the obvious wrongness of the house.

 

(It would not be worth it for me. Sorry Tom... you're fab and hot, absolutely not worth dealing with creatures crawling out of the carpet and light fixtures all smokey and hazy and obviously Of The Wrong.)

Edited October 13, 2015 by Dandesun

[nomodrama]

 

Crimson Peak is all gothic and lush and beautiful looking but a part of me laughs whenever I see the commercials because looking at that house... of course it's haunted!!!

This is why I will never buy a home built before 2005.

 

Tom Hiddleston was on The Graham Norton Show and he mentioned that there is a sex scene in the movie and that they decided to flip things around and have more male nudity than female nudity in it. So yeah....I'm definitely going to get caught sleep walking at work again. 

[OakGoblinFly]

This is why I will never buy a home built before 2005.

 

Tom Hiddleston was on The Graham Norton Show and he mentioned that there is a sex scene in the movie and that they decided to flip things around and have more male nudity than female nudity in it. So yeah....I'm definitely going to get caught sleep walking at work again. 

 

 

Ha!!  I think I might have to rent and skip the scary parts to get to this scene.

[tanita]

I just came back from it. It premiered a few days ago in Serbia.

 

It actually reminded me of a hybrid of The Haunting (1999) and Copolla's Dracula. Very Gothic feel to it.

 

The acting was great as was the cinematography. Visually the movie is gorgeous. "Red" is everywhere. Blood, clay in the snow and water, even some of the ghosts. Just striking.

 

Some of the dialog was rather clunky, especially in the first part of the movie set in the US.

 

The plot was rather predictable to be honest - I guessed every single reveal. The fact that Tom had several past dead wives and that him and his sister are incestuous and that she killed their mom and all the wives with poison.

 

And you have to use enormous "suspicion of disbelief" for the last 15 minutes. People were getting stabbed left and right (arteries, lungs, livers...) and yet nothing seamed to put them down or out. As someone who only recently recovered from a broken foot, you don't jump or run around like Mia did in this movie. It all made me laugh in the theater and I wasn't the only one.

 

Jessica has a great bitch face on for most of the movie. And is intentionally/unintentionally funny at certain times.

Edited October 16, 2015 by tanita

[vavera4ka]

Saw it yesterday.
Yup, it's Guillermo del Toro movie all right lol

I agree it was GORGEOUS, every shot! Well, almost every shot lol (I could do without

Daddy'd face breaking the sink in repeated smashing

, but then again, Pan's Labyrinth had similar scene, though Mama didn't lol)

I saw it in IMAX very close up, and I gotta say, this movie should have been made in IMAX 3D. (Actually one theater worker thought it was 3D and gave me glasses, then another came and took them away)

I'm usually ok after this type of movies, but GDT does something to me. I was driving back and all those light reflecting spots in the dark, and random bushes passing in the corner of my eye like weird shadows. I wasn't jumping or anything, just a bit extra aware lol

[anyanka323]

Saw it last night. 

 

It's very much a Guillermo del Toro movie, but more similar to Pan's Labrinyth than Pacific Rim.  Del Toro does create some memorable roles for women and in here, the women are the the protogonist and antagonist.  Hiddleston's Thomas Sharpe is the more indecisive sibling in the Sharpe family, constrasted with Chastain's Lucille and her committment to the end towards their mad journey. 

 

It feels more original than it is because of the relative unfamiliarity with gothic fiction and romance.  Given that Jane Eyre and Frankenstein are often assigned in high school or college courses, that isn't too surprising.  Jane Eyre has some of the elements of Gothic literature - the mysterious male figure and offputting house, but lacks the supernatural element.  Frankenstein is the prototypical science fiction novel with Gothic elements.  It has many of the tropes of the genre - mysterious and enticing male, the harmless figure who turns out to be the true monster, and the deceptively fragile heroine who manages to defeat the monsters.  The twist is rather obvious if you have some familiarity with the genre. 

