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Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has made some of the most compelling monster movies ever. Earlier in his career, del Toro gained critical acclaim for directing the 2006 dark fantasy film Pan’s Labyrinth, which features some of the scariest and unique character designs along with a nuanced story.

Director Guillermo del Toro (Credits: CBS News).

During an interview, del Toro opened up about his work on the movie. He admitted that a real-life horror experience served as inspiration. del Toro revealed how his upbringing in Mexico impacted the film and the true ghost story that influenced his take on the material. Here is what del Toro had to say about the inspiration behind Pan’s Labyrinth.

Guillermo del Toro revealed a real-life story that inspired Pan’s Labyrinth

Directed by Guillermo del Toro, Pan’s Labyrinth is a 2006 dark fantasy film that received critical acclaim. It grossed $83 million (via Box Office Mojo) and earned del...

New month, new drops, and TheWrap is here to give you the best of what’s coming to Paramount+ this March.

Whether you’ve seen them before, have them on repeat or are first-time viewing they’re worth putting on you watch list. While Paramount+s list of new films in March stretch way beyond these seven titles, TheWrap wanted to point your attention to best ones on its lineup.

Check out our picks for the best new movies on Paramount+ in March 2025 below.

“A League of Their Own” (Columbia Pictures) “A League of Their Own” (1992)

To kick off Women’s History Month, we had to start our list with a film that highlights the story of women in professional baseball. In Penny Marshall’s “A League of Their Own,” a group of women step up to plate and join an all-female baseball team after men head off into battle in World War II.

Guillermo del Toro is one of the most celebrated movie directors, who still does not get enough credit for his unique vision. But apart from being a great director, del Toro has impeccable taste because he is also a well-known appreciator of Japanese pop culture.

Alita from Alita: Battle Angel [Credits: 20th Century Fox]

So it is only natural that he will also recommend something of quality to his friends as well. Thankfully, he did just that for another great director, and this is how James Cameron came across the manga of Battle Angel Alita or Gunm by Yukito Kishiro.

Needless to say, del Toro went on to help Cameron with its adaptation, bringing the masterpiece of a manga to a wider audience. Thus, it is not an exaggeration to claim that Guillermo del Toro is indeed a God of cinema, and he proves it through his impeccable filmography.

Guillermo del...

Horror thrives in situations where someone or something is preying on the vulnerable. It's a frightening set-up, with probable victims unable to contend easily with these forces by definition. The vulnerability of children (like Pan's Labyrinth's Ofelia or The Babadook's Samuel), the grieving (Amelia (Essie Davis), also of The Babadook), the lost (too many to mention), or even the temporarily distracted (so many having sex in so many slashers) easily make for dangerous situations and characters audiences can empathize with. It's truly a match made in hell, at least for our endangered protagonists. There are few communities more vulnerable than the elderly, which James Ashcroft's The Rule of Jenny Pen mines for a harrowing tale about a community plagued by a man with a dark side, and his creepy, creepy doll. It's a fine film that utilizes this vulnerability to strong effect (backed by excellent performances from...

Guillermo del Toro is not just one of our greatest living filmmakers. He is one of our greatest cinephiles, sharing his favorite movies all the time to introduce fans of his work to the larger film history context that inspired many of them. The “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “The Devil’s Backbone” filmmaker has previously made his TCM Picks as a filmmaker advisor to Turner Classic Movies. IndieWire praised his selection of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Suspicion” then, as a film by the Master of Suspense that feels oddly underrated today, despite being as masterful an exploration of subjectivity as anything in Hitchcock’s filmography.

For his March 2025 TCM Picks, del Toro returns to Hitchcock, and this time for a truly “canonical” selection from the Master, and gives some brilliant remarks about why it’s so everlasting — with even a shout-out to Hitchcock’s love of “overbearing mother figures.” It’s “North by Northwest.

Nearly two decades after its release, Guillermo del Toro’s R-rated fantasy film Pan’s Labyrinth is still considered among the best in its genre. The coming-of-age movie follows a young girl escaping her harsh reality by visiting a mystical world.

