‘Crimson Peak’ Director Guillermo del Toro on How Hollywood Is Limiting Horror Movies
“What it had going against it for the market is that it was a female-centric movie with an R rating,” del Toro tells TheWrap about his haunted-house film
Steve Pond | October 13, 2015 @ 1:32 PM
Last Updated: October 17, 2015 @ 7:57 AM
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Universal
Guillermo del Toro has been making dark, unsettling movies for decades, from his low-budget horror films “Cronos” and “The Devil’s Backbone” to the Oscar-winning fantasy “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “Hellboy” and “Pacific Rim.” The Mexico-born director has been putting his spin on pulp fiction since picking up a Super 8 camera before he was 10.
His new film is “Crimson Peak,” a Gothic romance about a young American woman (Mia Wasikowska) who marries a mysterious Brit (Tom Hiddleston) and moves to his imposing mansion in the English countryside. Naturally, things are not what they seem: The house is haunted and everybody has secrets, particularly disturbing new sister-in-law Lucille (Jessica Chastain).
TheWrap recently spoke to the director about the years-long process of bringing “Crimson Peak” to theaters.
TheWrap: The trailer makes “Crimson Peak” look like a horror movie full of scares, but it’s really creepier than that. Guillermo del Toro: You’re absolutely right. I didn’t make the movie to be scary, I made it to be creepy. There’s a big difference. I have produced scary movies, but I like to direct creepy movies. The fuel of the movie is an atmosphere, and a sort of ill feeling of eeriness than anything else.
Was it tricky to find and sustain that atmosphere?
My entire life I have spent trying to find beauty in horror and beauty in the grotesque. So I think that my ear is attuned to what I believe in. Whether people fall into it or not, that’s their choice and their baggage. But as far as I’m concerned, it’s a balance that I relish.
So why did you make “Crimson Peak?”
It started eight or nine years ago, after “Pan’s Labyrinth.” We wrote it as a spec, Matthew Robbins and I, because it came from a lifelong fascination with Gothic romance. The fact is, a lot of people confuse horror and Gothic romance. But the flavor of it, the combination of love and death, horror and beauty, is so unique. I’ve been a collector of Gothic romance novels and stories all my life, and I wanted to make one before I croaked.
Why did it take so long to actually get it made?
Well, I knew I wanted to make it lavish. I wanted to not make it a B- product, I wanted it to be opulent – sort of a throwback to Hollywood productions. And at the same time, what it had going against it for the market is that it was a female-centric movie with an R rating in a genre that hasn’t been done for 45 or 50 years. So it was not easy.
Everybody liked the characters, everybody liked the story. But they had a lot of trouble with “How do we sell it, how do we position it in the market?” Which I think is not easy. But thank God Legendary and Universal believed in it enough.
Hollywood’s idea of scary movies, to a certain degree, has become low-budget movies, and often found-footage ones.
Yes. But the fact is, the genre used to be very varied. You had James Whale doing “Frankenstein,” of course, but you had also B-movie products. You had crazy, risky jewels like “Freaks” by Todd Browning, or insane independent movies like “Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” You had a range.
I think that we have somewhat narrowed that range. Commerce says it’s better to just make a little investment that you have a good chance of recouping. But the language of the genre has languished.
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What were the particular challenges of making the film?
They were asking us to either make it PG-13, or to make it for 30 [million]. And I always said I had to get 50, because the difference is enormous in terms of quality of visual craftsmanship. I’m not just going to do the visuals for their beauty – I’m actually using them as visual language to tell the story.
It’s a painterly movie. You need a certain level of craftsmanship, a certain amount of shooting time. The camera work is very very classical Hollywood, cranes and dollies.
If this was a hard sell to the studios, do you think about whether it will sell to the audience?
That is not truly my expertise. I think that marketing at Universal is really, really good. They’ve been selling it with the horror edge, and I think there is more complexity than that. But you’re going to have to sell it, you need a hook, and I guess that’s the hook that is the easiest to find. So I’m at peace with that. But my duty is just to make the movie on time, on budget, as great and as beautiful and as strong and as gorgeous as I can.
You’re known for your creature designs – but aside from a couple of ghosts, there aren’t many creatures in this film.
Except … the house is a creature. The house is a monster. That’s the key to the movie, in a way, because the real monsters in the movie are not Lucille and Tom [Chastain and Hiddleston]. It’s the family that built that house – that arrogant spirit, the horrible mother, the absent father. Those are the real monsters.
How much of that enormous house actually existed?
