Crimson Peak » Movie Review

“There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand.” — Mary Shelley

Full disclosure — I love this movie.  I went to see Crimson Peak (2o15) in theaters twice and one of those times was on its opening day.  I knew I'd adore the film before I ever even saw it.  I mean, Guillermo del Toro, (Pan's Labyrinth) doing a period, gothic horror? Shut up and take my money!

Crimson Peak tells the story of a young American woman, Edith Cushing.  Despite losing her mother at an early age, she lives a happy life.  She's close with her father, who is a successful businessman, and she has aspirations of becoming a writer.  Very little haunts her... except for that one thing that happened after her mother's funeral. But that's best not spoken of...

Edith is a true romantic, so when a destitute British noble and inventor, Thomas Sharpe, woos her with dashing aplomb, she is done for.  She marries him and they depart for his holding in the peaks of England.

Of course, the course of true love never did run smooth...

So yes, Crimson Peak, is in part, a horror movie.  For some people, that is reason enough to never see a movie, ever.  And I won't lie to you, there were some parts of Crimson Peak that had me wanting to cover my eyes and my ears. But unlike many horror movies, there is a lot more to the storyline besides the violence. And for the most part, the thrills and chills are stylized.  I'm thinking, of course, of the ghosts. Crimson Peak has the best ghosts I've ever seen in a movie — stringy, floaty, and saturated with blues and reds.

As for the performances, Mia Wasikowska was serviceable as Edith.  She does a good job, neither approaching her best work (Stoker) nor her worst (Alice in Wonderland).  Ultimately, she couldn't keep up with the magnetism that Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain brought to their roles.  Whenever Chastain appeared on screen, I sat up.  When Hiddleston appeared, I sat forward!  I always thought the actor was sullen and pasty looking and I never got his appeal.  Of course, I hadn't seen him in action before.  Needless to say, I'm convert now.  He's an amazing performer.

The costuming was divine. Hiddleston's suits were eye candy, Chastain's red gown was prismatic, and as for Edith's signature shoulder puffs, I wouldn't be surprised if the seamstresses got a pay bonus with every inch they extended those things.  The soundtrack will haunt my dreams, creepy and romantic at the same time.  In fact, I'm listening to Edith's Theme on repeat as I type this review.

But maybe the thing I loved best about Crimson Peak was its moral ambiguity, represented wonderfully by Thomas Sharpe.  A true Byronic hero, Hiddleston's character rivaled the iconic Heathcliff for being a bad dude who you can't help but forgive and pine for.  My feelings were so complicated and strong in regards to him and his situation, which is absolutely the point of gothic art. For instance, there's this moment,  at the finale of the movie,  that is the most perfect culmination of our emotional journey with Thomas... [spoiler]Edith takes her husband's ghostly face into her hand.[/spoiler] I choked, I cried, and I was sold.



Before I end this review, let me explain the above cartoon. It was drawn at the beginning of the 19th century, and lampoons a gothic novel popular at the time, The Monk. "Romantic" and "gothic" novels were seen as trash at the time, stupid stuff that rotted reader's brains. The cartoon mocks the readership of such novels, especially women who were in search for cheap thrills.

Well, I am proud to say that I would totally be part of that book club.  The Monk... Wuthering Heights... The Castle of Otranto...  Crimson Peak... these pieces of art appeal to the part of our humanity that is complicated, vast, and emotional.  The parts that want to be scared, loved, and put on edge.

Slasher Girls and Monster Boys » Review

Looking for something creepy to read? This is a rock solid YA horror anthology where the whole is greater than its parts. The individual short stories are very strong, and stacked together, they make something scary amazing. (See what I did there?) Reading this book over a series of weeks, I found it to be the perfect prolonged horror experience for the October season. Replete with ghosts, murderers, monsters, undead, perverts, and predators, the anthology provides a wide array of thrills and chills to get your skin crawling.

The Birds of Azalea Street | Nova Ren Suma | 2.5 stars

This opening story got raves from my favorite reviewers, but left me a little cold. It was perhaps a little too subtle and mysterious for my tastes.

In the Forest Dark and Deep | Carrie Ryan | 5 stars

Probably the creepiest story in the anthology, Carrie Ryan intertwines the past and present to slowly make strange, horrific sense.