Pan’s Labyrinth is included among the dozens of titles joining Paramount+ this month and has been available to stream from March 1. The film, considered one of del Toro’s best, is the first of the writer/director’s projects to appear on the streaming service. Also coming to Paramount+ this month is Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, and Dune.

RelatedThis 10-Year-Old Guillermo del Toro Classic is the Perfect Gothic Mystery That's Still Worth Revisiting

Gothic horror is a genre not talked about a lot but deserves attention since Guillermo del Toro developed one of the best in the past decade.

"In 1944 Spain, young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and her ailing mother...

Max’s highly anticipated Spanish original series “When No One Sees Us” (“Cuando Nadie Nos Ve”) will premiere internationally on March 7 in all territories where the platform is currently available.

Directed by celebrated filmmaker and screenwriter Enrique Urbizu and starring Spanish icon Maribel Verdú, Mariela Garriga and Austin Amelio (“The Walking Dead”), the Max Original promises to be a standout in the realm of Spanish crime dramas.

The series, which previewed at the 2024 San Sebastián Film Festival, has garnered local critics’ praise. Based on the book of the same name by Sergio Sarria, its story unfolds during Holy Week 2024, where the American way of life at the U.S. Army airbase coexists almost entirely separate from the deep-rooted traditions of Andalusia.

There, Civil Guard sergeant Lucía Gutiérrez (Verdú) investigates the unusual and hyper-violent suicide of a leading local figure and other strange events during the first Holy Week procession. Meanwhile, Magaly...

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This March, Paramount+ is bringing you a ton of entertainment with the much anticipated true crime drama series Happy Face and also the streaming release of the horror comedy film Rumours. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Paramount+ this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 10 best films coming to Paramount+ in March 2025 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Up In The Air (March 1) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90% Credit – Paramount Pictures

Up in the Air is a comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Sheldon Turner. Based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Walter Kirn, the 2009 film follows Ryan Bingham, a man whose job is to travel places and fire people from their jobs.

Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is a master of creature horror with several of his movies featuring some of the strangest monsters. However, one of his earliest movies, Pan’s Labyrinth, has arguably some of the most scary character designs for a creature with both the Pale Man and the Faun, being truly unique and horrifying designs.

Pan’s Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro (Credits: CBS News).

During an interview, the director revealed that the original design for the infamous Pale Man was almost entirely different. However, del Toro decided to change the design at the last moment as he wanted to layer in some thematic expression in the character’s design, which made the Pale Man even scarier. Here is what del Toro had to say about the changes and why I am glad the director opted for a new design.

Guillermo del Toro explained why he changed the Pale Man’s...

George R.R. Martin is one of the best fantasy writers of our time. His amazing storytelling comes not just from his imagination but also from the stories that have inspired him. Over the years, he has talked about many sci-fi and fantasy movies that influenced his writing and helped shape his ideas. One of those movies is Blade Runner, which stars the famous actor Harrison Ford.

Even though Ford was a big name, the movie did not do well in theaters when it was first released.

George R. R. Martin | Credits: By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, Az, United States of America | Cc By-sa 2.0

But over time, more people watched it, and it became a cult classic. With its futuristic world, deep story, and questions about what it means to be human, it is easy to see why Martin loves this film.

George R.R. Martin loves Harrison Ford’s Blade Runner...

A thin line exists in Guillermo del Toro’s Spanish-language trilogy between exaltation and blasphemy and damnation and transcendence. Over the course of Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone, and Pan’s Labyrinth, characters scurry to justify their wants with religious and political ideology, laundering their wills and longings through cultural precedent.

Lost in these machinations is an elemental sense of morality, which the supernatural cathartically returns to the fore. This thin line is explicated by a villain in Cronos who likens Jesus to a mosquito, reasoning that both could walk on water, and so humankind was meant to harness the abilities of the insect. The differences between Christ, a savior, and a common parasite seem to be of no consequence, as they’re linked by this aging capitalist for their common wielding of power.

