After proving his mastery of the television medium with the hit FX series, The Strain (based, incidentally, off of a novel he penned), the multi-talented Guillermo del Toro finally released the trailer for his highly anticipated gothic horror feature, Crimson Peak. And from the looks of things, it might just be all that it’s cracked up to be.
While the master of dark fantasy’s predilection for all things monster has become his unmistakable personal stamp, del Toro has thus far had a impressively diverse filmography, oscillating between straightforward action vehicles like Blade II, big-budget science fiction flicks like Pacific Rim and more atmospheric, personal works along the lines of El laberinto del fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth). Based on the eerie, slow burning horror of Crimson Peak’s first trailer, we can go ahead and throw this one in with the latter.
The vague plot details that have been released suggest an aspiring author racked by tragedy who shacks up with a mysterious outsider and moves into a really creepy house. Set in the mountainous countryside of northern England (but shot in del Toro’s adopted residence of Ontario), the film will star Mia Wasikowska as the author, and Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain as two enigmatic siblings who share a house that apparently bleeds from the walls.
Touted as del Toro’s “ultimate masterpiece,” we can certainly appreciate the tremendous attention to aesthetic detail taken by del Toro and his collaborators. Heavy on unsettling atmosphere, the trailer soaks in the gothic mood of the film’s elaborate set design, complete with chandeliers, dark mahogany woodwork, creepy old toys, and lots of candlelight. It isn’t until the trailer’s last 15 seconds or so that we really begin to appreciate del Toro’s hand at work, as black CGI monsters begin to materialize in the house’s dark corridors and ghastly hands wrap around unsuspecting children as they sleep.
After the resounding critical success of 2006’s Pan’s Labyrinth, we’ve got plenty of reason to be excited about del Toro’s return to the unsettling fairy tale world that seems to be closest to his heart. The only bad part is that we’re still going to have to wait until October to see Crimson Peak in theaters. In the meantime, the trailer should be enough to scare the pants off you.