By Brianna Ciniglio – Columnist

I’ll be upfront. “Crimson Peak” had the potential to be a great movie. But, alas, it was just good.

Set at the turn of the 20th century, the film follows Edith Cushing, an aspiring writer who falls in love with Sir Thomas Sharpe and follows him and his sister, Lucille, to their decaying childhood home in England.

In the trailer, the film comes across as a horror movie riddled with ghosts and most of the film is set in a haunted house. This was actually one of my least favorite aspects of the film.

The ghosts were frightening at times, but also came off as kind of cheesy in some instances. They moaned like zombies and were often seen as red blobby messes.

It was even worse that they weren’t really necessary to the plot. The movie would have actually been better if the ghost aspect was removed entirely, making it more of a suspenseful drama. “Crimson Peak” would have still remained scary; I won’t give away the plot, but I will say that there was plenty of blood in this movie.

According to IGN.com, Guillermo del Toro, the director of the film, stated, “this film is not a horror movie, but a gothic romance.” It would have probably been better for him to think along the lines of “gothic romance” while working on the film, instead of spending time working on the scares.

In order to make the film more interesting, additional backstory should have been provided for the two siblings, Thomas (Tom Hiddleston) and Lucille (Jessica Chastain). Small parts of their mysterious lives were unveiled towards the end of the film, but a little more insight would have greatly improved the plot. They were by far the more alluring aspect of the movie.

Hiddleston and Chastain were also the best actors in the film, although Charlie Hunnam was good as well. But Mia Wasikowska, who played Alice in “Alice in Wonderland,” is usually a fairly skilled actor, and this was not her shining role.

Despite these few critiques, I enjoyed this film. The costumes and set were beautiful, the characters were interesting and there were some grippingly intense scenes. The twists and turns of the story had me on the edge of my seat. With a little more work on the script, this would have been a great drama; there was definitely some serious potential.

I recommend “Crimson Peak” for anyone who’s looking for a thought-provoking thriller.