[tanita]

Honestly, the twist is predictable to everyone who has seen a decent number of films/tv shows. The Black Widower trope isn't new (even though HE isn't the person actually killing the wives) and the only thing I wasn't fully sure was if Lucille was really his sister or his first wife masquerading as a sister. But the moment she said "She saw Mother" when the two of them were alone, that was cleared out. The tea poisoning - obvious, multiple wives - obvious since the moment the care taker replied that Tom has been married for a long time, ...

 

Visually - movie gets an A+

Over all - C+/B-

Edited October 16, 2015 by tanita

[Athena]

Since the movie was widely released today, spoiler tags are no longer necessary. Thank you.

[Spartan Girl]

Just saw it tonight and I thought it was good. Very intense. I forgot how much Guillermo del Toro likes gore. Yeesh.

I saw the incest twist coming a million miles away. And poor Mia W is probably always going to typecast as a Victorian girl in a frilly nightgown.

I did enjoy seeing Tom's ass. ;)

[scarynikki12]

At least we now know how the Lannister story will end, hee. 

 

I very much enjoyed the Hiddle-bum.  Good times.

[Shannon L.]

I've admitted that ghost stories scare me to death, but I'm dying to go see a movie (and the ones I want to see either aren't out yet or aren't at local theaters), I like this cast and it does look visually beautiful, so I'm trying to decide if I want to suck it up and go see this one. 

[vavera4ka]

I've admitted that ghost stories scare me to death, but I'm dying to go see a movie (and the ones I want to see either aren't out yet or aren't at local theaters), I like this cast and it does look visually beautiful, so I'm trying to decide if I want to suck it up and go see this one. 

I say go for !

It's not a horror ghost story, although del Toro makes his ghost scary (not Tom though, I noticed his ghost was very human-like for del Toro).

It's more like Victorian gothic romance with ghosts.

It does have a level of violence to it, not coming from ghosts, though, people.

It's kinda cool how this story has a supernatural feel to it, but the only supernatural thing in it is ghosts that only one person can see, and they are not there to harm or scare her, just to warn, in their ghost scary creepy way lol

[scarynikki12]

I think that the ghosts probably look human if they're seen shortly after death.  Thomas and Lucille both fit this.  If we checked in on them after their bodies started decomposing, I imagine they'd look skeletal like the other ghosts.

[SeanC]

At least we now know how the Lannister story will end, hee. 

Heh, so much about those characters reminded me of them, though Lucille is more like a combo of Jaime and Cersei (she fails to push somebody who knows about their secret to their death, and she even says something akin to "the things I do for love" as part of her rant to Edith at the end).

 

Chastain is far and away the best thing about this movie; her rampage at the end is terrific.  The ghosts aren't nearly as scary by comparison.  I thought the production design went overboard; the house feels more like a parody of a haunted house, it's just too much.

[Rick Kitchen]

Beautiful set design, beautiful costuming (all copper and brown and topaz, save for Lucille's fiery red).  Chastain shines.  I really enjoyed it.

 

The movie is set too late in time for the waltz to be introduced, even into American culture.  Austria had been dancing it since the late 18th century, London since the early 19th.

[Shannon L.]

I liked it! I understand what people mean when they call it formulaic and predictable, but I didn't care. I loved the set design and costumes. My son agreed about the artistic stuff, but was disappointed that I wasn't scarier.

I loved that Edith was so ballsy! I'd have been huddled up in a ball the first night and out the door before dawn!

Sean C. I agree that JC was scarier than any of the ghosts. She was great!

Edited October 18, 2015 by Shannon L.

[GenieinTX]

I loved it!!  It wasn't scary at all, and I'm also a weenie about scary movies.   It was gory in places, but I just turned my head during the gory parts.  Once you figured out the ghosts were sending a message, the gore on them didn't bother me.  

 

It was so Jane Eyre and Rebecca and Fall of the House of Usher.  It was gorgeous and T Hidds was delicious.  Loved it!

