Crimson Peak is the story of Edith Cushing, an aspiring author, who has her world turned on it’s head through a series of tragic events and the introduction of a mysterious stranger, Thomas Sharpe. Falling in love with him, she returns to the family manor and clay mines which had brought them to her town and her father in the first place. Things aren’t going well there, the manor is falling apart and Thomas’ sister Lucille is not welcoming of her. Then, she starts to see ghosts who are wandering the manor and tormenting her. Something is very much not as it seems, but can she find out in time?

Guillermo Del Toro is a master of a beautiful aesthetic, and this film is no different. Everything is shot amazingly for a nice creepy factor but still has almost a haunting beauty to it. The manor is amazingly done, and the aesthetic even before and just the costuming makes everything stand out in this film. The horrific elements even have what is an interesting aesthetic to them and are almost beautiful in their own way.

But, for me, I don’t know that was enough to save the film. I liked the acting in the film, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, and Mia Wasikowska do a good job in this film. I think that Jessica Chastain in a lot of ways steals the show, though, I won’t say why as that will spoil things. In terms of a horror film, the acting generally much much better than you’d see. But in terms of overall acting, it is just good, nothing that stands out so amazingly, but also nothing that is wrong with it. I think that they work for the aesthetic that has been created, but, and I’ll get to it next, I think that the story doesn’t do them a ton of favors.

In terms of the story, the issue is that this is a movie that doesn’t do anything unexpected. I think that for me was what really disappointed. It follows a lot of horror tropes, but it doesn’t really have any of the predictable twists, but that’s because it just doesn’t really have any twists in it. I think that the story just ends up feeling flat which causes the rest of the film to suffer. It feels like it’s a bit of a waste when it comes to the aesthetic because nothing stands out as that amazing a horror element. Instead it’s just an average story that bounces between feeling like half a period piece, half a horror film, and generally fairly unfocused. Del Toro has blended two elements well before with Pan’s Labyrinth, but this one ends up not having the same heart and depth that one does. And in some ways, that makes it more disappointing. I like a lot of what Del Toro does, I’m a big fan of Pacific Rim and Pan’s Labyrinth is great, but this movie just lacks the heart that those have, and anything that feels that interesting, beyond the setting. It feels like it should do so much more than it does, instead ending up a beautiful hollow shell.

Let me finish up by saying that when this movie came out originally, I was very excited for it. I’m glad that I didn’t see it in theaters, but I’m also not sorry that I’ve watched it. Like I said, Del Toro nails the aesthetic for this film, there is the right amount of creep and gore, but it’s lacking the heart. And I think for a film that takes itself seriously, it needs that heart, otherwise it feels, as I said before, like a beautiful but hollow shell. If it was more of a B film feel, it’d need other things as well, if it was going for more of a suspenseful story, it’d need other things. Overall, an enjoyable watch, but in the end, just missing that final little bit to put it over the edge.

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This was actually my first idea for the series, to tackle what Pacific Rim, the themed meal or at least themed snacks would look like. However, after a couple of early ideas, got a little bit stuck with it. But it’s time now to get my brain unstuck and see what I can come up with.

 Pacific Rim

Drinks: 

Blue Margarita

Jagermeister

Tropical Punch (Kool Aid)

The reason behind both of these drinks is that they are just fun. When you think of the Pacific Rim, you think of oceans, so we are going with drinks that have that sort of tropical feel to them. Tropical Punch just makes a lot of sense as a non-alcoholic option. And adding Blue Curacaco to a margarita just gives it a nice ocean feel. Plus, there is a lot of blue going on in Pacific Rim in terms of color choices. Finally there is Jagermeister, because Jaeger/Jager obviously. Less themed, but a fun play on words.

Appetizer:

Calamari

Now, the monsters aren’t technically squid monsters, but they come up out of the ocean. So to keep that water theme going, deep fried (or baked) Calamari bites makes a lot of sense. You get into the head space of being near the water, and a lot of people are going to think about squid as being from Japan.

Main Course:

Crab (or Salmon) Cakes

Coleslaw

This is where I had gotten stuck originally. The blue margarita and the calamari just made a ton of sense, but what would make good sense for a main course? So as I’ve been typing out this post, what I came up with was crab cakes. This plays towards the monsters which are sea creatures and often times have some sort of tough outside shell. Crabs are just their tiny baby cousins and they must be destroyed before they kill us all (or something like that). But crab can be a little bit more expensive than getting frozen salmon and thawing it out and using that. So if you want to stick to a slightly lower budget, crab can easily become salmon, or if you want to go to an even lower level than that, you can make fish cakes out of swai or tilapia. Cole slaw is going to give you something lighter to go along with this meal. Sure, fish and calamari aren’t very heavy, but the crab cakes are going to be fried and the calamari might be as well, so you’ll want a slaw in a light dressing to balance out the main course.

Dessert:

Popcorn Balls

Now, there isn’t a direct thematic correlation for this, other than in my head. When I think Pacific Rim, I think of something that is really shiny. The visuals are really good, and it just seems very flashy and bright. So I’m thinking not of caramel popcorn balls  (though that would make a decent light desert), but of ones that as kids we’d make for Valentine’s Day. Where you melt down red hot candies into sugar and some other stuff to make it into a caramel, but when you tossed the popcorn in it, and as the caramel hardened, it had a really cool shiny red color to it. So in my brain, that is why red hot popcorn balls makes a lot of sense. I’d also say that because it is a movie, you’re probably going to want some sort of popcorn, and this is fun way to change it up.

So, what do you think on this menu? I don’t know that it pulls you into the theme quite as much as the first, but I also do know that I really want to eat it (partially because it’s near my dinner time as I’m writing it and partially because it just sounds really good).

We have one final menu that will be coming out next week. This one came in through a suggestion on Twitter from @BeskarTom, he had a board game that I wasn’t familiar with “Race for the Galaxy” but also suggested Dead of Winter, so I’m going to try and tackle that next, who doesn’t like theming a meal around a game where you could end up losing because you can’t feed the colony.

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