Del Toro talking about the Haunted Mansion at Comic-Con
Guillermo del Toro is a Mexican filmmaker, known for such films as Pan's Labyrinth (2006), The Shape of Water (2017) and the Hellboy series. He spent a decade developing an ultimately unrealized film project based on the Haunted Mansion attraction.
Del Toro's 2015 film Crimson Peak was partly inspired by the Haunted Mansion with Del Toro being a large fan of the Haunted Mansion. Of note, he has a room in his manor home of Bleak House which is dedicated to merchandise of the Haunted Mansion and features a full-scale replica of the Hatbox Ghost as a centerpiece.
Crimson Peak (2015)[]
Crimson Peak took considerable influence from the Haunted Mansion. It revolves around a wealthy Irish-American woman named Edith Cushing in the Victorian era who has the power to see dead people. After the mysterious death of her father, she moves to England to live with her old-money fiancee Sir Thomas Sharpe and his sister Lucille in their manor of Allerdale Hall.
While living in the hall, Thomas uses Edith's inheritance to fund an industrialized machine to harvest the red clay underneath of the manor which earned the hall its nickname of Crimson Peak. However, while staying in the hall Edith begins to see red ghosts within the manor's halls who died of violent murders all while her health greatly deteriorates. She also comes to learn of how Thomas and Lucille were abused as children, having been kept in the attic by their mother Lady Beatrice Alexandra Sharpe.
Guided by the ghosts, Edith comes to find out that the Sharpe siblings are in-fact incestuous lovers who murdered their abusive parents and go about having Thomas marry wealthy women for Lucille to murder so that they can inherit their wealth. It is also revealed that Lucille had been poisoning Edith's tea throughout the film, causing her weakness and illness. They are discovered by an old love-interest of Edith's who tries to free her only to be murdered by the siblings and with Lucille turning her gaze to murdering Edith. When Thomas stepped in her way due to having legitimate feelings for Edith, Lucille snapped and murdered him as-well while deeply regretting the action.
Edith would run out through the clay mining fields to try and escape a cleaver-wielding Lucille and encounter the ghost of Thomas, mournfully and silently apologizing. For the first time in the film, Lucille saw the ghost which distracted her for long enough that Edith could murder her by hitting her over the head with a shovel. The film ends with Thomas' ghost moving on while Lucille's ghost stays to play piano in the hall and Edith's narration providing a message about ghosts not being people but rather ideas that refuse to move on.
References/Parallels[]
- The film's story is an adaptation of the fairy-tale Bluebeard which was an influence early in the Haunted Mansion's history with Ken Anderson using it to develop the Gore Mansion story.
- In Edith's mother's first scene as a ghost, she casts a shadow on a grandfather clock with her claw-like hands, similar to the grandfather clock shadow from the ride. In another scene, her twisting on Edith's doorknob might also be an allusion to the corridor of doors.
- During his time in America, Thomas is dressed very similarly to the Aging Man portrait of Master Gracey with similar hair.
- The fern wallpaper of the hall is the same wallpaper used in the Haunted Mansion's foyer.
- Edith's character is considerably reminiscent to that of Constance Hatchaway albeit murdering the brides of her lover for wealth rather than killing her own grooms. Her and Thomas having been forced to be raised in the attic where they keep the evidence of their crimes in modern day seems to be an interpretation of the Bride and the Hatbox Ghost.
- The cleaver which Lucille lodged in her mother's forehead is reminiscent of the hatchet which Constance Hatchaway buried into George Hightower's forehead as seen in the stretching room.
- Edith finds the evidence of the Sharpe family's crimes in the attic in a setting reminiscent of the ride's attic.
- A record in the attic plays Thomas reciting the poem, "Ding Dong Bell" which was intended to have been featured in Gore Mansion to explain the death of Priscilla.
- In the climax of the film, Edith is dressed considerably similar to the Beating Heart Bride. She is also frequently shown holding candelabras, including in this scene. During her dance scene with Thomas they hold a candle similarly to the original bride.
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