Del Toro is a moralist drawn to the platitudes of parable, and these films, with their prodigiously textured...

Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is known for his gothic horror movies, having defined the genre for over two decades. After starting with indie films, del Toro eventually won an Oscar for his work while delivering commercial hits. However, one entry in del Toro’s filmography remains extremely underrated, especially for being genre-defying.

Crimson Peak director Guillermo del Toro (Credits: CBS News).

During an interview, del Toro talked about his work on the 2015 gothic romance film Crimson Peak. The filmmaker explained how his intention with the movie was to always flip one common trope of the gothic genre that had become a tradition. In the process, del Toro made one of the saddest underrated horror movies, and here is what he had to say regarding it.

Guillermo del Toro wanted to flip a gothic trope with Crimson Peak

Director Guillermo del Toro helmed the 2015 gothic romance film Crimson Peak, starring Mia Wasikowska,...

Stars: Federico Luppi, Claudio Brook, Ron Perlman, Tamara Shanath, Margarita Isabel, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Farnesio de Bernal | Written and Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro’s Cronos is a striking debut that foreshadows the filmmaker’s signature blend of horror, fantasy, and emotional depth. Though often overlooked in favour of his later works like Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) or The Shape of Water (2017), Cronos is a vital piece of his filmography, demonstrating his fascination with monsters, morality, and the intersection of beauty and decay.

At its core, Cronos is a vampire film, but unlike conventional entries in the genre, it eschews many of the traditional tropes. The film tells the story of Jesús Gris (Federico Luppi), an elderly antique dealer who stumbles upon a mysterious golden device hidden inside an ancient statue. This device—the Cronos mechanism—contains an insect-like creature that grants its user eternal youth but at a terrible cost.

When Warner Bros. and DC announced that Ryan Reynolds would be starring as Hal Jordan in the big budget adaptation of Green Lantern, with Goldeneye and Casino Royale director Martin Campbell helming, there was a lot to be excited about. However, the resulting film is considered one of the worst of the genre and was a bomb at the global box office when it opened in 2011, earning $237 million against a $200 million production budget.

Speaking with Variety ahead of his next film Cleaner, Campbell opened up about all the reasons why his Green Lantern movie was so awful. It all comes down to enthusiasm for a project, in this case a comic book adaptation. As he explained:

"I'd never done one before. I think quite honestly, if you're going to do a superhero movie, you have to be in that world a little bit, you know what I mean? You have to be excited by it.

Pan’s Labyrinth remains the best film of Guillermo del Toro among the many projects he’s done throughout his career, and its success is a testament to its timeless quality and an enduring storyline that resonated with many fans.

He released the movie at a very crucial time in the industry, and he admitted to feeling the temptation of choosing a big-budget movie over his passion project.

Pan’s Labyrinth / Credits: Warner Bros.

We cannot blame him, though, because this was also when the superhero genre was taking off. As one of the most brilliant filmmakers in Hollywood, he was offered to take on commercial projects, which was also a big deal, but in the end, he chose to do Pan’s Labyrinth after receiving a sign from the heavens.

Guillermo del Toro had a difficult time deciding whether or not to do Pan’s Labyrinth Guillermo del Toro / Credits: CBS News

In...

In the ideological battle for the soul of video games, South of Midnight (out April 8) is the stop-motion heart beating a strange, staccato rhythm at its center.

The upcoming third-person action-adventure title from Montreal-based studio Compulsion Games (We Happy Few, Contrast) challenges Roger Ebert’s infamous “video games will never be art” take on almost every front. It’s a magical, lovingly hand-crafted world nestled within a rarely mined locale, featuring an effervescent protagonist, a stirring soundtrack, and a vibrant cast of mythical creatures and colorful Deep South personalities.

While not groundbreaking,...

For a long, long time, Hollywood had relegated Zack Snyder to a somewhat diminished status as a director for his previously difficult experiences with Warner Bros. Both his attempts at adapting comic books to live-action films had been deemed a severe failure of creative and artistic sensibilities. Yet, the films in question – Watchmen and Dceu – raised an army of fans who have been unwavering in their fealty to Snyder.

