MovieChat Forums > Crimson Peak (2015) Discussion > Final act - much hard work for nothing a...

Final act - much hard work for nothing and a mess of an ending


This film is very well crafted visually, and the music / atmosphere was a work of art, just like most del Toro movies...BUT the story ends in such a damn irritating and annoying way! What a waste. I don't want to list all the things i'm referring to because I don't like to make long bullet-point rants but i'll say this, which some may consider a rant anyway...

A movie sets up characters, which this one did reasonably well. You reach a point where you are pretty sure you have got to know them, how clever they are, how they might react to things, what they would do in certain situations. Then some movies ruin all that hard work (usually toward the final half or third - the "5h!t hits the fan" time) by making the characters do the most nonsensical, illogical and just plane stupid things, that anger you enough to completely pull you out of the movie. That's what happened to me in this one, and here's the one example (of many possible) I'll give.

The doctor guy busts in unexpectedly, knowing plenty about how effed-up and evil at least some of the two sibling's past life actions have been, and finds Edith close to death having just fallen from a huge height and generally in a terrible state anyway, obviously some bad things have happened at their hands, unsurprisingly. He knows by now that they are totally ruthless and capable of doing anything to get what they want. Instead of coming up with some intelligent way of talking his way out of the house with Edith (or just plane bolting out the door which would have probably been the best option short of just damn shooting them) he stands there accusing them of all the terrible things they have done etc etc and expects he can just turn his back on them and walk out and they are not going to do anything to him?!?!?!? Ridiculous!

How could he be so dumb? The answer plainly is that he would not be, he's a doctor for god's sake, he was smart enough to find out what he needed, and to get there and save Edith, and then he goes and does something as stupid as that. What would you have done if you were him at that point? Would you have expected them to just let you walk out? Would you have taken some kind of weapon in there with you? His options were obviously limited by the tough time he had to get there etc but would you have at least taken something with you to defend yourself, even if it was just a big stick? There were many other dumb character actions before and during that stabby-stabby-stab-fest at the end, but by that point it was too late, I was totally disconnected from the movie and really didn't give a crap what happened to any of them, which is the way i'm sure many viewers were feeling by that point.

Yes I know this movie was largely a romantic, gothic "fantasy", and I know ghosts don't exist, and I know there is such a thing as artistic license, but I always stand by the notion that a movie with well-formed characters must not then cheaply betray or insult it's own character's intelligence for the convenience of advancing the plot, what ever kind of story it is, and this did way, way too many times. A great shame as there was clearly much talent displayed in other areas, not least some of the actor's performances. This is dumb writing that should only be seen in cheap schlock horror, not artful intelligent movies as this otherwise partially succeeded in being.

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I empathize with your frustration. I wanted to enjoy this, I really did. The setup and progression of the first act hooked me, the second act wandered around and had some interesting developments but lacked substance, and the third act just fell apart. I think this film suffered from being in development too long and thus G. del Toro lost focus. The beginning made me think of a film I love, Fallen (Denzel) and I hoped the ending would be a satisfying full circle in that vein. Instead, 2 hours of meandering with no payoff. Disappointing to say the least.

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Totally, the set up and initial premise was great! Such a shame the end did not live up to the beginning. I will also say this movie could been just as good or even better with no ghosts at all...the atmosphere together with the acting performances of the siblings provided all the necessary scares, they were plenty ghoulish/vampiritic themselves! It really could have benefited from a stripped down story. Maybe del Toro shoe-horned too much in.

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It's funny that the brutally honest critique of her book neatly summarizes issues with the film itself! I agree that the supernatural elements weren't crucial to the plot. It might have been better as full blown fantasy or pure realism; the middle ground was too ineffective,

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I'm afraid to say that, you just described the vast majority of modern horror films. Even the ones with some kind of VERY interesting set-up, or very solid ideas to build a foundation from, always seem to just unravel and end badly. Most screenwriters and directors these days, simply don't seem to know how to finish.

Which is odd, because Del Toro has finished quite well in the past.

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To true, horror films seem to be at some kind of nadir at the moment! Pointless crappy remakes of Poltergeist, terrible nonsense like "The Other Side Of The Door" etc. I just watched The Autopsy Of Jane Doe, good cast and very cool first half, totally reduced to farce by the end. But that was low budget and relatively unknown...It's shocking to see a Del Toro film doing the same.

