Del Toro's movie was just like Edith's book in the film. It needed more real romance, not some weird contrived romance that never felt real at all in any facet...and just missing something despite a lot of potential. So much wasted potential.
I am very disappointed by this film. I was looking forward to something with Del Toro (as well as Hiddleston) for some time. While I'm not generally a fan of much horror I do tend to like Gothic romance. I feel that this story started out delivering all of that.
I love the cinematography, the staging, and the costumes. Everything was gloriously detailed and lovely. I really enjoyed the amount of effort that went into the pictures as they were made. Sadly, the plot starts wonderfully and is even a bit surprising but then it falls flat and doesn't get up again. I'm not sure if parts were just a result of poor editing, or if it was planned to become dull after the trio move to England.
The opening was really inviting, there was a lot of promise in the plot. Some of the hints for the future were a little obvious in my opinion but others were less so. I feel like the director must have been trying to insult people that like romance because there was incredibly little. There were a few lines that didn't feel all that romantic and instead felt a little more like bad smut novel lines.
Once you get to England and the haunted house things just get weird. Half the time no one is around as Edith wanders about discovering all the murders that the siblings were up to. Edith is almost always left to her own devices while Thomas works on his red clay machine and his sister...plays the piano and I dunno...sharpens her knives? I guess they must have been off practicing the 'incest is best' mentality almost all of the time - to include the middle of the night. Why does she never ask her husband why he is never actually in bed with her? Is this for the same reason none of his marriages have been consummated without any questions? A tradition followed by law to this day. She just assumes all husbands don't want their wives? What? This was the first of many glaring issues.
Why is the heroine first depicted as incredibly clever, self-reliant, and capable in the first half of the film? (Before they arrive at the crumbling manor - I now take this to be a symbol for what is about to happen to the movie.) All of these aspects sort of fall apart when she ignores all manner of clues despite previously noticing small details. When she, even though she has the money, just goes along with living in the estate at all when all logic dictates to not...yeah, well there goes a reasonably intelligent main character. Damn, we had one for the first half.
Then suddenly he does have sex with her the night they're in town? Why? It was just ill-timed, forced, and awkward, not romantic. I think Del Toro just figured he'd sell the movie more if he added a bizarre Hiddleston sex scene.
From the first scene with both siblings I knew they were shagging. It's not like it's a new theme for Del Toro. He's done it before. (Hellboy 2) It was overtly predictable and boring. Which leads me to believe he must have had some pretty unhealthy thoughts about his own sister.
Thomas as a character felt worthless. Never was I convinced he actually loved Edith, I think he just really wanted to love her and wanted her as an escape from his abusive sister. I didn't feel bad for anyone. Thomas was a coward, that was pretty obvious and clear from the get go. Edith would have been good if she hadn't suddenly turned into a retard instead of seeking real help.
The ending bothered me the most. The order of it was just all over the place. Thomas was bumbling about like the imbecile he is. He doesn't come to really mean much of anything. Edith saves herself and he just wanders in to his sister's lair. He might as well have just stabbed himself in the face and saved everyone else the trouble of his existence. His presence might have meant something if he would have walked in to declare that this wasn't okay and that he was going to let Edith go or that they'd live together or something in his crazy head BEFORE Edith had already saved herself. But since Edith had already seemingly stabbed the bitch in the heart (a lot of that pen went pretty deep) it wasn't really meaningful. That plot arrangement was just as pointless as the character, Thomas.
Then crazy sister goes on a merry chase when she's been stabbed heavily near her heart. Cause you know, she wouldn't be bleeding to death or anything...evil people don't bleed, just not totally horrible ones. Then finally Edith doesn't get any real help from Thomas' ghost other than to function as the oldest trick in the book: 'hey look over there!' before she smashes in evil sister's head. Wow really? Worst ending I've seen in a long time. If at least he would have intervened before Edith saved herself then it might have had an ounce of feeling, but this was just poorly put together. So incredibly hollow, I'm sad good acting was wasted on that.