Watchmen [Credit: Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures]

Guillermo del Toro has had a somewhat similar experience in the industry as well. The director, famously known for his love for the bizarre, has nearly 20 fully-developed scripts in his possession that were never made into a movie. Despite his Oscar-winning credentials and unique artistic vision, Hollywood has hardly done right by del Toro.

However, even beyond their underappreciated vision as auteurs, there is a singular quality that unifies both Snyder and del Toro under one creative umbrella.

Quick LinksThe Black Cauldron Is a Classic Dark FantasyIt's Comparable to Icons In the GenreThere's So Much More to Be Done With This StoryDisney Has the Opportunity to Change Their Live-Action Reputation

Walt Disney Animation Studios has been creating family-friendly films for almost a hundred years, resulting in hundreds of well-known and widely praised movies. Among the most beloved films by Disney, some underrated and nearly forgotten animated movies deserve more attention. One of these movies, The Black Cauldron, has a major cult following. Viewers don't appreciate this movie because of its iconic Disney themes, but due to its dark, frightening aspects, which make it unlike most films by the production company.

Though some Disney live-action adaptations were incredibly successful, such as The Lion King (2019) and Beauty and the Beast (2017), many have fallen short of expectations, making this current trend controversial. One could make the argument that Disney needs to...

Make no mistake: there is something wonderful about an unapologetically evil villain, and there are some stories where it works to have an unstoppable force for the heroes to overcome. This could be in the form of a creature that can’t be reasoned with (like the Xenomorph in Alien), or just someone who’s entirely out-of-touch and sure of themselves, thereby being beyond redemption (like Captain Vidal in Pan’s Labyrinth).

Back when Walt Disney’s animated version of Pinocchio was initially released, Guillermo del Toro went to watch it with his mom, as a child. Perhaps, that’s when dreams of remaking the story had first sparked in his eyes, especially since the filmmaker claimed to have found the plot compelling.

Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro | image: Gage Skidmore, licensed under Cc-by-sa 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

However, decades later, after establishing himself in the industry with films like Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water, when Guillermo del Toro decided to pitch a new version of Pinocchio, he faced a major struggle. According to the director, it took him years to get funding because every major studio rejected his pitch until Netflix took him under its wings.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio was turned down by studios for a decade A still from Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio | image: Netflix

Serving the...

El director de ‘El Laberinto del Fauno’ reúne a un reparto de lujo. © Netflix

Netflix ha desvelado la fecha de estreno y el primer vistazo a Frankenstein, el proyecto soñado del aclamado cineasta mexicano Guillermo del Toro que, tras ganar su tercer Óscar con Pinocho, vuelve a confiar en Netflix para su próxima película en torno al monstruo más icónico de la literatura.

La historia no necesita presentación: un científico brillante, pero cegado por su propio ego, desafía a la naturaleza y crea vida, sin medir las consecuencias. El resultado es un experimento monstruoso que acabará devorándolo todo, incluido a él mismo.

El reparto que ha reunido Del Toro para para dar vida (nunca mejor dicho) a su versión del clásico relato de Frankenstein o el moderno Prometeo, la conocidísima obra de Mary Shelley, es de primer nivel (y monstruosamente increíble): Oscar Isaac será Frankenstein, el atormentado científico, Jacob Elordi...

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio might have been one of his crowning achievements, but the film has been revealed to be the final interaction of a different project that goes back to del Toro’s earliest days. Omnivore was set to be a very different kind of monster film, employing animation similar to that of Pinocchio in the form of claymation.

Pinocchio || Credit: Netflix

The production for Omnivore was in place even before Guillermo del Toro did Cronos. However, when the miniatures that were made for the film were thoroughly vandalized, del Toro decided to move on with a live-action project instead, leaving the film to never get a second shot at a production.

Guillermo del Toro prefers animation to live-action A still from Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio || Credit: Netflix

Guillermo del Toro revealed, during an interview with IndieWire, that he would rather do a lot more animated stuff than live-action.

