Although the set design threatens to walk away with the whole movie, there’s a nicely tense duel between two women at the center that makes it rare for both horror films and period pieces.
What Works: Most Merchant-Ivory-era movies may have female protagonists, but not conflicts between a female hero and an antagonist. “Crimson Peak” is most interesting when exploiting that friction. But it would be impossible to write a positive review of this movie and not single out Jessica Chastain. By now, Chastain is so routinely excellent she’s almost taken for granted, but she’s acting here with a neurotic intensity I haven’t quite seen before, and it looks good on her. If there’s one reason besides set design to see this movie, it’s watching her glacial face give way to passionate ferocity without striking a false note.
What Doesn’t: Tom Hiddleson is a terrific actor—“Only Lovers Left Alive” showed he could pull off doomed Victorian love really well—but he comes off as a little lost here. There’s something a little vague in his acting that keeps us from ever really being interested in his character, and that’s important since he connects the two more interesting female characters.
Also, I wound up liking this movie more than I thought I would because it’s not all that gory, but more hardcore horror fans might be disappointed.
What I Would Have Done Differently: The male leads are so bland and interchangeable that it might have helped to either flesh them out a bit more or cut their screentime down. Plus, the marketing might make the movie look scarier than it really is so a lot of the people who would really enjoy it might not show up, and some of the people who do might leave disappointed that there wasn’t more carnage.