Guillermo Del Toro Shows Off The Grotesque Practical Ghosts Of 'Crimson Peak'

Halloween may be over, but there's still plenty of horror for you to check out in theaters. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension is now in theaters, and you should probably see The Final Girls on VOD as well. And for those who don't mind more Gothic romance than true scares, Crimson Peak is a visual feast from director Guillermo del Toro with some spirits that really stand out.

The reason the Crimson Peak ghosts are so unnerving is the combination of visual effects and practical make-up effects that were used to create them. If you want to see how these ghosts looked on set, check out some new photos that del Toro recently revealed online. Be warned that they are somewhat NSFW because a couple of them show old, wrinkly, decaying, prosthetic breasts.

Here are the images that del Toro posted on Twitter:

Del Toro explained that the ghosts in Crimson Peak were real actors fully covered in prosthetic makeup and enhanced with CGI. And when you watch the movie, it really shows. Despite being translucent, the ghosts feel tangible and have a lot of texture to them. They're simultaneously haunting and gorgeous, which is a trademark of del Toro's work in general.

These designs by themselves, without any enhancement from visual effects, are pretty horrific, and it's a shame we didn't get to see more of them in the movie. The biggest shortcoming of Crimson Peak was that it focused too much on the romance aspect instead of bringing more scares to the table. The trailer was so misleading that it prompted us to write about some other majorly misleading trailers that preceded it.

The movie isn't bad at all, but it feels like a real missed opportunity for something more. There are stunning visuals and fantastic performances that feel like a throwback to horror from another time, but just not enough horror for my taste.

If you're curious to see how Crimson Peak stacks up against the rest of the filmography of Guillermo del Toro, we ranked all nine of his feature films, from his debut with Cronos all the way to the aforementioned Gothic romance in theaters right now. Otherwise, del Toro just handed in the latest draft of the script and budget for Pacific Rim 2, so we'll have to wait and see if Universal decides to move forward with the sci-fi action sequel down the road.