Edited October 19, 2015 by GenieinTX

[coppersin]

Okay, I'll just get the inappropriate bit out of the way first: since incest has become more of a capital-T Thing in movies and tv, I'm gonna need at least one couple that is either two good guys and very rootable, or at least wins in the end. These relationships don't bother me because 1) it's fiction and 2) they're consenting adults, but surely even to people uncomfortable with it, incest in stories isn't as taboo as it was? It just isn't a shocking twist anymore. So while I can certainly understand why a brother-sister relationship is always symbolic of doom and downfall, an interesting twist would be if just once they weren't the bad guys, or they were totally awesome at being bad guys and win everything. Something less predictable!

 

Now, the movie: I agree with most, that it was visually lovely and 100% del Toro's flavor, and that script-wise it was less than perfect but good enough. I suspect some of the script's weaknesses would've been more noticeable with a less talented cast. It was still more satisfying and rewatchable than the typical Halloween fare. I don't typically go for 3D, but would've definitely seen this a second time in 3D if it were an option just to see the smoky edges of the ghosts and delicate movement of falling leaves and moth wings. Still a little disappointed that the house wasn't actually alive and needing to be fed as I had hoped, but the non-supernatural bits were still good.

 

The use of color was well-done. New York was mostly normal colors and shading. The sharp contrasts of snow and blood and black machinery were striking. Red, red, red everywhere, even oozing from the walls, but different tones and textures so that you still notice it throughout. The dark colors of the siblings and the lighter colors (and poofier dimensions) of innocent Edith's dresses. (I especially loved when she wore yellow - she looked like one of the butterflies that Lucille had admired in America.)

 

Papa Cushing: Damn. Lucy just kept. going. with the head slams. With all the blood and stab-happy moments of the movie, his death was the only scene that had me genuinely cringing.

 

Edith: I admire her focus, even when she was frightened. But just once in a horror movie it would be nice if, when the lead knows there's supernatural hijinks about, that they don't say, "If you're here, give me a signal!" but rather the more appropriate and life-affirming, "If you're here, give me a signal from a safe distance and I will respectfully haul my ass out the front door - you were here first!" Mia was a bit distracting with the Tim Burton-esque blonde wig, but adorable in her little spectacles.

 

Thomas: Hiddleston in period garb was gorgeous, Hiddleston partially out of his garb was even better, and ghost!Thomas reminded me of The Devil's Backbone. I like that he wasn't the evil mastermind but being swayed by his sister, yet not completely innocent or manipulated in all of it. I wasn't totally convinced until he took a stabbing to the face that he was on Edith's side - I was kinda hoping for a long con, if only so that Hiddleston could get his crazy on alongside Chastain - man, that would've been perfection. Those two need another movie together.

 

Lucille: Chastain is the MVP of this movie. She never once slipped with material that could've been scene-chewery (is that a word?) in the hands of another actor. She pulled off small details, like her possessiveness of the keys and nails-on-a-chalkboard scrape of spoon against bowl. I really felt for her when she was describing her mother and father, because even when you knew damn well that she put that hatchet in her mother, you could see how Thomas and she ended up as they did. I wish this movie was based on a book so there was more backstory to read up on - an impartial view of their isolated childhood would be interesting.

 

And let's give a shout-out to the billowing nightgown and robe Lucille was rocking at the end - that was 100% gothic, gorgeous as hell, and Chastain's movements were so elegant they seemed choreographed. Fun times!

 

 

 I thought the production design went overboard; the house feels more like a parody of a haunted house, it's just too much.

The house sometimes looks more like the adult version of a Disney attraction than an actual set, but I think it actually works for the story. Look at who is running the house and what they've done to keep it. As much as they're determined to keep the home they've "earned," they both despise it as well, and that mental friction is visible in the treatment of the house. In my previous post I included a link to an article - "Great Expectations" is one of the vibes they got from the story, and I certainly see shades of Havisham in how that house is lived in.

 

 

I very much enjoyed the Hiddle-bum.  Good times.

I have informed my boyfriend that I want to name our next puppy "Hiddlebum." He is not amused. Probably because he can't tell whether I'm joking.

Edited October 19, 2015 by coppersin

[Rick Kitchen]

 

consenting adults

 

Their mother caught them when Lucille was 14 and Thomas 12.

[Shannon L.]

