At the turn of the 20th Century, American heiress and aspiring author Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) is swept off her feet by impoverished English baronet Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston) and whisked back to Cumberland to live in the ancient and isolated Allerdale Hall, with Sir Thomas's sinister sister, Lucille (Jessica Chastain).
The house is crumbling, sinking into the red clay that was once their family's fortune, and it soon becomes clear that Sir Thomas and Lucille have ulterior motives for bringing Edith into their bosom.
Cut off from the nearby community by snowstorms, and not realising that her childhood sweetheart Dr Alan McMichael (Charlie Hunnam) has pursued her across the ocean, Edith struggles with her failing health as she tries to piece together the mysterious backstory of the Sharpe family.
The Sharpe siblings' scheming is rather predictable, almost clichéd, but Crimson Peak is also a Gothic ghost story told through the lens of an adventure movie, where the monstrous ghosts are really just "metaphors for the past" - as in Edith's own novel.
Although sold to the public as a Guillermo Del Toro horror story, with all the shudders that implies, Crimson Peak is more about the family drama and Edith's entrapment than any of the supernatural gore and special effects.
The spooky elements come across as more exciting than frightening. Even the odd jump scares are delivered with such class that they don't feel cheap.
For the little impact the ghosts have on the action, they could almost be dismissed as hallucinations brought on by Edith's deteriorating state of mind - except for the fact that on a couple of occasions they appear to be seen by others.
Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain stand out as the Sharpes, the dark heart of this tale. Hiddleston outdoes his Loki, alternating between sympathetic, scheming, and conflicted, while Chastain just gets increasingly more bonkers as the plot unravels.
Although there really isn't much depth to the film, Crimson Peak is visual masterpiece, from its A-list stars, to the Victorian costumes, and the stunning set design of Allerdale Hall, which is almost a character in itself.
In truth I wish more time had been spent exploring the haunted mansion, as we are only given tantalising snippets of its many halls and rooms.
As with the rest of the film, you come away feeling you've only glimpsed a fraction of what was there, and are left wanting to know more.