Filming Locations: Where was Crimson Peak filmed?

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The 2015 movie Crimson Peak was entirely filmed in Canada, in and around Toronto. A blonde maid in white robes carrying a chandelier in the dark, things that creep upon the corridors, a mysterious attic in a haunted mansion...

These are very cliche elements of the subgenre haunted-house movie, but also very promising in the hands of director Guillermo del Toro.

Crimson Peak House

The creator of the masterpiece Pan's Labyrinth comes back with a Victorian Gothic horror film, that in the words of Stephen King is "gorgeous and just f***ing terrifying."

The amazing pictures of the mansion Crimson Peak remind the atmosphere and light that the Italian maestro Dario Argento got in the creepy dance academy of Suspiria. On that occasion back in the seventies, the scenery had a touch of a whimsical Art Deco style.

But according to an interview, Del Toro is aiming higher, to the Mount Everest of the haunted-house terror films: Stanley Kubrick's The shining (a terrific classic movie whose second part called Doctor Sleep was filmed in Atlanta.


Film Location house corridors
But let's go back to the world of Crimson Peak, set in the late nineteenth century.

The film was shot in Canada, but in fiction, we are in what is today Cumbria, (or the historic Cumberland), the most northwesterly county of England, bordering Scotland.

By the way, this article contains fewer spoilers than the trailer of the film!


Crimson Peak Manor room
The house of Crimson Peak is the real star of the film, but where is it located?

Unfortunately, it only existed in a stage of Pinewood Toronto Studios. The interiors of Crimson Peak manor were painstakingly recreated in a set. Once filming ended, they were dismantled for good.
Image courtesy of Legendary Pictures


Crimson Peak Locations
The neo-Gothic architecture facade of Allerdale Hall also doesn't exist, it's all a product of CGI (Computer Generated Imagery).

The Locke and Key house from the Netflix series is also an awesome CGI haunted house, whose interiors were also built in a studio in Toronto.
Image courtesy of Legendary Pictures


Casa Loma Toronto
The library of the Gothic revival-style house Casa Loma in Toronto was the elegant setting for a ballroom scene.

The production was also filming in some bedrooms and in the stables.
Image by Karim Rezk


Crimson Peak Filming locations
The scene of the ball is where the beauty Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland, Only Lovers Left Alive) will meet a seductive stranger that... sorry, we said no spoilers!
Image courtesy of Legendary Pictures


Tom Hiddleston as Thomas Sharpe
Tom Hiddleston (who also appeared in Only Lovers Left Alive, Loki), is the man who... whoops, have you seen those stained glass windows in the background?
Image courtesy of Legendary Pictures


Crimson Peak Scene location
The windows belong to the Masonic Scottish Rite Club building in Hamilton, Ontario.

Some key scenes of the acclaimed TV show The Handmaid's Tale were also filmed here.
Image by Alexander Synaptic


Victorian Mason hall Hamilton
Several outdoor scenes were also filmed using this Victorian Masonic building as a background.
Image by John Piercy


Dundurn Castle
Also in Hamilton, the production filmed some sequences in the gardens of Dundurn Castle.
Image by CO1867


Victorian picnic set
In one of the scenes, the characters are having a Victorian picnic.
Image by Mike Karschti


Crimson Peak Kingston
This is a picture from the set next to Kingston City Hall, where a big (also Victorian) marketplace was recreated.

The prison of the 2021 HBO series Mayor of Kingstown was also filmed in this historical city situated on the north shore of Lake Ontario.
Image by Monty Man


Victoria College Toronto
The scenes in Cushing's office were filmed in the Victoria College of the University of Toronto.
Image by Alexandra Guerson

Can you help to improve this article about the shooting locations of Crimson Peak? To complete and correct this report, any feedback, info, or images that you may have are more than welcome, thank you!

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5 comments
  1. Its set in Cumberland. Cumbria is the modern region that encompasses cumberland and another region.

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  2. Thanks for your accurate clarification!

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  3. Not just the outside of the house was CG, a lot of the interior spaces as well were CG, but they were so well done you'd never know it was all digitally created.

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  4. Amazing film, one of the most atmospheric I've ever seen

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  5. The scenes in Cushing's office were filmed in Victoria College.

    ReplyDelete

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