Ranking Every Guillermo Del Toro Film From Worst To Best

A gothic romance in the vein of Jane Austen, this film sees one del Toro's true heights in terms of artistic design. Allerdale Hall, Mr. Sharpe's mansion that is slowly descending into the crimson clay that lies beneath it, is an expansive and incredibly detailed set that is so visually alive with del Toro's vision that it practically holds its own as a member of the cast.

As the film's lead, Edith, so wonderfully articulates towards the opening of the film, Crimson Peak is not a ghost story but a story with ghosts in it. It is a more traditional ghostly tale, with more in common with a film such as Jack Clayton's The Innocents than it does with your standard Insidious movie. It is absolutely the kind of haunted manor film that flat-out does not get made anymore, and it is wonderful to see that outlier masterminds like del Toro care deeply enough about the subgenres to ensure they live on.

Sadly, the human characters of the film do not hold up to the setting and story set around them. Mia Wasikowska's Edith is a strong lead, but she is undermined by the fact that she so easily falls for the tricks of Tom Hiddleston's and Jessica Chastain's Thomas and Lucille Sharpe.

Speaking of which, while admirable performances are given all around, the third act 'twist' relating to the nature of the Sharpe's true relationship to one another is not much of a twist and feels as though its been being telegraphed by the film for about an hour before it actually happens.

Ultimately, it's a wonderful vision of the kind of ghost tales that no one tells anymore that comes just shy of being one of his best.