 

And let's give a shout-out to the billowing nightgown and robe Lucille was rocking at the end - that was 100% gothic, gorgeous as hell, and Chastain's movements were so elegant they seemed choreographed. Fun times!

Wasn't it gorgeous?  She was gorgeous in it with her hair down in the braid.  I'm would bet money on this movie getting a few technical nominations come award season.  I've been vocal about being annoyed by non-period pieces not getting recognized (or only centuries old period pieces only getting nominated as opposed to something set in, for example, the 70s), but that doesn't mean I disagree with the nominations those movies get and this one was a costume and set designer's dream.

[Rick Kitchen]

I thought Lucille's gown looked pre-Raphaelite, but then she would have needed to have had red hair.  :)

 

[TrininisaScorp]

So, my coworkers and I bonded over the fact that we are all Hiddleston fangirls on the d/l.  Obviously, after work we needed to go and tonight was the night.  Plus, I adore Del Toro's work (Loved Pan's and the crazy that is Pacific Rim...giant fighting robots AND sea monsters, you say?!).

 

You know, I read a few so-so, lukewarm to poor reviews.  I don't know that I completely feel like they got the idea.  We all loved movie.  Hiddles or not, our group loved the sumptuous nature of the production.  Loved the sepia and browns of NY and the white and red of England.  We all enjoyed the house.  It was a bit overdone, but I don't think any of us could help but look at all the cool stuff everywhere.  Additionally, we all figured it out very quickly (Chastain and Hiddleston have too much chemistry that isn't very bro and sis, so that was clear almost immediately), but that didn't mean we didn't enjoy the ride of watching all the crazy unfold and watching Edith pull it all together.   The entire piece has this tinge of sex all around it; IMO, it fits with the gothic tradition, let's talk all about death, but no discussions about sex. 

 

Maybe we're all easy too, but we all kind of loved that the epic final battle was between the two lead female characters with the male characters not really playing a huge part (Sharpe is dead at this point and Alan is bleeding in the corner).  While Edith was a damsel in distress that Alan came to save, it was her that had to handle the business in the end.  

 

I liked Mia...she really is made for this sort of period clothes "what's happening around me" type of role.  As a Supernatural fan, I also enjoyed seeing Jim Beavers as Pa Cushing.  His death scene was way too much for any of us.  I could have also done without the long examination of this body.  Jessica Chastain is so fun to watch; Lucille is bat shit crazy and the scene with the porridge was completely terrifying.  She absolutely had the gothic beauty thing going on when Edith catches them in the act.

 

Now to the men:  I love Jax Teller/Raleigh Beckett as much as anyone, but I don't know if I "got" Charlie in this role.  Silly reasoning I can't defend:  I don't know if his bulky (fine ass b/c he's built) frame worked for me in the period clothes.  He had this Mr. Hyde think going on and it was distracting.  To be fair, his role didn't go above a plot device in many ways.  I wondered why I haven't seen him doing the press rounds like Mia, Jessica and Tom, but now realize how small the role is.

 

And then there is Tom.  Sigh.  Damn, he looks good in period clothes, his voice is ridiculous gorgeous and there is something so endearing about his face that even knowing all you know about Sharpe (IMO, he is just as guilty as Lucille), he makes me want to believe that by the end, he is truly trying to help Edith.  I was glad he actually did help her and in his weird crazy way, love her.  We all gasped when Lucille kept stabbing him; not his face, bitch!  Standout scenes include:  The waltz, his ghost (loved that callback to Devil's Backbone; I enjoyed that design), the depot scenes. I've seen Deep Blue Sea, so I've seen Hiddlebum previously.  It is always a welcome addition to any film.  Ahem.  Thanks, Guillermo.    

 

Interesting to think that Sharpe was originally meant to be played by Benedict Cumberbatch, who I'm also a fan of.  I think Tom has the right level of pretty and charm to cover Sharpe's danger, so I think that casting worked out for the best, but I'm sure Benedict's take would have been cool too.