Emmeline | Cat Winters | 4 stars

Cat Winters is the go-to girl for historic ghost stories and she doesn't disappoint withEmmeline. No one does ghost psychology like Winters.

Verse, Chorus, Verse | Leigh Bardugo | 3 stars

A bit of a disappointment from one of my favorite authors, Verse, Chorus, Verse took a long time to get to the good stuff. It was a while coming, but once I got to a scene featuring an asylum bathroom and a predatory photographer, I was hooked.

Hide and Seek | Megan Shepherd | 3 stars

Shepherd delivers a creepy beginning, a slump of a middle, and a decent ending.

The Dark, Scary Parts and All | Danielle Page | 3.5 stars

Page plays with a lot of tiresome high school stereotypes here, and fails to make that subject matter original, but she redeemed herself with the last few sentences, which spun off the imagination wickedly.

The Flicker, the Fingers, the Beat, the Sigh | Genevieve Tucholke | 4 stars

Tucholke, our editor, translates from her movie inspiration a bit literally, but nonetheless delivers a strong story with cinematic elements and a steamy high school affair.

Fat Girl With a Knife | Jonathan Maberry | 4 stars

Dahlia is a character well-rounded both literally and figuratively. And she can dish it back.

Sleepless | Jay Kristoff | 4 stars

Can I just say I hate, hate ,hate IM netspeak? Great portions of the beginning and middle of Sleepless featured IM conversations and it was terrible for me. All was forgiven though, when I came to one crazy, crazy sentence. I actually exclaimed, out loud, "OHHHH!!!" Definitely the best plot twist(s) of the anthology.

M | Stefan Bachmann | 3 stars

I found M to be a little boring, but the well-crafted children's rhymes lands M 3 stars.

The Girl Without a Face | Marie Lu | 3 stars

A solid installment, but it engaged issues that I'm passionate about, and left me feeling argumentative.

A Girl Who Dreamed of Snow | McCormick Templeman | 2.5 stars

This story's main virtue was in its brevity. I found it difficult to connect with the characters..

Stiches | A. G. Howard | 3.5 stars

A creepy little story with a decidedly Winter's Bone-esque setting.

On the I-5 | Kendare Blake | 2.5 stars

A story very similar to Kristoff's, but not as creepy and shocking.

The Madman's Daughter » Review

This book made me want to tear my hair out! I usually don't mind when what I read is bad or silly, but The Madman's Daughter had such promise! It made the novel's eventual failure so disappointing.

The story is of the gothic style, nodding the kind of romantic horror embodied by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. I loved this homage, especially in the beginning, with Juliet Moreau, our protagonist, creeping about a medical academy after hours, cleaning up after surgeries. There's an early scene where she euthanizes a rabbit that some medical students were using for vivisection. She puts the animal out of its misery by chopping it's head of with a surgical axe. It's great stuff.

I also loved the early middle of the book, when Juliet tracks down her family's former servant and her childhood friend, Montgomery. He's been in hiding with her father, who fled England, almost a decade earlier, due to grotesque allegations. Juliet learns from Montgomery that her father is living and working on an sparsely-populated island off the coast of Australia. Juliet insists that Montgomery take her to her father. Montgomery, Juliet, and Balthazar, a peculiar assistant to Dr. Moreau, getting on a seedy ship and sail to Australia. On the voyage, the ship picks up a half-mad castaway, a gentlemanly man called Edward. Juliet takes a liking to him, and decides to take him under her wing.

However, once the party arrives at the island, the story unravels. What had been a tight plot unfurls into madness — not the compelling kind. The characters have the same confrontations over and over again. Juliet worries over the same issues a gazillion times. And then there was the love triangle. What can I tell you about that love triangle? It was exceedingly tiresome and immature, and made me lose all respect for every character involved and for the author. It wasn't just bad writing. It was pathetic writing.

I sound harsh. I realize this. But, the early part of the book was so very good. I'm just aghast at the turn the novel took for the worse.

I will read the sequel and the final book after that. I think it would be a pity not to. I am also holding onto the hope that Shepherd will turn this series around and live up to the kind of writing I know she's capable of.