Marcus Flor vs Crimson Peak

If you want yourself a spooky ghost story, I'd recommend avoiding Crimson Peak.

Yes, on paper it definitely sounds like your typical gothic tale, what with the specters, dark romance, and cavernous old mansion to boot. However, in actuality, this movie is neither spooky or potently romantic. Director Guillermo del Toro seems to have take a very grandiose cinematic approach to this story, and I don't think it paid off.

Perhaps, in an attempt to make this horror story more mainstream, del Toro tries to give his movie a sense of epic scale. This means lots of expansive sets, tons of extras running around in the background, and several CG ghosts that love the spotlight. It's all a lot of unnecessary flare that distracts from what should be a much more intimate story.

The core of this narrative is its romance, but none of the cinematography emphasizes it. Almost every scene is cleanly lit and given fairly standard coverage; giving very few visual hints to what our characters are going through. If you watched this on mute, you'd only have a vague idea of how everyone really feels about each other.

I'm a big fan of Guillermo, but barring a few interesting moments, this is a pretty mediocre movie. Watch this back to back with The Woman in Black to see how gothic horror should be done. I'd call this one a Bad.

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