 

Slightly OT:  I do adore Tom Hiddleston and he's pretty strong in even fairly crap stuff, but he's been consistently playing very dark after Loki (this, I Saw the Light isn't going to be a picnic, High Rise is a nutty book).  I hope we get to see him take on some comic stuff or lighter character pieces.  He's a very capable actor; man is talented.  Variety is our friend, though.

Edited October 20, 2015 by TrininisaScorp

[coppersin]

Their mother caught them when Lucille was 14 and Thomas 12.

You're right, I should've been more clear - my mini-rant at the beginning was about such storylines in general and why they don't bother me. But in Crimson Peak, absolutely there are issues of consent and power imbalance. 

 

Additionally, we all figured it out very quickly (Chastain and Hiddleston have too much chemistry that isn't very bro and sis, so that was clear almost immediately), but that didn't mean we didn't enjoy the ride of watching all the crazy unfold and watching Edith pull it all together.  

I've been trying to convince coworkers and friends who were turned off by the reviews to go see the movie (because this really is so gorgeous on a big theatre screen), and I've basically been telling them what you said - if you figure out the "twists" early on, you're still entertained. If you go through most of the movie thinking the house and siblings are supernatural, then you're gonna see clues for that and then have a nice twist at the end; but if you've figured everything out, it's still satisfying watching everything unfold.

 

Now to the men:  I love Jax Teller/Raleigh Beckett as much as anyone, but I don't know if I "got" Charlie in this role.  Silly reasoning I can't defend:  I don't know if his bulky (fine ass b/c he's built) frame worked for me in the period clothes.  He had this Mr. Hyde think going on and it was distracting.  To be fair, his role didn't go above a plot device in many ways.  I wondered why I haven't seen him doing the press rounds like Mia, Jessica and Tom, but now realize how small the role is.

I didn't mind him, but I think other actors could've brought just as much to the role. I like Charlie, so I was glad to take what we got, but I was a little surprised that there wasn't more to his role since there was the drama of him leaving 50 Shades because of scheduling conflicts with this shoot. I get that he didn't want to break his promise to del Toro, but it sounds like Hunnam really stressed himself out over... not much.

 

Slightly OT:  I do adore Tom Hiddleston and he's pretty strong in even fairly crap stuff, but he's been consistently playing very dark after Loki (this, I Saw the Light isn't going to be a picnic, High Rise is a nutty book).  I hope we get to see him take on some comic stuff or lighter character pieces.  He's a very capable actor; man is talented.  Variety is our friend, though.

I wonder if del Toro ever does blooper reels with his DVDs? 'Cause this entire cast has gorgeous smiles and lovely personalities, so seeing them in dark moody settings only to suddenly start laughing would be fun.

Edited October 20, 2015 by coppersin

[Dandesun]

Maybe I'll give this a shot. I doubt I'll be able to convince my sister... she's a bigger wienie than I am. But there is something about the lushness that suggests it would be a good choice for a big screen view.

 

Hmm...

[Rick Kitchen]

 

I do adore Tom Hiddleston and he's pretty strong in even fairly crap stuff, but he's been consistently playing very dark after Loki (this, I Saw the Light isn't going to be a picnic, High Rise is a nutty book).  I hope we get to see him take on some comic stuff or lighter character pieces.  He's a very capable actor; man is talented.  Variety is our friend, though.

 

His next film is the new King Kong film, Skull Island, with Brie Larson.

[raven]

I'll see anything that del Toro makes and I like creepy/gothic so I was totally in for this; it was a bit slow in the middle but I really liked it overall.

 

Could not blame Edith for falling for the yumminess of Sir Thomas.  I felt for the poor gal when I reaized that hadn't even had sex after being married!!  Imagine sleeping next to that and he comes up with reasons not to; at least they eventually did & we got bonus HIddlebum.  Thought that scene was very romantic and cozy.

