There are different types of horror — some movies throw bloodthirsty monsters at the unsuspecting audience, others send ruthless serial killers, and others manifest supernatural beings with dubious agendas. Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto Del Fauno) delivers a haunting, mesmerizing, and transcendent experience that blurs the lines between dark fantasy and even darker reality where the real monster doesn't have claws, and a happy ending is as elusive as a fairy.

Guillermo del Toro, an acclaimed Mexican director, writer, and producer, is a true master of complex and deep horror, where nothing is as it seems, and the grotesque is infused with visual and poetic beauty. He's the brilliant mind behind such critically-acclaimed and award-winning films like The Shape of Water, Crimson Peak, The Orphanage (where he served as an executive producer), as well as more Hollywood-friendly titles like Hellboy, Blade II, and the Trollhunters animated series.

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Pan's Labyrinth is a spiritual successor to Del Toro's previous film, The Devil's Backbone. Both feature a near-orphan child in danger from a maleficent father figure during the upheavals of the Spanish Civil War. They cross the line into a magical world that is just as perilous as reality but provides a possible avenue for escape.

What Is Pan's Labyrinth About?

Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth

2006's Pan's Labyrinth is far from being a typical jump-scare-filled horror. It's intense, twisted, and hauntingly beautiful and intertwines dark fairy tales with wartime horror to a startling effect. The story is set in 1944 Franco's Spain and centers around little Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), who arrives with her heavily pregnant mother (Ariadna Gil) to a remote base, commandeered by her new stepfather, Fascist and merciless Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez). Vidal is tasked with hunting down the anti-Franco rebels, hidden in the nearby forest, which he does with brutal efficiency and no regard for human life. Ofelia befriends one of Vidal's servants, Mercedes, who's secretly helping the resistance, and at the same time, discovers a parallel world of fairy tales and magic.

An ancient labyrinth next to the encampment is occupied by a faun — the movie's Americanized title led to many people mistakenly believing the creature to be a Greek cheerful deity Pan, while he is, in fact, a faun linked to Roman mythology — who claims that Ofelia is a long-lost princess Moana and needs to undertake three tasks to prove her true nature and return to her magical realm.

For Ofelia, the two worlds blend, each presenting its own mortal dangers. For her, the world of fairies, with giant toads who hold mysterious keys and magical chalks that open secret passages, is just as real as the war-infused Spain where her stepfather tortures people and executes them on the spot at the slightest suspicion. The lines are blurred so expertly that the audience is left wondering: does the girl imagine the magical world to escape the dark reality (and if so, how come some objects from that realm, like a child-shaped mandrake root meant to help her mother with her difficult pregnancy, make it into the 'real world?) or is she really a long-lost princess, bound to rediscover her destiny (and if so, how come no one else can see the creatures?).

The Lifelike Characters

Ofelia and Mercedes

Thanks to the excellent performance and writing, both protagonists and antagonists in Pan's Labyrinth seem real and have very human motivations. Ofelia is a curious child who is drawn to the supernatural world that she sees as a potential avenue for escape. Her mother is trying to survive and finds refuge from the loneliness and dangers of wartime in marrying a military man in charge, even if he cares more about the unborn child that can carry on his legacy. Mercedes is utilizing her position and helping the rebels despite the risk because her brother is part of the resistance. A doctor chooses to follow his conscience and Hippocratic oath rather than orders, even if it means paying for it with his life. And even the ruthless Captain Vidal is still trying to live up to his late father's expectations.

Pan's Labyrinth doesn't have stereotypical horror villains or heroes but instead presents complex characters with weaknesses, doubts, and fears.

A Brand-New Magical World Built On Familiar Fairy Tales

Fairy tale influences in Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth

Del Toro masterfully infuses the magical world of Pan's Labyrinth with numerous references to mythology, fairy tales, and even children's literature, which adds to the unique atmosphere and narrative. The story starts with a classic "A long time ago" and features a narrator at the start and the end of the movie. Ofelia is sometimes dressed as Alice from the Victorian illustrations of Alice in Wonderland and is drawn to the magical realm, inhabited by strange and often dangerous creatures, not unlike Wonderland or Narnia. At some point, the girl travels to a creature's lair, where she is forbidden to eat or drink anything but does so at her peril — the rule that echoes many fables where humans are warned they must not touch food or drink or else they will remain in the Fairie world forever.

While the movie features multiple other elements typical for fairy tales and legends — three tasks that the heroine needs to complete, the moon cycle acting as a countdown, a simple girl transformed into a princess, a sacrifice of an innocent — Del Toro adds a much darker dimension to them and subverts expectations of a typical happy ending.

Is Pan's Labyrinth Scary?

Monsters in Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth

The simple answer is yes, but not how one would expect. It's visually stunning, eerie, hauntingly beautiful, and void of the typical horror tropes. While it's inhabited by nightmarish monsters like the Pale Man, a loose-skinned creature with eyes in his palms that devours children, the horrors of the real-life war, mostly reflected in the actions of Captain Vidal, are often much more terrifying. His slow, deliberate torture of the captured rebel, merciless executions of those he perceives as traitors, his disdain and disregard for his wife's life, his single-minded determination and lack of compassion — all arguably make him the scariest monster of the story. On top of that, the film has a darkly ambiguous ending that leaves the viewers wondering what is real and hoping against all hope that the magical world, where characters live happily ever after, does exist. All in all, it is a true horror masterpiece.

Nightmare Alley, Guillermo Del Toro's newest film, will hit the cinemas on December 17th. While it is said not to be a typical horror but rather a noir thriller, it's safe to say it will feature Del Toro's signature darkly beautiful style and ambiguous heroes walking the line between good and evil. And, perhaps, just like in Pan's Labyrinth, nothing will be as it seems, and the truth will be as elusive as a fairy's promise.

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