YMMV / Crimson Peak

• Anvilicious:
  • The symbolism can be very heavy-handed at times - particularly the scene of moths swarming over dying butterflies. That this is a metaphor for what the Sharpes may do to Edith is not in any way subtle.
  • Don't cling to the past! This is spelled out in this out of nowhere exchange between Edith and Thomas before their tryst.
    "You're always looking to the past. You won't find me there. I'm here."
• Applicability: The movie can also be understood as a metaphor on class, where the old aristocracy no longer suits a continually modernizing world. Alderdale Hall, especially, can be a symbol for the noble class: an old, rotted and sinking house. Further highlighted when Edith refers to aristocracy as "parasites", foreshadowing the film's plot twist.
• Awesome Music: Fernando Velázquez's score, which manages to be atmospheric, romantic and sweeping all at the same time.
• Best Known for the Fanservice: Rather a lot of people talked about Tom Hiddlestone baring his ass for all of two seconds before a love scene that's actually quite modest beyond that.
• Captain Obvious Reveal: One of the main things criticised about the film is that it follows the Gothic Horror formula a little too closely, to the point where many of the reveals and Plot Twists had already been guessed by the audience long before the narrative catches up. See also The Un-Twist.
• Diagnosed by the Audience: There's clearly something not quite right with Lucille. She seems to have trouble socially interacting with people besides her brother, coming off as quite stiff and haughty, even awkward at times. She is very controlling to the point of paranoia, even keeping the house keys on her person almost constantly. She's also very self-centered, is intentionally intimidating or condescending, has difficulty empathizing with others, and swings between tearful anger and eerie calm as she becomes increasingly stressed. She also has no qualms about committing murder, even appearing to enjoy killing to some extent, whether it be for financial gain, to protect herself and Thomas, or because she perceives her victim as having wronged her in some way.
• Draco in Leather Pants: Some of Thomas' most devoted fans overlook the fact he was a willing accomplice in the deception and murders of his wives and Carter, only changing his mind once someone he personally likes is affected. Though to be fair he is portrayed as a more complex Anti-Villain and has a Heel–Face Turn in the end. The fact he's played by Tom Hiddleston may have something to do with it, too.
• Fanon: A very popular example that often shows up in fanfiction is that Edith is pregnant with Thomas' child at the end of the film and the child can also see ghosts.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Edith is compared to Jane Austen - who died a spinster - at the start of the film. She quips that she'd rather be like Mary Shelley, who died a widow. Edith herself becomes a widow at the end of the film.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Edith tries to sell a ghost story but her publisher requests that she turn it into a romance instead. The film itself is a Gothic romance but was marketed more as a straight-up horror film.
• Jerkass Woobie: Thomas and Lucille Sharpe could count as this. They were both abused by their parents, separated for a long time, are desperate to restore their family fortune and by the end, they both become spirits, with Lucille left behind to haunt Allerdale Hall while Thomas moves on. On the other hand, they're both money grubbing Serial Killers of rich women and Lucille herself being an incestuous Domestic Abuser to Thomas.
• Moral Event Horizon: Lucille probably crossed it a long time ago by murdering Thomas' innocent wives for their money (and from jealousy) and Carter for disrupting their plans for Edith. However, the moment that really cements her as being irredeemable is when she murders her brother, the only person who ever truly loved her and vice versa, because he fell in love with someone else and wanted to be free, despite still saying he would remain with her. This is symbolised in the film's ending via having the repentant Thomas' ghost seemingly Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence (though possibly not a good one given his crimes), while Lucille's ghost is shown to be stuck haunting Allerdale Hall.
• Narm:
  • Thomas's surprisingly subdued reaction to being stabbed in the face can come across as rather comical, especially since the film focuses on him slowly pulling the knife out of his face for an uncomfortably long time before he finally dies.
  • Lucille chasing Edith with a knife is clearly meant to be a terrifying scene, but the dramatic effect is undermined by Lucille's ridiculously voluminous dress constantly getting in her way, making her movements seem very stiff and awkward.
  • Lucille's death by being hit with a shovel. Twice.
• Narm Charm: Jessica Chastain's attempts at an English accent. She tries and doesn't really succeed, but it almost serves to make Lucille seem even more off.
• Presumed Flop: It's frequently talked about as though it was a critically trashed bomb. While its Box Office gross wasn't stellar, it still recouped its cost and netted $20 million more than its budget. Critical response wasn't bad either, with plenty of praise going to the visuals and performances (it has a 77% score on Rotten Tomatoes). With Guillermo del Toro's follow-up The Shape of Water being both a critical and commercial hit, and winning Best Picture, it's only further cemented Crimson Peak's reputation as a flop.
• Rooting for the Empire: It can be easy to start wanting Thomas and Lucille to win, thanks to the complexity of the characters, excellent performances of Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain, especially as Edith is a pretty bland character on her own.
• Signature Scene:
  • The arm of one of the ghosts suddenly popping out of the floor, as she begins crawling towards a terrified Edith.
  • The shot of Tom Hiddleston's bare butt during the love scene quickly became one of the more talked-about moments.
• Spiritual Adaptation: Del Toro had wanted to make an adaptation of Disney's The Haunted Mansion for years, and this might be the closest he gets to doing that film.
• The Un-Twist:
  • Several of the film's twists are pretty heavily telegraphed - it's pretty easy to work out that Thomas has been married before, he and his sister kill the wives for their money, and he and his sister are lovers. The twist regarding the Sharpes' incestuous relationship is particularly this; it seems so obvious the viewer may start to think they're a married couple or lovers pretending to be siblings for the Bluebeard scheme, which is what Edith assumes, only for Lucille to confirm nope, they're blood siblings and lovers.
  • The setting. Sure, the Sharpes say the estate is called Crimson Peak because it's stained red by the clay, that they need money to build Thomas's mining machine, and that the house is dangerously dilapidated and horrible to live in because it's badly maintained and situated over the clay mines. It turns out....the naturally-coloured clay gets into everything, Thomas wants to restart the mining operations, and huge old mansions need a lot of upkeep to keep them comfortable even when some idiot didn't build them right over a giant wet pit.
• Vanilla Protagonist: There isn't much to Edith beyond being a Spirited Young Lady who of course is Not Like Other Girls, and then becomes a Haunted Heroine. Mia Wasikowska does however make her likable and somewhat witty, though she's not as complex a character as the mysterious Sharpe siblings.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: Everything. From the period appropriate costumes to the grotesque ghosts and elaborate sets, Del Toro filled every nook and cranny with high amounts of detail. Even the film's detractors gave the film high praise on a visual standpoint.
• Vocal Minority: The film's negative reception was somewhat overblown to degrees where it was painted as a critically trashed bomb. Critics mainly had a So Okay, It's Average response - praising the visuals, homages to Gothic Horror and performances - while criticising the plot and characters. The Rotten Tomatoes rating is in fact 73%.
• WTH, Costuming Department?: Edith's giant head of golden locks was probably supposed to give her an "ethereal Victorian maiden" look. Unfortunately the wig is so obvious it almost looks cosplay-ish in some scenes.

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