Guillermo del Toro on the Misunderstood Beauty of ‘Crimson Peak’

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( goth excellence [Guillermo del Toro on the Misunderstood Beauty of Crimson Peak]( “The thing that will always, pun intended, haunt that movie is it was sold as horror.” Photo: Kerry Hayes/Universal/Everett Collection [Guillermo del Toro]( has Gothic in his blood. Ever since he was a boy growing up in Guadalajara, Mexico, the writer-director has been fascinated by Gothic and neo-Gothic literature, film, art, and design. You can see the predilection all through his career, starting with his debut feature, the initially gentle but ultimately disturbing vampire drama Cronos, and continuing through the Spanish Civil War horror films The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth; the supernatural superhero epics Blade II, Hellboy, and Hellboy II: The Golden Army; his Oscar-winning The Shape of Water (wherein the role of the suffering Byronic lover is played by a fish man); and his stop-motion animated Pinocchio. From the unabashed embrace of melodrama (verging on camp and sometimes crossing over) to the sincere empathy with sensitive but marginalized people and their emotionally malformed antagonists to the maximalist detail in the costumes and sets, del Toro’s sensibility is simultaneously 19th century and 21st. [read more]( Devour pop culture with us. [Subscribe now]( to save over 40% on unlimited access to Vulture and everything New York. The Latest TV Recaps • The Real Housewives of Dubai: [Marco Polo]( • Love Is Blind: ‘[Don’t Hug Me’]( • Sunny: [Boyhood]( • Bad Monkey: [The Monkey of It All]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Stories We Think You’ll Like [Pras Isn’t Mad at Lauryn Hill, He’s Just Disappointed After Hill canceled dates for the Fugees’ American reunion tour, he was worried about the fans. “They’re paying their hard-earned money to see you.”]( By Shamira Ibrahim [Post Malone’s Country Album Has Too Much Baggage F-1 Trillion burrows so far into the mainstream Nashville machine it inherits its problems.]( By Craig Jenkins [The DNC Will Have Its Business Handled John Legend is set to introduce Minnesota’s Tim Walz with, of course, a Prince medley.]( By Jason P. Frank [Is This Quiz Goth? Everything — celebrities, diseases, French fries — is either goth, punk, or metal. Can you tell the difference?]( By Bethy Squires [All 50 States’ DNC Roll Calls, Ranked by Vibe Lil Jon turned it into the D-a-N-C-e for Georgia.]( By Jason P. Frank [The Comeback Flop Alexis Bellino’s RHOC return is a case study in Housewife self-sabotage.]( By Louis Peitzman [The Tragic Romance of When the Gargoyles Turned Human for a Night The greatest goth romance in kids’ TV came to a heartbreaking — and series-defining — turn in the unforgettable season-two episode “The Mirror.”]( By Roxana Hadadi [Did Alicia Silverstone Poison Herself on TikTok? Well …]( By Anne Victoria Clark [The Daily Show’s Josh Johnson Is Reaching New Prolific Heights The comedian has built a community thanks to his weekly stand-up releases — all while balancing a promotion at his Comedy Central job.]( By Hershal Pandya [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Vulture Games [Today’s Crossword]( 25-Across, Four Letters: Drew Barrymore is its chief gifting officer Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images, Theo Wargo/WireImage, Bryan Bedder/Getty Images [Today’s Cinematrix]( Can you name an Oscar-nominated movie starring Cher? Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Theo Wargo/Getty Images, Steve Granitz/FilmMagic A newsletter about the perpetual Hollywood awards race, for subscribers only. [Sign up]( to get it every week. [Get the Newsletter]( [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe]( | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1701 Rhode Island Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2024, All rights reserved