I am very disappointed by this film. I was looking forward to something with Del Toro (as well as Hiddleston) for some time. While I'm not generally a fan of much horror I do tend to like Gothic romance. I feel that this story started out delivering all of that.
I love the cinematography, the staging, and the costumes. Everything was gloriously detailed and lovely. I really enjoyed the amount of effort that went into the pictures as they were made. Sadly, the plot starts wonderfully and is even a bit surprising but then it falls flat and doesn't get up again. I'm not sure if parts were just a result of poor editing, or if it was planned to become dull after the trio move to England.
The opening was really inviting, there was a lot of promise in the plot. Some of the hints for the future were a little obvious in my opinion but others were less so. I feel like the director must have been trying to insult people that like romance because there was incredibly little. There were a few lines that didn't feel all that romantic and instead felt a little more like bad smut novel lines.
Once you get to England and the haunted house things just get weird. Half the time no one is around as Edith wanders about discovering all the murders that the siblings were up to. Edith is almost always left to her own devices while Thomas works on his red clay machine and his sister...plays the piano and I dunno...sharpens her knives? I guess they must have been off practicing the 'incest is best' mentality almost all of the time - to include the middle of the night. Why does she never ask her husband why he is never actually in bed with her? Is this for the same reason none of his marriages have been consummated without any questions? A tradition followed by law to this day. She just assumes all husbands don't want their wives? What? This was the first of many glaring issues.
Why is the heroine first depicted as incredibly clever, self-reliant, and capable in the first half of the film? (Before they arrive at the crumbling manor - I now take this to be a symbol for what is about to happen to the movie.) All of these aspects sort of fall apart when she ignores all manner of clues despite previously noticing small details. When she, even though she has the money, just goes along with living in the estate at all when all logic dictates to not...yeah, well there goes a reasonably intelligent main character. Damn, we had one for the first half.
Then suddenly he does have sex with her the night they're in town? Why? It was just ill-timed, forced, and awkward, not romantic. I think Del Toro just figured he'd sell the movie more if he added a bizarre Hiddleston sex scene.
From the first scene with both siblings I knew they were shagging. It's not like it's a new theme for Del Toro. He's done it before. (Hellboy 2) It was overtly predictable and boring. Which leads me to believe he must have had some pretty unhealthy thoughts about his own sister.
Thomas as a character felt worthless. Never was I convinced he actually loved Edith, I think he just really wanted to love her and wanted her as an escape from his abusive sister. I didn't feel bad for anyone. Thomas was a coward, that was pretty obvious and clear from the get go. Edith would have been good if she hadn't suddenly turned into a retard instead of seeking real help.
The ending bothered me the most. The order of it was just all over the place. Thomas was bumbling about like the imbecile he is. He doesn't come to really mean much of anything. Edith saves herself and he just wanders in to his sister's lair. He might as well have just stabbed himself in the face and saved everyone else the trouble of his existence. His presence might have meant something if he would have walked in to declare that this wasn't okay and that he was going to let Edith go or that they'd live together or something in his crazy head BEFORE Edith had already saved herself. But since Edith had already seemingly stabbed the bitch in the heart (a lot of that pen went pretty deep) it wasn't really meaningful. That plot arrangement was just as pointless as the character, Thomas.
Then crazy sister goes on a merry chase when she's been stabbed heavily near her heart. Cause you know, she wouldn't be bleeding to death or anything...evil people don't bleed, just not totally horrible ones. Then finally Edith doesn't get any real help from Thomas' ghost other than to function as the oldest trick in the book: 'hey look over there!' before she smashes in evil sister's head. Wow really? Worst ending I've seen in a long time. If at least he would have intervened before Edith saved herself then it might have had an ounce of feeling, but this was just poorly put together. So incredibly hollow, I'm sad good acting was wasted on that.