Basada en las experiencias reales de agentes encubiertos en la lucha antiterrorista. © Netflix

Netflix ha compartido las primeras imágenes de Un fantasma en la batalla, un thriller político inspirado en las vivencias de varios miembros de la Guardia Civil que estuvieron directamente involucrados en la lucha antiterrorista.

Un fantasma en la batalla cuenta la historia de Amaia, una joven guardia civil que permanece más de una década trabajando como agente encubierta dentro de Eta con el objetivo de localizar los zulos que la banda tenía escondidos en el sur de Francia.

La película está protagonizada Susana Abaitua (El bus de la vida), Andrés Gertrúdix (Volveréis), Iraia Elias (Amama), Raúl Arévalo (El caso Asunta) y Ariadna Gil (El laberinto del Fauno).

Su director, Agustín Díaz Yanes (Alatriste), cuando comenzó el rodaje de la película, comentó lo siguiente: «Hace unos cinco años Belén Atienza me propuso que escribiera una historia sobre Eta.

Since the controversial fall of the Dceu regime, the remainder of the projects under development receded back into the shadows. Among the many whose names stuck out is Justice League Dark, a film that once sought out the great Mexican auteur Guillermo del Toro as its director. But it wasn’t meant to be.

Justice League Dark (2017) [Credit: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment]

Over time, and with a mighty push from Black Adam, the Dceu was officially dismantled in October 2022. As such, the Guillermo del Toro project fell through as well despite the master of horror devoting his career to bringing such characters as Swamp Thing and Etrigan the Demon to life.

Now, under the light of the new DC leadership, wandering minds cannot help but think of what greatness could be accomplished if only the suits and the execs had put studio politics aside to make one of the greatest movies happen.

It’s aliiiive! Netflix has released a first-look image at Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” and revealed that the film will be released in November.

The new photo shows Oscar Isaac, who portrays the titular mad scientist, holding a mysterious vial. In a prerecorded message during the streamer’s Next on Netflix event on Wednesday, writer and director del Toro introduced a selection of footage while showing off a “Frankenstein” room in his infamous L.A. “Bleak House.”

“This film has been on my mind since I was a child — for fifty years. I’ve been trying to make it for 20 to 25 years. In fact, some people may even think I am a little bit obsessed with ‘Frankenstein,'” he said, earning laughs as he gestured to the hundreds of themed figurines in the room behind him. “And they probably would be right. You see, over the decades, the character...

Movies where it’s revealed that the whole plot was happening in the protagonist’s head all along can be very hit or miss. Yes, yes, I know that Albus Dumbledore told Harry Potter that even though their conversation was happening in the latter’s head, it didn’t make it any less real. Yet, using that as a plot twist always makes the whole exercise a little cheap, and the only way to kind of bypass that feeling is by engrossing the audience in the narrative to such an extent that the last-minute attempt at recontextualizing the events doesn’t even matter. For example, there’s The Wizard of Oz, which is such a magical film that the knowledge that it was all a dream is borderline irrelevant. Stay, Ghost Stories, Donnie Darko, and Identity kind of make more sense when you find out that it was all being imagined by someone.

Un thriller realista, inspirado en hechos reales. © Max

Max acaba de anunciar el inicio de rodaje de Ravalear, una serie creada por Pol Rodríguez y dirigida por él mismo junto a Isaki Lacuesta, los aclamados codirectores de Segundo premio.

Ravalear ha sido descrita como un thriller realista, inspirado en hechos reales, que acontece en la ciudad de Barcelona y más concretamente en el barrio del Raval. La serie cuenta cómo, después de casi cien años de historia y tres generaciones, Can Moscas, un restaurante de toda la vida, estimado y respetado por todos en el barrio y frecuentado por artistas, empresarios y políticos, se encuentra bajo la inminente compra por parte de un fondo de inversión. Los quieren fuera del edificio como parte de sus planes para comprar propiedades y remodelar el barrio. Al principio, la noticia hunde a la familia en la desesperación; piensan que todo está perdido. Pero,...

