In an industry saturated with sequels and reboots, the film industry has reached an impasse of sorts. Slowly plateauing, the availability of new and original content that is both fulfilling to its audiences and imaginative enough to stand on its own is becoming increasingly absent. While following the lives of characters following a debut film can be an enjoyable experience for fans, the need for new characters to fall in love with is often unfulfilled.

For Guillermo Del Toro’s latest film, “Crimson Peak,” this ability to develop and unveil a new and exciting story comes at the perfect time.

Del Toro, whose previous work includes films like “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Hellboy,” is employed at a time when cinema needs him most. With “Crimson Peak” this point is proven. Stylized as a gothic romance, “Crimson Peak” is a richly enthralling story of trickery and deceit. Following a family tragedy, aspiring author Edith Cushing, played by Mia Wasikowska (“Alice In Wonderland”), travels to the England to follow the love of her life. What ensues is a slow-burning, chaotic plot of romance and horror. Other characters in the film include love interest Sir Thomas Sharpe played by Tom Hiddleston (“Thor: The Dark World”) and his onscreen sister Lucille Sharpe, played by Jessica Chastain (“The Martian”).

Overall, “Crimson Peak” is a densely constructed film. Thoroughly despairing and dark, the movie is filled with Del Toro’s signature style: unattainable fixtures of grandeur, dimly lit yet somehow vibrant rooms and a story that hinges itself on horror, but ultimately settles elsewhere in a world of fantasy and drama. For its stars, Del Toro and writer Matthew Robbin’s screenplay allow for truly outstanding performances. Chastain, who offers one of her best performances to date, is given a character that flickers like a candle until she burns brightly in the film’s climaxing moments.

The sets of “Crimson Peak” alone are enough to make this film incredible. Throughout, viewers can expect to be chilled to the bones as the stark settings of the fictional Allerdale Hall creates the type of atmosphere other filmmakers should strive for. With so many things to look at, the sensory overload of the film is vividly suffocating in the best ways possible. Each room is so entirely made up that it is impossible not to notice something new each time a character revisits. This is also true of the film’s costuming, which is just as impressive.

Like the book being written by main character Edith, the film isn’t so much a ghost story as it is a story with a ghost in it. Not entirely horror but consistently terrifying, each passing moment of “Crimson Peak” is an edge-of-your seat trip to the loneliest fictional place in the world. Plagued by the past, both the film’s characters and constant references to Edith’s manuscript make a purposely obvious metaphor of the past’s haunting abilities.

Like the clay mines of Allerdale Hall, each moment of “Crimson Peak” is a striking and vibrant feat of great accomplishment for Del Toro and his actors. This is a movie that is far more than the numbingly bland gothic romances before it. It is a film contorted to seep into its viewers brains. For some, the twisting and turning of the film’s climax will be a test of patience, but for those willing to envelop themselves into a world of dreary snowdrifts and bleak surroundings, “Crimson Peak” is everything and more than it promised to be.

Rating: 4 out of 5