The house was 100 percent built, from the cellar to the top floor. We built in the largest soundstage in North America. We built a working elevator, working tap water, working fireplaces. It took about seven months to layer it on paper and about six or seven months to build it physically. Every day I would supervise the paint job, the woodwork, the arranging, the decorating. It was truly a titanic labor.
Why build the whole thing instead of building it partially and then filling in with CG?
Because the tone of a movie like this needs to be operatic and melodramatic, a couple of notches above reality. I felt we need to design the house for visual melodrama. And in my opinion, the actors feel supported and real if they arrive and see a set, as opposed to a green screen. And the director and the cinematographer, we get inspired and light that real set in a way that is far more tender and careful and loving than if you know it is going to be CG.
If one were to go by what’s been printed, you’re doing the “Pacific Rim” sequel next, or you’re doing a small black and white movie, or you’re doing the “Haunted Mansion” movie …
For sure I’m doing a small movie next. I start shooting in June. No title yet. And I’m probably going to do “Pinocchio” as a stop motion. And then if the cards fall the right way, we may do “Pacific Rim 2.” I hope I do. But that decision is above my pay grade at this point, you know?
Looking at your career, are you surprised at where you’ve ended up?
Oh yes. And I got here by pure serendipity. It’s been a very very accidental career, in a way. First of all, I would never have left Mexico if I wasn’t in debt to pay a quarter of a million dollars from “Cronos” myself.
And then I little by little I’ve stumbled upon things that resonate with my very, very strange childhood and teenage years, and I’ve been able to latch to those things with absolute sincerity and absolute passion. And they have found, in their own scale, an audience.
At the end of the day, if you do something as bizarre as giant robots vs. giant monsters movie and by some miracle it grosses $411 million worldwide, you should feel lucky. If you do something as strange and personal as “Pan’s Labyrinth,” and if it not only finds a really large audience but also people who love it very deeply, you should feel very lucky.
Do you have any ambitions to do a straightforward drama, a movie without genre elements in it?
Yeah, I would love to do a noir. You can see by my movies that I’m pretty fixated in the arena of the end of the ’30s, beginning of the ’40s – the Civil War in Spain, the beginning of World War II. I would love to do a historical dark drama around there.
But you know, until that moment comes, it’s not something I’m waiting for. I am head over heels in love with monsters. They are the closest relations I had as a kid, and they are an intrinsic part of my family.
If I do a noir or one of these things, it will be an exception. And then I’ll run right back to my monsters.
51 Fall Movies on Our Radar: From 'Black Mass' to 'The Revenant' (Photos)
"Pawn Sacrifice" - Sept. 16 The movie follows chess champion Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) who prepares for his game against Russian Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber).
Bleecker Street
"Black Mass" - Sept. 18 Starring Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson and Corey Stoll, the film follows the true story of Whitey Bulger, one of the most notorious criminals in U.S. history.
Warner Bros.
"Everest" - Sept. 18 Mountain climbers on Mt. Everest are stuck in a severe, dangerous snowstorm in this drama starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Keira Knightley and Robin Wright.
Universal
"Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" - Sept. 18 After escaping the Maze, the group now needs to face challenges on the open road with new obstacles.
Fox
"Sicario" - Sept. 18 An FBI agent is enlisted by an elected government task force to help in the war against drugs at the border between the U.S. and Mexico. The film stars Emily Blunt, Jon Bernthal, Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro.
Lionsgate
"99 Homes" - Sept. 25 Andrew Garfield stars as a young father who struggles to get back his home after a recession-induced eviction.
Broad Green Pictures
"Stonewall" - Sept. 25 Jeremy Irvine stars as a young man who arrives in New York City in the late 1960s in time to experience first-hand the riots at the Stonewall Inn that kicked off the modern gay-rights movement. The film also stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Ron Perlman and Jonny Beauchamp.
Roadside Attraction
"The Intern" - Sept. 25 Anne Hathaway, Robert De Niro and Nat Wolff star in this touching comedy about a 70-year-old man interning at a fashion company.
Warner Bros.
"The Walk" - Sept. 30 Robert Zemeckis' 3D film follows the true story of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who attempted to walk across the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.
Sony/Tristar
"Freeheld" - Oct. 2 In another fact-based drama set before the nationwide ruling for same-sex marriage, New Jersey cop Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore) and her domestic partner Stacie Andree (Ellen Page) struggle to secure Hester's pension benefits when she is diagnosed with terminal cancer. The movie also stars Steve Carell, Josh Charles and Michael Shannon.