"Buried in blood, bound by secrets..." This spring, Mad Cave Studios invites readers to delve into historical horror based on true events that occurred on Belle Gunness' Indiana farm between 1901–1908 in their new five-issue comic book series Buried Long, Long Ago.

Written by Anthony Cleveland with artwork by Alex Cormack and letters by Justin Birch, the first issue of Buried Long, Long Ago will be released on April 16th, and we're thrilled to share the first details, cover art, and preview pages from the anticipated first issue!

Synopsis: "Based on true events, from 1901-1908 Belle Gunness lured dozens of lonely men to her Indiana farm and savagely murdered them for their money. Because Belle managed to avoid capture and face trial, much of this story remains untold. Until now. This is a fairy-tale retelling of her brutal crimes from the perspective of her three young children...who soon discover there is something far worse,...

Guillermo del Toro is the king of weird horror. His unique vision has given fans some truly fantastical creatures; The Faun and the Pale Man from Pan’s Labyrinth, the Amphibian Man from The Shape of Water, and Hellboy from Hellboy being just a few. Creature features are del Toro’s bread and butter, but it’s rare nowadays, in an age of elevated horror, for a good old-fashioned monster movie to have a chance to shine. Such is the case for Alejandro Fadel’s 2018 Murder Me, Monster. An Argentinian film that’s gone criminally underrated due to difficulty streaming in the United States, Murder Me, Monster is a shockingly gritty horror movie that flawlessly blends its bizarre monster with grounded realism for maximum terror.

Despite a recently released featurette from Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man seemingly giving away the werewolf transformation, the truth is that Whannell’s reimagining of the 1941 Universal Monsters classic doesn’t feature a transformation at all, at least not in the conventional sense.

That’s because the entire film, set over the course of one harrowing night, centers on a man grappling with a long, painful transformation. Instead of turning into a wolf by the full moon, Christopher Abbott’s Blake instead finds himself losing his humanity as strange DNA brutally reshapes his body. Bringing this monstrous, body horror-fueled vision to life on screen was Prosthetics & Special Makeup Effects Designer Arjen Tuiten.

Tuiten’s task was daunting: designing a Wolf Man that looks nothing like his cinematic counterparts, and one that would slowly transform in stages over one night. Whannell envisioned his Wolf Man as more diseased than canine. Luckily,...

Starz has released the first look at its upcoming action-packed gladiator drama Spartacus: House of Ashur with a teaser trailer that gives fans an early peek at the next chapter in the Spartacus franchise set to premiere this fall.

Nick Tarabay reprises his role as the infamous Ashur in this epic new saga which re-imagines possibilities and turns of fate from the original fan-favorite series. Outlander‘s Graham McTavish will co-star as Korris, Ashur’s Doctore, and Tenika Davis as Achillia, a fierce gladiatrix, with Steven S. DeKnight also continuing to helm the world of Spartacus as executive producer and showrunner.

Spartacus: House of Ashur will be a history-bending, erotic, thrilling, roller-coaster experience that builds on everything that made the original series a colossal hit. The series poses the question: what if Ashur, hadn’t died on Mount Vesuvius at the end of Spartacus: Vengeance?

And what if he had...

Pan’s Labyrinth remains one of Guillermo del Toro’s most celebrated works, blending all that he cherishes about monsters and the supernatural with his cinematic brilliance. A particular character in Pan’s Labyrinth, specifically the Pale Man, has been revealed by del Toro to have a darker origin than what was first thought to be the case.

The Pale Man || Credit: Warner Brothers.

Guillermo del Toro spoke with Screenanarchy, delving deep into his work, which revealed the very mundane yet horrifying origins of the Pale Man, a character that has been infinitely dissected by enthusiasts and critics, thanks to the implication of the character.

Pan’s Labyrinth is Guillermo del Toro’s most Catholic film A still from Pan’s Labyrinth || Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

In the interview, it was pointed out to del Toro that Pan’s Labyrinth, which is one his dearest films that he has made, was eerily lacking the overt...

