Guillermo Del Toro's obsession with the child's perspective is often the death blow of many films that have been produced with his name attached to it. He should stop producing them and he should start making them again because he has proven time and again that he is a fantastic storyteller and Pan's Labyrinth seems to be the film that blends together everything he values in film and stories.

This film is terrifying. Not so much because it is scary or filled with gore, no it is terrifying because we are scared for someone. Ofelia is a fantastic protagonist. She is a girl you automatically want to protect from the horrors around her and that investment is where this film…

Everytime I re-watch Pan’s Labyrinth I am reminded how brilliant it is and how foolish I was for ever forgetting its undeniable qualities. Whilst Guillermo del Toro’s references are clear for all to see - from Spirit of the Beehive and classic children’s literature to the monster movies of his childhood - his blending and combination of influences creates something uniquely his own. The story - a young girl entering a fantasy world in order to make sense of her troubled reality - is nearly as old as storytelling itself. Yet, del Toro returns this conceit to its roots. This is no sanitised or family friendly descent into a safe world of talking creatures, this is a world as grim…

The World Is More Than Enough - 30 Countries In 30 Days Challenge (26 / 30) - Mexico

SOME SPOILERS

Having created something quite wondrous against a Spanish Civil War backdrop with The Devil's Backbone, it was an interesting move for Guillermo Del Toro to tread on similar ground for Pan's Labyrinth.

It's not really a sequel and the two storylines outside of the conflict-based background are obviously quite different. The Devil's Backbone was a ghost story and this is a dark fairytale. Even so, it's the sign of a confident filmmaker to revisit an area that he had already created a quite wonderful piece of work in and try it once again, but in no way connect it to…

“Men talked amongst themselves about their fear of death, and pain, but never about the promise of eternal life. And every day, the rose wilted, unable to bequeath its gift to anyone... forgotten and lost at the top of that cold, dark mountain, forever alone, until the end of time.”

Well first, I’ll say what everyone is thinking; I am a complete idiot for waiting this long to see this film. Yes I know, it’s true, however the time has finally arrived, and 118 glorious minutes later, I am sitting here, contemplating how to review such a magnificent film.

I’ll start with the obvious; this film is pure magic. Anyone who can say that fairy-tales are for kids, is wrong…

Film 43/100 of the Jeapardous June Challenge

It's hard to believe this movie isn't an adaptation.

This has got to be one of the most imaginative films I have ever seen. Guillermo Del Toro presents such an amazing singular vision it's impossible not to be on board. Pan's Labyrinth takes all the wonder and amazement of a childhood fairy tale and wraps it in a dark, mature narrative for adults.

The two main plot lines of Pan's Labyrinth are both treated with equal weight and importance, and the result is a wonderfully balanced and paced narrative. As Ofelia delves deeper into deeper into a fantastical world of imaginative creatures and environments, the physical world around her becomes more and more…

Darkness is the most trivial of man's fears, yet still the most relatable. Most people learn, at a subjective age, that 9 times out of ten, there is nothing in the dark. Everything is the same as it is with the lights on. So why, then, are we so afraid of what we know to be safe? When we can't see what is around us, we are forced to imagine what is around us, and often times imagination is let wild. After having watched Pan's Labyrinth, I am lead to believe that the fear of darkness is just one of many manifestations of man's greatest fear, losing control of environment, and what we believe in.

The immediate strengths of this…