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.

The Witch » Movie Review

The Witch (2016) is a movie that's really got me thinking, trying to puzzle it out.

Looking back, the key was always at the beginning.  During the title screen, the card reads "The VVitch: A New England Folktale."

Folktale.

Folktale. 

This is a movie made for folk who aren't alive anymore.

If the theatre were full of little puritans, in their caps and hats, from the 1600's, and they were all watching "The Witch," it'd be the perfect horror movie.  They'd be scared shitless.

It's just like when I saw The Exorcism of Emily Rose as a kid.  Growing up ultra-Catholic, you better believe I knew Satan and demonic possession were real.  That's what made the movie transcend horror for me.  How can I explain this... when you see a horror movie that so specifically and pointedly exploits your beliefs and fears, what you're watching becomes real.  Because your belief system says, this could and does happen. After watching Emily Rose, I prayed the rosary every night for a month to ward off evil.

Likewise, a puritan audience, who truly knew witches existed, would find The Witch disturbing the core.  They'd go home from the movie, truss up their teenage daughters, and make them recite the Lord's Prayer. And they'd mean it. However, the modern audience doesn't believe anymore.  There's even a little children's grammar rule that laughs at the idea.  I use it when teaching English, the uses of 'who' and 'which': "People aren't whiches."

All of this is the say — I argue that modern audiences can't be truly terrified by The Witch.  But we can get startled, suspended, grossed out, unnerved, and have fun while having a bit of a history lesson at the same time.  This is what kept early American colonists up at night.

The Witch is, at its core, a family drama.  At the beginning of the movie, our characters leave the safety and provision of their puritan compound because the father has a dispute with church elders — a matter of religious interpretation.  They depart for the wilderness, where they can practice their faith with independence. They settle on a piece of land on the outskirts of a tangled wood.



Dun dun.

The movie's protagonist is the teenage daughter, Thomasin.  She has wheat-blonde hair, wide-set eyes, a pinchable nose, and a full, stubborn mouth.  Visually, she's the perfect representation of her character — lovely, alluring, forthright, and fey. The casting here was spot-on.  Even more perfect, Anya Taylor-Joy gave a wonderful performance.



Supporting Thomasin's character, are her mother and father and four little siblings...

Kate Dickie was a bit typecasted. She's well-known for her indignant nostrils, and for her role in Game of Thrones as Lysa Arryn, who breastfeeds her ten year-old son. Sure enough, one of the first things Dickie's character does in The Witch is... breastfeed. Despite this odd reprisal, I thought Dickie really went after her act, teeth first, and that was admirable.

Dickie's counterpart, Ralph Eneson, the stolid, prideful patriarch, with his fog-horn voice, didn't have to work too hard at his job.  He frowns, grit his teeth, chops wood, and intones — that was pretty much the extent of his emotional expression. I think there was room there for a greater performance.

Harvey Scrimshaw, as the stripling Caleb, was every young, pre-teen boy you've ever loved and hoped good things for.  His chemistry with Anya Taylor-Joy was wonderful.

Ellie Grainger and Lucas Dawson, as the young twins, represented every kid you've ever wanted to slap, then questioned your own character for thinking such things.



Is The Witch a feminist movie?

I don't think so (not that it would be a bad thing). What I do think is that the movie — as a horror film that explores historical fears — taps into humankind's past anxiety regarding female independence and sexuality.  This doesn't make The Witch carry a feminist message or agenda.  It merely states a fact — this is how things used to be.

I think the confusion and debate regarding this matter comes from the final minutes of the movie. [spoiler]Thomasina, stained in her mother's blood and having signed Satan's book, levitates into the air with her new coven, ecstatic. [/spoiler] Indeed, the ending of the film is highly, highly interpretable.  I do have an opinion on the subject.  [spoiler]In my opinion, Thomasina has not been 'liberated,' as a woman. After all, she just signed a contract with Lucifer. She is now a slave, in matter of fact. She is depicted as happy, ecstatic even, but this can also be interpreted as a sign of her giving into madness, having witnessed the downfall of her family at the hands of evil. It's an origin tale... The beginning of a new story. Thomasina becomes "The Witch of the Wood" — the character of the folktale. All along, we were watching the personal story of how a person would become such a fantastical, inaccessible figure of legend.[/spoiler] However, I do feel as if my views are up for a debate.

All in all, The Witch was a new kind of horror experience for me.  I've never thought to access history in such a way before — through the fears of our country's ancestors.  However, the realization that this is what the movie was trying to accomplish only came to me after some thought and rumination.  The Witch could have benefitted by more clearly communicating its thematic message.