Crimson Peak: 10 Things To Look Forward To
Guillermo del Toro presents a violent, visceral study in vermillion, and that’s just the humans.
Nothing shouts Guillermo del Toro better than a happy mishmash of ghosts, automatons, tortured characters and a weird insect or two. There’s a deliciously disturbing picture being painted around the Mexican director’s upcoming Crimson Peak, currently scheduled for an October 2015 release, but fans are clamouring for more.
With the second trailer for what has been described as his “ultimate masterpiece” still smoking hot, rumours are rife as to what twisted delights the gothic love story that turns supernaturally sour might hold. Both sneak previews reveal a decidedly glorious typical del Toro setting.
We know there’s Tom Hiddleston in the role of Thomas, who takes new bride Edith (Mia Wasikowska) to live at the old family home, together with sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain). And we know there are ghosts. But as for anything else, del Toro has, so far, been annoyingly good at not revealing too many details, giving interviews that almost read like a cryptic crossword, but with no prize at the end.
This has not stopped fan-boys everywhere from attempting to turn every non-committal pause into a loaded statement. And, while some theories are clearly rooted more in wishful thinking than reality, others have the decided ring of del Toro truth to them.
Here are 10 clues that give us a pretty (and disturbing) picture of what to expect from what’s set to be the horror movie of the year. Hint: a blissful happy-ever-after is nowhere on the list.
10. A Living House Of Horrors As The Central Character
The real star of this movie is not Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain or even Mia Wasikowska. No, it's Allerdale Hall, the gothic mansion where the new bride gets to kick off her happily-ever-after.
Both trailers revealed a dark, sprawling house that would have had any sensible bride calling her divorce lawyers before the footman even reached for her bags.
Only, there's no footman. There's just this rather suspicious presence morphing in the shadows.
Before filming started, designer Thomas E Sanders built the whole thing in 3D - the old-fashioned, dolls house sort, complete with miniature furniture and all, as opposed to CGI - in order to present as accurate a final product as possible.
And, just to turn up the notch on crazy ever so slightly, sound designer Randy Thom was instructed to make the house 'sound more human' as the film progresses. Whatever hideousness that phrase might imply.
Still unimpressed? Some of the furniture was replicated in different sizes in order to give the impression that it grows and shrinks throughout the film.
The likes of the House on Haunted Hill ain’t got nothing on this del Toro creation, parts of which the director plans to take home with him as soon as filming is over. Creepy much? The man already lives in some sort of monster house in Santa Monica, the US, in real life. Adding a second portal of hell in his backyard is hardly likely to faze him.