Crimson Peak (2015)

In a recent interview with STYD, del Toro makes it sound fairly clear that Crimson Peak will have a lot more in common with The Shining than with The Haunting or The Innocents, at least in terms of the content that’s going to earn it an R rating. Though it will be an English-language production, Del Toro says that Crimson Peak will be in large part a return to his Spanish horror roots, which include films like The Devil’s Backbone, Cronos and Pan’s Labyrinth. del Toro warns that fans who have only ever seen his English-language films would do well to prepare themselves properly for the radical change in direction that he’s taking with his new haunted house film:

“Crimson Peak is a much, much, much smaller movie, completely character-driven. It’s an adult movie, an R-rated movie, pretty adult. Shockingly different from anything I’ve done in the English language. Normally, when I go to do a movie in America for the spectacle and younger audience, for Blade or whatever. This movie’s tone is scary and it’s the first time I get to do a movie more akin to what I do in the Spanish movies.”



Don’t allow the current description of Crimson Peak as a classic Gothic romance to lead to an underestimation of the adult content, because we’re apparently in for a lot of blood and sex. Since there are few better ways to make gore and violence really stand out in a movie than to offset it against a radically different backdrop, del Toro promises to make the most of contrast:

“[Crimson Peak] has moments that are very visceral, physical violence. You’re in this sort of sedate romance and then there is this brutal moment where you’re like, “Whoa!” And it has a lot of kinky moments. The only kinky moment I’ve ever shot is the leg f**k in The Devil’s Backbone. [laughs] This has a little more kinkiness than that.”