Amid all of the superhero-fuelled excitement during San Diego Comic-Con – Deadpool, Suicide Squad and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, to name but a few – Guillermo Del Toro’s upcoming gothic horror Crimson Peak still managed to turn heads and raise eyebrows, not lest for its striking visual style.
During Legendary’s presentation in Hall H, the beloved director was joined by select members of the film’s star-studded cast, who talked extensively about the horror tenets of Crimson Peak along with its emphasis on strong, believable female characters. Beyond that, Del Toro continued into spoiler territory regarding the roles of Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastian’s siblings which we won’t go into here, though the former did describe the scarefest as “an emotional roller coaster” what with its narrative twists and turns.
“The last act of the film is an emotional roller coaster. It exists at a very intense pitch,” said Hiddleston. “I personally find the last 45 minutes of this film is headlong and thrilling. There is twist after twist and you don’t know where it’s going to go. That kind of detail is what we should all do with every character.”
What we do know is that Mia Wasikowska’s protagonist will fall head over heels in love with Hiddleston’s Sir Thomas Sharpe – haven’t we all? – only to discover that his reasoning for whisking her off to the titular abode isn’t all lollipops and candy canes. Charlie Hunnam and Jim Beaver round out the ensemble cast.
Crimson Peak is due to open on October 16, lending us plenty of opportunities for sleepless nights in the build-up to Halloween.
Legendary Pictures’ Crimson Peak, a co-production with Universal Pictures, is a haunting gothic horror story directed by the master of dark fairy tales, Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy series, Pacific Rim), written by del Toro and Matthew Robbins and starring Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston and Charlie Hunnam. In the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author is torn between love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds…and remembers. Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, del Toro and Callum Greene produce, and Jillian Share executive produces.