Film
Crimson Peak
Guillermo del Toro's gothic romance is less a haunted-house scare-fest than a Victorian melodrama drenched in red clay and moth wings. It's gorgeous to look at, deliberately theatrical, and more interested in dread and desire than jump scares. Good for anyone who wants their horror to look like a painting and their romance to have teeth.
If you liked this
Bram Stoker's Dracula1992
Coppola's operatic, blood-soaked gothic romance shares Crimson Peak's love of decadent costumes, decaying aristocracy, and doomed desire dressed up as horror.
But The performances are as heightened as the sets — some find it gorgeous, others find it a bit much.

Penny Dreadful2014
A lush, brooding Victorian horror series that mashes up gothic literary monsters with the same painterly dread and repressed longing del Toro traffics in.
But Three seasons is a big commitment, and the ending divided fans sharply.

Rebecca1940
Hitchcock's classic about a new bride haunted by the memory-soaked house she's married into — the blueprint for every gothic mansion secret since.
But Black and white and restrained by comparison; no blood, all suggestion.

The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
House of Usher1960no page yet
Same DNA: a sentient dying house, a decaying bloodline, and gothic horror as inherited sin — del Toro is quoting this film directly, decades before he made his own version.
Roger Corman and Vincent Price's Poe adaptation is the direct ancestor of Crimson Peak — a decaying aristocratic house that's practically alive, family rot as literal curse, lurid Technicolor doom.
But Cheap by today's standards, stagey and slow, with the charm of a b-movie rather than a blockbuster.
More like this (8)
The Others2001
A meticulously atmospheric haunted-house film that trades gore for dread and a genuinely satisfying late turn.
But Slow-burn pacing; if you know the twist already it loses some bite.

Pan's Labyrinth2006
Del Toro's own fairy-tale horror, showing the same eye for beautiful monstrousness and cruelty dressed in myth.
But Bleaker and more political than Crimson Peak, with a child protagonist facing real-world horrors alongside the fantastical.

Jane Eyre2011
A moody, atmospheric adaptation with a brooding house, a mysterious secret, and a romance built on withheld information.
But No supernatural element — the dread here is entirely human.

The Woman in Black2012
English moors, a crumbling estate, and a vengeful ghost — a classic ghost story told with real patience and atmosphere.
But Leans harder into straightforward scares and less into romance or visual excess.

Sleepy Hollow1999
Tim Burton's gothic mystery-horror shares del Toro's love of stylised color, fog, and a period setting soaked in dread.
But More whimsical and comic than Crimson Peak — this one has a sense of humour about itself.

The Haunting of Hill House2018
A family drama disguised as a haunted-house story, using the house itself as a repository of grief and memory the way Crimson Peak does.
But Modern setting and a sprawling family-ensemble structure feel very different from Crimson Peak's intimate love triangle.

Kwaidan1965
Del Toro has cited this film's theatrical, hand-built artifice as inspiration — Crimson Peak's stagey, unreal sets are doing the same trick in a different language and century.
A Japanese anthology of ghost stories shot on obviously artificial, painted studio sets — eerie, deliberate, and visually ravishing in a way that makes horror feel like folklore.
But Very slow, very stylised, and subtitled — this rewards patience over scares.

Suspiria1977
Both treat architecture as a monster in its own right, using color and sound rather than jump scares to make a house feel alive — Crimson Peak is the tasteful version of what Argento does with a chainsaw.
Dario Argento's Italian horror turns a building into a malevolent, breathing entity through pure color and sound — the giallo cousin to Crimson Peak's living house.
But Far more violent and abstract, with dream logic instead of plot — this trades romance for pure sensory assault.

People
Cast
Mia WasikowskaEdith Cushing
Jessica ChastainLady Lucille Sharpe
Tom HiddlestonSir Thomas Sharpe
Charlie HunnamDr. Alan McMichael
Jim BeaverCarter Cushing
Burn GormanHolly
Leslie HopeMrs. McMichael
Jonathan HydeOgilvie
Doug JonesEdith's Mother / Lady Sharpe
Bruce GrayFerguson
Emily CouttsEunice McMichael- Alec StockwellFinlay
Directing
- Guillermo del ToroDirector
- Jeff J.J. AuthorsFirst Assistant Director
- Dug RotsteinScript Supervisor
- Penny CharterSecond Assistant Director
- Adam BocknekThird Assistant Director
- Missy MorrisThird Assistant Director
Writing
- Guillermo del ToroWriter
- Matthew RobbinsWriter
Production
- Barbara HarrisADR Voice Casting
- Zameret KleimanBackground Casting Director
- Robin D. CookCasting
- Ashley GrayCasting Assistant
- Nick ButlerCasting Assistant
- Jonathan OliveiraCasting Associate
- Justin TurnerCasting Associate
- Jillian ShareExecutive Producer
- Candace TempelmeyerFirst Assistant Accountant
- Sandra J. WhiteFirst Assistant Accountant
- Fred KampingLocation Manager
- Andrew G. MunroPayroll Accountant
- David M. RodriguezPost Production Accountant
- Sara HolmesPost Production Accountant
- Callum GreeneProducer
- Guillermo del ToroProducer
- Jon JashniProducer
- Thomas TullProducer
- Elaine ThurstonProduction Accountant
- Elspeth CassarProduction Coordinator
- Bryan YaconelliProduction Executive
- Lucia HaliburtonProduction Secretary
- Danny HaeberlinResearcher
- Katharine DukeSecond Assistant Accountant
- Kevin Michael SchembriSecond Assistant Accountant
- Callum GreeneUnit Production Manager
- D.J. CarsonUnit Production Manager
Recommended by
The Others, Pan's Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, The Woman in Black, The Innocents, Gaslight, Rebecca, The Haunting of Hill House, The Mummy, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Kwaidan, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, The Haunting, Penny Dreadful, The Uninvited, Nosferatu, Forever Home, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Bride of Frankenstein, The Devil's Backbone, Interview with the Vampire, House, Sleepy Hollow, A Tale of Two Sisters, Vampyr, The Old Dark House, Nosferatu