Lionsgate
"The Martian" - Oct. 2 Starring Matt Damon, Kate Mara, Kristin Wiig, Jessica Chastain and Michael Pena, the sci-fi drama is about an astronaut presumed dead after a storm on Mars. But he is alive, and tries to find a way to send a signal to Earth.
20th Century Fox
"He Named Me Malala" - Oct. 2 A documentary that chronicles the events leading up to the Talibans' attack on young Pakistani girl, Malala Yousafzai, for speaking out on girls' education.
Fox Searchlight
"Pan" - Oct. 9 In the latest remake of "Peter Pan," an orphan (Levi Miller) goes to Neverland to become the hero named Peter Pan. Hugh Jackman, Cara Delevingne, Rooney Mara, Amanda Seyfried, Garrett Hedlund also star.
Warner Bros.
"Steve Jobs" - Oct. 9 Starring Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet and Seth Rogen, the biopic follows the true life story of Apple pioneer Steve Jobs.
Universal
"Beasts of No Nation" - Oct. 16 Idris Elba headlines a drama about the experiences of child soldier Agu fighting a civil war in an unnamed west African country.
Netflix
"Bridge of Spies" - Oct. 16 During the Cold War, a U.S. lawyer (Tom Hanks) is recruited by the CIA to rescue a pilot captured in the Soviet Union.
Walt Disney Studios
"Crimson Peak" - Oct. 16 Writer-director Guillermo del Toro's latest feature has a Gothic setup: Following a family tragedy, an author (Mia Wasikowska) is swept away to a creepy house to be with her husband (Tom Hiddleston).
Universal
"Goosebumps" - Oct. 16 A kid teams up with the niece of R.L. Stine, the children's horror author, after demons are set free in Maryland.
Sony/Columbia
"Room" - Oct. 16 Brie Larson plays a mother who is locked in a room with her 5-year-old son until they escape and are forced to face the realities of the world.
A24
"Truth" - Oct. 16 The movie offers a closer look at news anchor Dan Rather (Robert Redford) in his final days at CBS News, after broadcasting a damaging story about President George W. Bush.
Sony Pictures Classics
"Burnt" - Oct. 23 Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper) destroyed his career as chef with drugs and divalike behavior. He cleans himself up and goes to London to spearhead a restaurant that can gain three Michelin stars.
Weinstein Company
"Rock the Kasbah" - Oct. 23 A music manager (Bill Murray) discovers a teenager with a powerful voice while on a music tour through Afghanistan, and takes her to Kabul to compete on the popular TV show "Afghan Star." The film also stars Bruce Willis, Zooey Deschanel, Kate Hudson, Dannie McBridge and Taylor Kinney.
Universal
"Suffragette" - Oct. 23 The film, whose cast includes Starring Meryl Streep, Carey Mulligan and Helena Bonham Carter, follows the early feminist movement in the U.K. as women struggled to earn the right to vote.
Focus
"Our Brand Is Crisis" - Oct. 30
Like "Freeheld," this film is based on a documentary. In this one, Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton play dueling American political campaign strategists hired by rivals in Bolivia's presidential election.
Warner Bros.
"Jem and the Holograms" - Oct. 23 A small-town girl (Audrey Peeples) becomes a global superstar, and embarks on a journey with her three sisters to discover that some talents are too good to be hidden.
Universal
"Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse" - Oct. 30 Three scouts have to save the world from a zombie outbreak on the eve of their last camp-out.
Paramount
"Brooklyn" - Nov. 6 Saoirse Ronan stars in a drama set in the 1950s Ireland and New York, as her character Ellis Lacey is torn between two men and two countries.
Fox Searchlight
"Spectre" - Nov. 6 In Daniel Craig's fourth movie as James Bond, a cryptic message sends 007 to uncover a sinister organization. Ralph Fiennes' M tries to keep the secret service alive, while Bond attempts to reveal the truth behind Spectre.
MGM
"Spotlight" - Nov. 6 Starring Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo, this drama tells the true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered a scandal of child molestation within the local Catholic archdiocese.
Open Road
"Trumbo" - Nov. 6 Bryan Cranston portrays successful Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who's accused of being a Communist in the 1940s and blacklisted by the film industry. Elle Fanning, Helen Mirren and Diane Lane also star.
Bleecker Street Media
"The Peanuts Movie" - Nov. 6 Snoopy goes on a mission to pursue his arch-nemesis, the Red Baron, while best friend Charlie Brown starts his own quest back home.
Fox
"Love the Coopers" - Nov. 13 Four generations of the Cooper family come together for a gathering, at which they discover new family bonds and the spirit of holidays. Olivia Wilde, Amanda Seyfried, Marisa Tomei, Ed Helms, Diane Keaton, Anthony Mackie and John Goodman are among those starring in the film.