 

I loved the creepy manor; it was a character in the story, the biggest, most overwhelming one for sure; always there, either front and center or in the background in the outdoor scenes.  So close and suffocating in the bedroom/sitting room; looming and overbearing.  Lots of sumptous furniture, etc which is really not to my taste, so for me I would feel so confined.  Imagine having to look at that awful portrait of the Sharpe mother every day???  The snow falling through the roof was beautiful; the whole movie was beautiful, though I would have been out of there ASAP.  The house is literally sinking into the mud?  How about just dumping the place and moving on?  Yeah, I know that's not what they did then but sheesh.

 

Contrast that with Hiddleston's workroom; windows, cluttered yes but a more open feeling; a place he could play and create and feel natural.  To be sure, he wasn't an innocent victim, being complict in several deaths; just a weak person really, no moral compass, manipulated by his sister.  He did come through for Edith because he loved her; but he tells Lucille that the three of them should leave the manor and I'm WTF?? No way Edith wants to go anywhere with her, or Lucille either for that matter. 

 

Jessica Chastain really stole the show; I thought she was fantastic; crazy and scary.   JC seemed to really be having fun.  I also liked Jim Beaver too and thought his death was very brutal.  Did they seem to think at the autopsy that it was an accident?  I wasn't clear about that.  Half his head was bashed in!  Oh, nice to see Burn Gorman again being creepy.

 

So Edith had a choice between Charlie Hunnam and Hiddleston?  We should all have that problem. 

 

 

Mia was a bit distracting with the Tim Burton-esque blonde wig, but adorable in her little spectacles.

Totally agree on both points.  That wig was practically its own character.

 

So I guess the dog died :(  They don't leave the house with him and the last we see is Lucille "quieting" him down.  In my head, I'll have Edith holding him under her arm when she limps away with Alan. 

Edited October 21, 2015 by raven

[Proclone]

I saw this a few nights ago and actually quite liked it.  I was expecting a more straight up supernatural movie than the one I got, but having actual people be the true villains actual worked better for me.  They also sort of lampshaded it when Edith says, "It isn't a ghost story, it's a story with ghosts." And I quite liked that despite their horrific appearance the ghost were actually trying to help Edith.  There was a nice subversion of expectations with creatures that look like monsters actually trying to help, while the actual monsters are the two attractive people.

 

I also think the movie is a bit more frightening with having humans as the ultimate villains.  I might be in the minority, but I don't really find supernatural horror movies that frightening.  Ghosts don't really kill people.  People on the other hand, can, have, and will continue to hurt other people.  Sure I'll jump at the jump scares in a ghost story, but a horror movie with a human being the villain (especially if it's not just a faceless slasher) might actually, you'll have to pardon the bad pun, haunt me for a while. 

 

That brings me to the cast.  Hiddleston was great as always.  Full disclosure, I probably wouldn't have seen this movie in the theater if he wasn't in it.  I'd happily pay twelve dollars to watch that man read the phone book, so I might be a little biased.  An appearance by his ass was also quite welcome though honestly I think they made a bit more of that sex scene in interviews then there really was to it. It's a fairly quick shot of his butt, if I remember correctly.  There's certainly nothing ground breaking about it, but it was nice to see two characters seem to be just really happy to be having sex with each other.

 

I might like to have seen what Hiddleston would have done if Thomas had wound up as completely remorseless as his sister though.  There's something inherently likable about him even when he's playing a villain (which is why Loki is so popular) that I would have liked to have seen what he could have done with a character that wound up having no redeeming characteristics.

 

Jessica Chastain completely knocked it out of the park.  It's a testament to her acting that she managed to make me actually feel bad for Lucille during her monologue towards the end about protecting Thomas from her mother and her reaction to realizing she actually killed him.  I even felt a little bad for her ghost, stuck at that piano forever.  She was fantastic when Lucille completely goes off the rails at the end.  And who knew that dragging a spoon across the rim of a bowel could be imbued with that much menace. That whole section of the film had a Misery vibe to it.

 

Hiddleston and Chastain should really do another movie together where they are not brother and sister because they have wicked chemistry.  You just know they're relationship is more than a normal brother and sister relationship when he just hangs on to her for a half second too long when they hug when he returns to the house.

