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In this image released by Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures, Tom Hiddleston, left, and Mia Wasikowska appear in a scene from "Crimson Peak." (Kerry Hayes/Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures via AP)

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In this image released by Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures, Mia Wasikowska appears in a scene from "Crimson Peak." (Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures via AP)

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In this image released by Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures, Tom Hiddleston appears in a scene from "Crimson Peak." (Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures via AP)

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In this image released by Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures, Jessica Chastain, left, and Tom Hiddleston appear in a scene from "Crimson Peak." (Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures via AP)

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In this image released by Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures, Charlie Hunnam, left, and Mia Wasikowska appear in a scene from "Crimson Peak." (Kerry Hayes/Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures via AP)

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In this image released by Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures, Mia Wasikowska appears in a scene from "Crimson Peak." (Kerry Hayes/Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures via AP)

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❮ ❯

Don’t believe the hype. If Guillermo del Toro weren’t attached or the cinematography so impressive, “Crimson Peak” would be just another forgettable Halloween staple wannabe instead of being compared to Hitchcock’s classics. Too many people seem too in love with del Toro to admit that he made a dissatisfying movie.

A voiceover from Edith (Mia Wasikowska) opens the film, entreating us to believe that “Ghosts are real.” Maybe; but they’re not very scary or helpful. Edith’s mother died when she was a child, but mommy’s ghost came back to warn her daughter to be wary of Crimson Peak. And thus begins a series of dumb developments: if a ghost is going to make the effort to come back from the dead to make a dire warning, make it helpful, and not one that only makes sense after it’s too late. Like, “Beware Loki,” or something.

“Crimson Peak” only succeeds at being visually interesting. It’s not suspenseful (with obvious twists stolen from other movies). It’s not involving (with characters that are difficult to care about), and nor is it scary (unless you count a few jump-scares here and there).

Wasikowska plays Edith Cushing, a headstrong writer who jettisons her intellect once she falls for Tom Hiddleston as Thomas Sharpe. He’s in town from England looking for investors to finance an invention that I challenge audiences to explain the significance of, or why he or his sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain) bother with this endeavor when they’ve been at it for years with no success, and when they’ve perfected an altogether different way of acquiring money.

When Edith’s filthy-rich dad is murdered (and for some reason everyone believes he repeatedly bashed his own head clear through a hardy bathroom sink), she collects a sizable inheritance and Thomas acquires a newly rich bride. They travel back to a comically dreary England to use her money to fund Thomas’ machine that mines for red clay that bubbles up right through the floorboards of their ridiculously cheesy and over-obvious haunted house. Guillermo del Toro said it was the best set he’d ever worked on, and it does look great — albeit a fun house version of every local haunted attraction you’ve known. Amusingly, all of this garish haunted excess barely elicits an Eddie Murphy-inspired “Now that’s peculiar” from our heroine, who will eventually need rescuing from all of her unwise decisions.

Guillermo del Toro apparently rewrote some scenes once he saw the set, and he also did some rewrites after Benedict Cumberbatch and Emma Stone were initially cast but dropped out (wise move). He also wrote up to a dozen versions of the film and was even coming up with new scenes during production. Maybe that’s why the film feels like disconnected sequences that don’t amount to much, collectively. The third act specifically suffers, as a supposed ghost story with hardly any ghosts in it devolves into a silly slasher flick, upping the grisly ante to compensate for its shortcomings.

Naturally, audiences must suspend their disbelief for a ghost story; but filmmakers should also let the ghosts do the unbelievable things, and not the humans. “Crimson Peak” piles on the preposterous, to the point it’s all outrageous past the point of caring. Grown adults once again make the dumbest of decisions, and overlook the most obvious of clues.

Edith has a fall from a height and takes a landing on a railing that would cripple anyone, but she still successfully fights off multiple enemies afterwards, even while being heavily drugged by another suitor. That’s stalwart Dr. Alan McMichael (Charlie Hunnam) who amazingly arrives just in the nick of time from America after a six- to 12-week transatlantic boat trip, and then locates Edith after walking through a snowstorm for four hours — and no, I’m not kidding.

But listen to the ghosts — beware “Crimson Peak.”

• THE FILM: ‘Crimson Peak'
• CRITIC RATING: ** stars
• STARRING: Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam.
• BEHIND THE SCENES: Benedict Cumberbatch was originally cast as the male lead but left the project due to undisclosed reasons.
• PLAYING: Layton Hills 9, Megaplex 13, Cinemark Farmington, Layton Tinseltown, Newgate Tinseltown, Megaplex 14 Perry 8, North Ogden 6.
• MPAA RATING:  Rated R for bloody violence, some sexual content and brief strong language. 119 minutes.