Pan’s Labyrinth director Guillermo Del Toro is reportedly finishing up work on his upcoming gothic horror film Crimson Peak, but the project is apparently far enough along that he’s willing to screen it for a pair of distinguished guests: acclaimed horror novelist Stephen King and his son, award-winning author Joe Hill.
Afterward, in a series of updates posted to Twitter over the last few days, the pair heaped praise on del Toro’s return to the horror genre.
Calling it “gorgeous” and “terrifying,” the famous writer, who’s regarded as the literary king of horror, compared the feeling of seeing Crimson Peak to that of his first viewing of Sam Raimi’s acclaimed 1981 film The Evil Dead.
Was treated to a screening of Guillermo del Toro's new movie, CRIMSON PEAK, this weekend. Gorgeous and just fucking terrifying.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 16, 2015
CRIMSON PEAK electrified me in the same way Sam Rami's EVIL DEAD electrified me when I saw it for the first time way back in the day.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 16, 2015
While that’s certainly high praise from the author who gave the world IT, Christine, Carrie, The Shining, and countless other horror classics, King wasn’t alone in having a positive reaction to Del Toro’s film about an aspiring author (Mia Wasikowska) whose new husband (Tom Hiddleston) brings her to live in his family’s ancestral home — a place with more than a few skeletons in its closets.
King’s son, an award-winning modern horror maestro in his own right, also had positive things to say — or in this case, tweet — about the film.
Remember that list I tweeted the other day, the 13 most beautiful horror films. CRIMSON PEAK is the most beautiful of all.
— Joe Hill (@joe_hill) March 15, 2015
CRIMSON PEAK is Del Toro's blood-soaked AGE OF INNOCENCE, a gloriously sick waltz through Daphne Du Maurier territory.
— Joe Hill (@joe_hill) March 15, 2015
Along with Wasikowska and Hiddleston, Crimson Peak also stars Charlie Hunnam (Pacific Rim) and two-time Oscar-nominee Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty). The film was co-written by Del Toro and Matthew Robbins.
Crimson Peak hits theaters October 16.
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