"By the Sea" - Nov. 13 Angelina Jolie Pitt wrote, directed, and stars in this film with husband Brad Pitt about a couple who travel to a tranquil and picturesque seaside resort in 1970s France while their marriage is in apparent crisis.
Universal
"The 33" - Nov. 13 Patricia Riggen's film is based on the 2010 collapse of a Chilean gold and copper mine -- in which 33 miners were trapped for 69 days. The film stars Antonio Banderas, Cote de Pablo, Rodrigo Santoro, Gabriel Byrne and James Brolin.
Warner Bros.
"Carol" - Nov. 20 A department store clerk (Rooney Mara) falls for an older, married woman (Cate Blanchett) in Todd Haynes' romantic drama set in 1950s New York.
Weinstein Company
"Secret in Their Eyes" - Nov. 20 Julia Roberts, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Nicole Kidman star in a drama about an FBI agent (Roberts) who embarks on a long investigation for her daughter's killer.
STX Entertainment
"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2" - Nov. 20 In the fifth and final movie of the franchise, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and her comrades in District 13 embark a full-on revolution against the Capitol.
Lionsgate
"Creed" - Nov. 25 Sylvester Stallone returns as Rocky Balboa, this time serving as trainer and mentor to Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), the son of former enemy Apollo Creed.
Warner Bros.
"The Good Dinosaur" - Nov. 25 Pixar's movie about the epic journey into the world of dinosaurs features an Apatosaurus as he makes an unlikely friend: a human boy.
Walt Disney Pictures
"Victor Frankenstein" - Nov. 25 In this retelling of Mary Shelley's classic, Daniel Radcliffe's Igor takes center stage as we learn about his dark origins and how he became the assistant of scientist Victor Frankenstein (James McAvoy).
Fox
"The Danish Girl" - Nov. 27 Eddie Redmayne slips into the role of transgender pioneer Lili Elbe, who had what is considered the first successful gender reassignment surgery. Alicia Vikander and Amber Heard costar.
Focus
"I Saw the Light" - Nov. 27 The film, which chronicles the life and tragic death of Country singer Hank Williams, stars Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Olsen and Bradley Whitford.
Sony Pictures Classics
"In the Heart of the Sea" - Dec. 11 In Ron Howard's film, a 19th-century whaling ship is preyed upon by a sperm whale, which strands the crew at sea for 90 days. The film stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Holland, Cillian Murphy and Benjamin Walker.
Warner Bros.
"Sisters" - Dec. 18 Amy Poehler and Tina Fey play two sisters who throw one last party before their parents sell the house where they grew up.
Universal
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" - Dec. 18 The continuation of the "Star Wars" saga, set 30 years after "Return of the Jedi," stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fischer, Adam Driver, John Boyega and Daisy Ridley.
Disney
"Concussion" - Dec. 25 Will Smith stars as Dr. Bennet Omalu, the neuropathologist who made the discovery of CTE, the football-related brain trauma. The film also features Alec Baldwin, Stephen Moyer and Luke Wilson.
Sony/Columbia
"Joy" - Dec. 25 Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper step in front of the camera again in "Joy," a film about a suburban mom who launches a domestic goods empire. Robert De Niro and Dascha Polanco costar.
Fox
"Snowden" - Dec. 25 Director Oliver Stone's account of the true story of Edward Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who fled the country after notoriously leaking thousands of classified government documents.
Open Road
"The Hateful Eight" - Dec. 25 A bounty hunter (Kurt Russell) gets caught in a blizzard in 19th-century Wyoming and finds shelter with some very suspicious strangers. Quentin Tarantino's Western also stars Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bruce Dern and Walton Goggins.
Weinstein Company
"The Revenant" - Dec. 25 Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Hugh Glass, a trapper on the 19th-century American frontier seeking revenge on the people who left him for dead after a bear mauling. Tom Hardy, Will Poulter and Domhnall Gleeson also star.
Fox
"Point Break" - Dec. 25 In an updated reboot of the 1991 Keanu Reeves action classic, a young FBI agent (Luke Bracey) goes undercover to infiltrate a team of extreme-sports athletes he thinks are masterminding corporate heists.
Warner Bros.
1 of 51
TheWrap Fall Movie Preview 2015: “Everest,” “Spectre,” “Sisters” also among season’s big releases
"Pawn Sacrifice" - Sept. 16 The movie follows chess champion Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) who prepares for his game against Russian Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber).