Inventor woos financier and his daughter to save the family mansion, but he has some skeletons in the closet (and the basement, and the attic and. . .)

Del Toro notes in his commentary that he set out to make a Gothic romance more than a horror film, but fails to balance the elements of either. Too gory for the romance crowd, not horrible enough for the horror crowd. Still the production design is a delight and the three leads excellent.

And the ghosts, like all of del Toro's creatures, are memorable.