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I recently gave Shyamalan's "The Visit" a chance, because I enjoy many of his early works (Unbreakable being my favorite). I gave it a chance specifically because, and I even remarked on these boards, "If anyone could do serious modern horror right (as opposed to his campy-on-purpose "The Happening"), it would be Night". Unfortunately, like Del Toro, I was wrong. It still had the same problem: interesting set-up, even though the "found footage" bit has kind of played itself out, but then I just felt like it didn't go where it COULD have gone with it. I would have been far more interested, IMO, if there had been something supernatural going on, if the grandparents had been possessed or something. I think having a "twist" is often a bad idea. Sometimes it's best to maybe just play it straight, push the concept of the story to some kind of organic conclusion, instead of doing some "twist" to shock the audience.

I'm not saying that people should NEVER do twists. Just that in horror especially, it has become a tired cliche. Just as much as everybody basically being an idiot or unlikable jerk in horror films has become a tired cliche.

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Reminded me of Carpenter's Ward

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Well, for me the turning point was when she told her friend to stay away from her father's body. It was just so incredibly stupid and out of character I hoped she would die a horrible way.

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I think you wanted to say something else

Do you know what out of character means?

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It means that she does something that her character would never do?

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I so agree with you. That was just ridiculous. He had been clearly Smart up to that point, yet he expects them to just let him and Edith walk away?. Even though he knows they're poisoning her?. He even just turns his back on them?. I mean COME ON!.

That brought down the movie at least one point for me. Wanted to give it a 7, but couldn't give it more tan a sixth thinking of that scene.

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6 is what I gave it too, great shame

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I can't agree more. But you must agree. The first act, right before the first murder, was fantastic. The acting, costumes, the script. Everything was perfectly on point. Then the second act went nowhere and the third act jumped the shark.

Also, the ghosts didn't do one single thing in the movie.

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Regarding accepted ghost canon/behavior, if the ghosts, especially dead mother were trying to warn her, why terrify her to get her attention? It really doesn't make sense to traumatize the innocent who the ghost is trying to help. I know, I know...it is just a film, but in writing (and logic) there is a certain expectation of something making sense, gothic style or not!

I won't even begin to whine about the entire rescue "plan"; this production deserved something more rational and clever than the incredibly stupid suggestion that a seemingly intelligent person/hero, no matter how blond and adorable, might, oh say, take HEAVY WEAPONRY and a few friends along. Just in case. So, yeah, I did just whine. I am still trying to decide what happened with someone with a brain like del Torro (sp) that pretty much made him just give up?

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This happens to most if not all directors who get famous. They get to do whatever they want how they want it. And no one is willing to point out a single mistake to them.

This is what happened to George Lucas during the prequels. He just wrote some movies and made them. In the documentary about the movies you can see that not a single person around him says anything to him or advice him on anything. They just stand around and think it all for themselves.

Kevin Smith is also just making whatever he wants. And most of it is crap. Capolla gets to make his own small bad movies. As he likes making that small stuff.

Del Toro is really good at directing dark and macaber movies. Just like Tim Burton. The problem is the script. It's terrible. The story is just not making any sense. He probably demanded to write it himself with some hired help to write the fleshed out parts. And he clearly shows that he is terrible at writing a story. We are talking about very basic mistakes here. Like for example, what do the ghosts do? Nothing really. They might as well not be there. They don't change the script one little bit. Her finding out the truth is also not a slow process by detective work. She sees them having sex, that's it. All the other stuff didn't convinced her to kill them or anything like that. And the house was creepy, but it was also a fantasy house. So it made the movie into a spectacle. Not a fight for your life or an emotional journey.

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Indeed, the reason I was so disappointed by the ending was because it started with great potential and good performances.

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Agreed. Guillermo del Toro should have made Hellboy 3 instead of this.

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Hell boy 3, yes!

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Spoiler alert:







A real mess...particularly the ending. She couldn't be killed, no matter how many times she is stabbed.and bleeding..a female "jaws"...ha,ha The dumb doctor or should I say the dumb script. Oh yes, they walking through snow storms knowing that its fake anyway...some people gave this a 6? I give it a 3 and even that is too much.

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I agree with the OP.

It's that man again!!

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completely agree here. such a great start, wasted, so sad....
anyway I gave it 7/10, it had potential to be a 9

Jacarutu!
http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=20186983

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