WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
You know I mentioned earlier in the month that I had favourite directors? Well, Guillermo Del Toro is definitely one of the others that genuinely I believe hasn’t made a bad film! But you all knew that already from my North American Horror article, didn’t you? It won’t be obvious from this article but it is clear that Del Toro puts a lot of faith in Ron Perlman’s acting credentials as he has worked with him more than once…two of these I’ve mentioned in this article.
Blade 2
I could probably have written this paragraph from memory because I absolutely love the film and have seen it so many times. But you know, couldn’t resist another watch. I know I’ve mentioned before that Blade is actually a Marvel character so many will wonder why I’m mentioning this as a horror film – but he is one of their only horror characters. What’s great about this film, and its predecessor, is the relationship between Wesley Snipes and Kris Kristofferson as Blade and Whistler. Although none of that is down to Del Toro’s direction, as it was already in place, however he does bring is the brilliance of Ron Perlman and at least one amazing fight scene between Luke Goss and Wesley Snipes. Also, out of the 3 films in the Blade franchise, this one actually scared me the first time I watched it
Crimson Peak
The thing is with this film, in the beginning you don’t realise it is a horror film – instead it seems more of a story with a ghost within it simply being used as a metaphor (see what I did there?) However, even before the horror story begins to truly be told there is a disturbing clip of ants eating a dying butterfly. Strangely, there’s actually a moment in the film that reminds me a little of Hellraiser and that’s the first time Edith sees the ghost of Enola Sciotti. This is Del Toro’s most recent use of Doug Jones as one of his monsters – the others being Pan’s Labyrinth and Hell Boy (I realise it’s a little harsh to refer to Abe Sapien as a monster…) For me this is much more of a thriller than a horror film even though it does have some elements of the occult.
Mimic
Ok, I have said this before and for those who have read my articles will remember that I do not like bugs so this film made me itchy as hell and found it pretty damn creepy! I’ll be honest, I found the ending a little disappointing. Sick, I know, but I was more hoping that only Susan and Chuy would survive and he would say ‘Mr Strange Shoes’ showing that it wasn’t over. But of course, we had a reasonably happy ending. On the other hand, I will give this film one massive thumbs up on the fact that it didn’t have the cliche of the lighter suddenly working – instead Jeremy had to find another way to create a spark.
Devil’s Backbone
This film was actually my second introduction to Del Toro’s early work – the first of course being Pan’s Labyrinth. Much like Pan’s Labyrinth, this film is set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War and focuses specifically on one child – this time a young boy called Carlos. I wonder if he chooses children for these styles of stories because of their natural curiosity, I wouldn’t image an adult following a shadow as willingly as Carlos tries to in the beginning, let alone going back after being frightened. There’s a beauty to the way that the ghost of Santi is created as you can see the blood floating away from his cranium as if he is still underwater as well as part of his skull beneath is his skin.
Cronos
The odd thing about this film is that the opening introduction to the storyline is in English, whereas the majority of the rest of the film is in Spanish much like his other films made around the same time. You could potentially look at this film as being his first vampire story as the Cronos device in question provides eternal life to its wearer but they also need to consume blood in order to replace that which it takes from them. This is also the first time Del Toro worked with Ron Perlman before casting him as Reinhardt in Blade II. Unlike Pan’s Labyrinth and Devil’s Backbone, this film does not centre on a child as its lead character – instead the focus is on Aurora’s grandfather. What I didn’t realise however is that this is actually Guillermo Del Toro’s first ever feature length film. It also has such a beautiful ending – Jesus sacrifices himself by destroying the Cronos device to avoid feeding from his own granddaughter Aurora after she attaches it to his chest to save his life.
