Movie Review: Crimson Peak

So let's start with an admission. I'm a pretty big fan of Hammer Horror films from the 1950s and 60s; honestly, if I chose a favorite director based on number of their movies I like, Terrence Fischer (1904 - 1980) would easily be in my top ten. Classics like Horror of Dracula (1958), The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), and The Mummy (1959) are still all incredible effective today, and the climax of Brides of Dracula (1960) may be my favourite defeat of a vampire in any movie I've seen to date... and don't even get me started on The Devil Rides Out (1968) - or you know, just read my post about it here.

Something about a lonesome mansion (or manor, or castle) a romance between an unsuspecting innocent and a suspiciously perfect partner with a dark past, and maybe a ghost or two just work perfectly. Also, looking at it, they also describe all the aspects of Gothic Romance fiction, of which I'm also a pretty big fan.

So earlier this year when it was announced that Guillermo Del Toro would be directing Crimson Peak, I knew I would have to check it out.

After seeing the film, the word I could best use to describe it is "lush", meaning "very rich and providing great sensory pleasure." In many ways the film is best looked at as an experience for the eyes and ears. Yes, there are a number of graphic depictions of violence - fans of Pan's Labyrinth will be familiar with the types of shocking violence that can appear in Del Toro's films. Yes, the movie clearly owes a lot to Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca and the 1940 Alfred Hitchcock film adaption as well.

At it's heart, the film is a ghost story, and for the two hours it lasted I simply couldn't look away. An incredibly fun film that hit all the marks I look for in this type of story.

Book Review: Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier

For one of my books clubs last month I got to read a book I've been looking forward to for a long time, Daphne Du Maurier's 1938 novel Rebecca.

I saw Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 adaptation of the book a few years ago when working my way back through all the winners of the Best Picture Oscar and absolutely loved it.  The film was haunting, captivating and included Judith Anderson as the villainous Mrs. Danvers, a character which still sits quite high on my list of most terrifying movie villains.

The book (which has never been out of print since its publication), focuses on a young woman who marries a considerably older man and finds herself at in charge of a large manor house, Manderley, where her husbands last wife, Rebecca ruled until her untimely death.

The novel focuses on how our narrator and unnamed heroine (often referred to as either "Dear" or "The Second Mrs. De Winter") attempts to deal with a household and environment still held under the sway of her husbands dead wife.

The book does have a lot in common with Bronte's Jane Eyre; young girl marries older man, mysterious goings on in the house, a tragic secret, etc., but is well worth reading on its own as Du Maurier has created one of the most thrilling reads about a young bride I've ever come across.