 

Mia Wasikowska was OK as Edith.  I liked her in the beginning as the plucky heroine, but she seemed to loose some of her pluck once she got to England.  I would have liked to have seen her stand up a little more to Lucille.  I thought her reaction to Lucille's wigging out about her and Thomas not coming home was oddly played.  I'm not sure if it was the script or an acting choice, but girl we're introduced to in the beginning of the film seems like someone who would tell Lucille to calm down not basically cower from her and then say she wasn't feeling well.  She did get most of her pluck back by the end of the film and I did like that she saved herself and Alan.  And she did get the awesome line, "I heard you the first time," after cracking Lucille in the head.

 

I did see most of the twists coming.  I figured that Thomas was already married pretty early on (and that they were killing the wives), though I that Lucille might have been his wife rather than his sister.  But even though I saw the twists coming it didn't really take away from my enjoyment of the film.  

 

 

Overall I enjoyed the film.  I'm glad I went to see it (and not just because of Hiddleston).  

[Shannon L.]

 

That brings me to the cast.  Hiddleston was great as always.  Full disclosure, I probably wouldn't have seen this movie in the theater if he wasn't in it.  I'd happily pay twelve dollars to watch that man read the phone book, so I might be a little biased.

Since you've been open enough to admit it, I will too--it was Hiddleston who drew me in.  Even though I've been impressed with JC since seeing her in The Help, as well as her other movies that I've seen, if Tom wasn't in it, I don't know that I've have gone.

 

An appearance by his ass was also quite welcome though honestly I think they made a bit more of that sex scene in interviews then there really was to it. It's a fairly quick shot of his butt, if I remember correctly.  There's certainly nothing ground breaking about it, but it was nice to see two characters seem to be just really happy to be having sex with each other.

I know.  They made it sound like there was a fair amount of male nudity and all I could think afterward was "that was it?".  Not that I really care, but, yes, the interviews made it sound like there was a lot more to it.  And I agree that it was a nice love scene. 

 

 

And who knew that dragging a spoon across the rim of a bowel could be imbued with that much menace. That whole section of the film had a Misery vibe to it.

It did!  Personally, I found the confrontation in the kitchen to be one of the scariest moments in the movie.  Of course, given my age, when I saw the pot on the stove, I was wondering if the dog was in it. ::shudder::

 

 

I'm not sure if it was the script or an acting choice

Usually the director has a hand in how a scene is played out.  If he gave the actors leeway to interpret things on their own, he still had to approve it before moving to the next scene. 

 

 

Overall I enjoyed the film.  I'm glad I went to see it (and not just because of Hiddleston).

That's exactly how I felt when I left the theater.

[Ariah]

I saw it two days ago, having read all those mild reviews but still determined to see Hiddleston. I'm not complaining.

 

It was a decent gothic romance, full of stunning visuals (ghosts included), trully a story with a ghost in it, not a ghost story. I blame the mild reviews on wrong marketing strategy - it's not a horror. It can be scary and gruesome, but it's first and foremost a gothic novel, with it's riddiculous plot contrivances and lost heroine in billowy night-gown. It's supposed to be illogical at some point.

 

Having said that, I was a bit disapointed. I was expecting something more from the director, a double take, a worthy twist. The way I see it, everything was failry obvious from the start, the villain/ villains were clearly shown, the heroine and the man (men) who loved her defined. I was hoping for a different take on the gothic genre - to have the seemingly villanous sibilings innocent, to have the good doctor the true villain.

 

Alas, it was not to be.

 

A side note: Edith was a really tough young lady - to take such a lenghty fall with just a wooden balustrade to break it (and a small snow heap to land) she escaped with just her leg fractured. Oh, adrenaline. I'd hate to be her the day after.

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

I really love both Tom Hiddleston and Guillermo del Toro--in fact, of all Hiddleston's upcoming projects, this is the only one I would've seen even if he hadn't been attached. I really loved it but I was well aware from watching/reading tons of interviews that this was a gothic romance with ghosts and not straight up horror. A friend who went only by the trailers was underwhelmed. I really loved the Sharpe siblings, and felt there was enough fuzziness before the reveal because at times I thought Lucille's obsession with Thomas might be one-sided. I do think Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain should play a couple in another production because their chemistry is insane.

