How They Shot Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Crimson Peak’ as Throwback Gothic Romance
Guillermo del Toro has always been great at morphing genres into his own deliciously baroque stew, and, with “Crimson Peak,” he magnificently turns the Gothic romance and haunted ghost story on their heads in classical fashion. For cinematographer Dan Laustsen, who last worked with del Toro on “The Mimic,” it was a refreshing return to a brightly-colored palette after a string of desaturated movies (including “Brotherhood of the Wolf”).
More of a twisted love triangle between Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain than supernatural horror, del Toro and Laustsen focused on contrasts to highlight good and evil, innocence and corruption, love and hate.
READ MORE: “How Cannes and ‘Crimson Peak’ Changed Guillermo del Toro’s Life”
When Wasikowska sits and reads letters in front of the large window and is shaken by the discovery of Hiddelston’s treachery, it was important to contrast the difference between the warm and cold light. Thus, the steel blue moonlight offsets the candlelit warmth on her face. “We’re using the shadows and you’re feeling the reflections of the house. She’s not alone but alone in her soul. And, of course, then she’s running through the house and going out the front door and there’s a big storm out there. There’s no moonlight but, again, steel blue atmospheric light.”
Finally, there’s the creepy Crimson Peak look that evokes Poe or Bava, with red clay oozing up from the mine below and staining the house and snow.
