Just because it’s pretty doesn’t mean it’s worth your time. Guillermo del Toro’s gothic supernatural tale Crimson Peak is gorgeous to look at, but its predictable and shockingly cliché story keep it from being anything more than a mildly enjoyable affair.

Mia Wasikowska stars as Edith, a young woman who falls in love with a man with grand dreams and nefarious plans. The man (Tom Hiddleston) and his sister (Jessica Chastain) want her for reasons other than her good looks, and when they move Edith to their strange old home, darker things lurk in the shadows.

Crimson Peak is positioned as a horror movie--it’s a thriller, it has some ghosts, and the ghosts creep around at times--but it’s really not a horror movie. It’s not scary, it’s not even particularly thrilling, and it’s not entirely clear why there were ghosts in the movie at all.

Still, even if though it fails at what it was marketed as, Crimson Peak has its positives. Del Toro is a master of visual imagery and Crimson Peak is crisp, colorful and entrancing, every small detail of the elaborate sets lending a sense of atmosphere and depth. The story, though generic, is executed well enough, and Chastain serves as a strong villain, especially once she ratchets up the crazy a few notches. The climax works as a result. And Wasikowska also delivers another fine performance.

Crimson Peak is not a complete waste, but its greatest perks are of the superficial variety. Even as well done as it is, the generic story and lack of legitimate creepiness doesn’t exactly demand--or deserve--attention.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.