Gothic melodrama is immediately
recognizable, whether one knows the genre appellation or not: a dark
secluded castle, a lone young woman—significantly virginal—, a brooding
mysterious man, dangerous lurid secrets, a sinister housekeeper. The release of
Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak this
fall served as another sampling of this longtime narrative staple. While del
Toro’s film is heavily indebted to nineteenth century expressions of the Gothic, the story's basic ingredients are
owed to an even earlier source: the fairy tale “Bluebeard”. Prepare yourself
for a potpourri of sharpened swords, forbidden chambers, corpses hanging from hooks,and other visions of marital bliss.
