Crimson Peak (2015)

In 1887 Buffalo, New York, young Edith Cushing is visited by the ghost of her mother, who warns her: "Beware of Crimson Peak." Years later, in 1901, Edith is an aspiring writer. She meets Sir Thomas Sharpe, an English baronet seeking investors for his clay-mining machine, and his sister Lucille. Edith's father, the rich businessman Carter Cushing, refuses to invest.

Edith and Thomas fall for each other. Her father hires a detective, learns something about the Sharpes, and pays them to leave. Thomas breaks Edith's heart in public, but soon after, Carter Cushing is brutally murdered, his head smashed against a sink. Thomas comforts the grieving Edith, and they marry. Her childhood friend, Dr. Alan McMichael, is suspicious of the Sharpes.

Edith moves to Allerdale Hall, the Sharpes' crumbling mansion in Cumberland, England. It sits on a mine of red clay that seeps through the floors and stains the snow, which is why locals call it Crimson Peak. Edith begins to see terrifying red ghosts. She falls ill, coughing blood, and discovers wax recordings and a trunk belonging to Enola, a woman Thomas married before her.

Edith learns that Thomas married three wealthy women before her, all of whom died at Allerdale Hall, and that Lucille has been poisoning Edith's tea to steal her fortune too. She also discovers that Thomas and Lucille are lovers. Lucille pushes Edith from a balcony.

Alan arrives to rescue Edith, but Lucille stabs him and Thomas wounds him and hides him. Lucille confesses that she killed the wives, Edith's father and their own mother, and that she and Thomas had a child who died. Thomas, who has truly fallen in love with Edith, burns the paper Edith signed and wants to start a new life. Lucille stabs him to death in a jealous rage.

Lucille chases Edith through the snow with a meat cleaver. Thomas's ghost appears and distracts her, and Edith kills Lucille with a shovel. Edith and Alan escape. Lucille's ghost remains in the house, playing the piano forever. Edith later writes a novel called Crimson Peak.

Are the ghosts evil? No. The red ghosts are Thomas's murdered wives and Lucille's mother. They look frightening, but they are trying to warn Edith about the Sharpes, not hurt her.

What does "Beware of Crimson Peak" mean? Edith's mother was warning her about Allerdale Hall, which locals call Crimson Peak because the red clay bleeds through the snow. Edith only understands this once she is living there.

What were the Sharpes hiding? Thomas married rich women, and Lucille poisoned them to take their money and fund his clay-mining machine. Thomas and Lucille were also lovers, and had a child together who died.

Did Thomas really love Edith? Yes. That is why Lucille kills him: he refuses to let Edith die and wants to leave with her. His ghost helps Edith in the final fight.

What happens to Lucille? Edith kills her with a shovel. Like her victims, Lucille becomes a ghost and stays in Allerdale Hall, sitting at the piano for eternity.