Liked Edith overall, but major nitpick about her referring to titled landowners as parasites--she has written exactly one unpublished-at-the-time story and has seemingly no other obligations or contributions other than being a doyenne of society, something only a young woman of a certain class had the luxury of. If she were English, she'd most likely marry into/be descended from the peerage. Hypocrisy much?

[Bruinsfan]

Ah, but now she'll probably marry the working doctor who she doesn't love out of gratitude, rather than holding out for a rich robber baron with enough culture to excite her intellect the way Lord Sharpe did.

[Rick Kitchen]

As an heiress double over (from her husband and from her father) with literary pretensions, she doesn't need to marry.

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

She's only an heiress from her father, the whole premise of the marriage was Sharpe seeking a rich wife because he was completely broke. The only way the marriage could yield anything for her would be if she could truly get the machine to generate a profitable yield from the mines and dislodge that money pit of a house. Still moot, she's rich af. All she has to do from now on is write and attend social functions.

Like a baroness.

[Rick Kitchen]

She has the house and the land.  It may be rundown, but it has to be worth something.

[attica]

Liked Edith overall, but major nitpick about her referring to titled landowners as parasites--she has written exactly one unpublished-at-the-time story and has seemingly no other obligations or contributions other than being a doyenne of society,

 

Her father, however, isn't a titled landowner, he's a manufacturer, building his business into a fortune. That, I think, is the distinction she draws with the Parasites quip. Her father made money by his own hard work, and then job creating for his workforce.  Aristocrats of that era would make no money were it not for their tenants, paying rent and filling the masters' coffers with the yield of their labor. IRL, nearly all of the bigger English estates needed the infusion of American cash (hence the notion of the 'dollar duchess' came into being), or else they'd fail/break up due to the collapse in agricultural markets when the industrial revolution took hold.

 

That Edith benefits from her father's wealth like a "Lady" doesn't mean she can't appreciate the difference in how it was gained. And it's significant that she chose Sharpe to marry, he of the industrial-revolution mining concern, rather than just some dandy. (Not counting the doctor; he's dandy all right, but not A Dandy.)

[SeanC]

Her father, however, isn't a titled landowner, he's a manufacturer, building his business into a fortune. That, I think, is the distinction she draws with the Parasites quip. Her father made money by his own hard work, and then job creating for his workforce.  Aristocrats of that era would make no money were it not for their tenants, paying rent and filling the masters' coffers with the yield of their labor. IRL, nearly all of the bigger English estates needed the infusion of American cash (hence the notion of the 'dollar duchess' came into being), or else they'd fail/break up due to the collapse in agricultural markets when the industrial revolution took hold.

 

That Edith benefits from her father's wealth like a "Lady" doesn't mean she can't appreciate the difference in how it was gained. And it's significant that she chose Sharpe to marry, he of the industrial-revolution mining concern, rather than just some dandy. (Not counting the doctor; he's dandy all right, but not A Dandy.)

Well, yeah, but that just means the aristocrats are in the same position she's in (even if you start from the position that managing an estate isn't work).

[attica]

Since women (of upper classes) couldn't hold employment then, positing that non-working women supported by their families are the same thing as aristocrats is a non-starter. 

[Bruinsfan]

Couldn't, or were looked down upon socially for doing so?

[attica]

Couldn't. Other than sweatshops, nobody hired women. Which is why an educated women, like Edith, would try to write for a living. And probably had to do so under a male pseudonym.  There's a lot of history on the economic dependence of women throughout time; it's not hard to access on the internet.

[SeanC]

Those same kinds of social conventions govern landed elite, too.  Though it's a false comparison, anyway, since running an estate is in fact a job.

[attica]

Except, like all housewifery work, running an estate is uncompensated.  (Unless of course you hire a dude to do it.) Lucille depends on Thomas for her support, regardless of the work she's doing. The income of the estate is not legally hers -- she can't even keep the ring if he wants to give it away! She can't keep the estate unless he dies without a wife or other heir.