Master of horror Guillermo del Toro shapes his villains in ways viewers don’t expect. When most filmmakers design their antagonists with horrendous faces and indescribable appearances, he makes his evil characters pleasing to the eyes enough to make anyone easily fall in love with them.

Guillermo del Toro / Credits: CBS News

This is the dangerous kind of miscreant we should avoid—unfortunately, they always appear so well-dressed and well-mannered that we can’t help ourselves. In this notion alone is where the director draws his inspiration when it comes to molding his villains.

Guillermo del Toro on why his villains are so freaking attractive

Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has a fascination for human complexity, and it shows in his film characters. One of his most acclaimed projects, Pan’s Labyrinth, earned him worldwide praise, and it was considered one of the best movies of 2006.

Sergi López in Pan’s Labyrinth...

There are rarely a few directors in Hollywood who can compete with Guillermo del Toro’s iconic works like Cronos, Hellboy, and Pan’s Labyrinth. Yet, there was a time when even the acclaimed filmmaker faced a bit of anxiety when it came for him to unveil the first look of Pacific Rim, at the 2013 Comic-Con, against Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.

Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro | image: Gage Skidmore, licensed under Cc-by-sa 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Although the movie later became one of the most appreciated pieces of art to pay tribute to Japan’s anime and kaiju culture, Guillermo del Toro wasn’t quite confident about his film, during the Comic-Con. Considering how he almost disappeared from the industry for around five years, before returning with Pacific Rim, del Toro believed people would not way appreciate his movie against Snyder’s DC flick.

Guillermo del Toro was anxious about competing...

What do you get when you take one of Hollywood’s last remaining superstars, a director known for his horror, fantasy, and science fiction chops, a producer responsible for the biggest box office revenue ever, and the technology that went with the latter?

Guillermo del Toro | image: Instagram/@gdtreal

You get a film that has been delayed for 20 years and counting.

Guillermo del Toro has been trying to get an At the Mountains of Madness production for the past two decades, but even with the help of James Cameron, the project has yet to see the light of day.

Could Tom Cruise’s deal with WB revive At the Mountains of Madness? Tom Cruise in American Made || Credits: Universal Pictures

At the Mountains of Madness, written by H.P Lovecraft, first entered into talks for an adaption over at DreamWorks way back in 2004, which would then cycle through a slew of projects,...

From Captain Vidal in Pan’s Labyrinth to Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds, charismatic sadists have always been an integral part of cinema. But amid the numerous villains in film history, Tom Cruise’s character in Magnolia ranks among the very best in that category. As of today, the 1999 film is not only one of Cruise’s best works but also Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterpiece.

Magnolia (1999) [Credit: New Line Cinema]

Magnolia shifted the audience’s perceptions about motivational speakers as much as it shifted their perceptions about Tom Cruise’s skill as an actor. Despite his already A-list movie star status, Cruise achieved cinematic immortality through his role as Frank Tj Mackey – a character that was beyond complex and virtually impossible to represent on the screen.

Tom Cruise unleashes his most despicable persona Tom Cruise as Frank Tj Mackey in Magnolia [Credit: New Line Cinema]

Films have the power to deceive and disrupt or the...

In 2006, Guillermo del Toro broke the barriers of fantasy and imagination with his Academy Award-winning movie, Pan’s Labyrinth. Even after nearly 20 years, not only does it stand as a modern-day dark fairy tale classic but also doubles as a debate of trauma escapism and the ambiguity of “monsters.”

Pan’s Labyrinth [Credit: Warner Bros.]

The film, which is at its core a deeply unsettling story, has become one of the most celebrated works in the genre of mysticism and fantasy. Pan’s Labyrinth represents more than the horrors residing within one’s mind, giving birth to an incredulous and spell-binding fable. Understandably, Guillermo del Toro has a bone to pick with any director who would dare to remake his greatest creation.

Guillermo del Toro and his fascination with monsters Doug Jones as Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth [Credit: Warner Bros.]

Whenever asked about his fascination with horror and the supernatural, Guillermo del Toro claims that his...

Robert Eggers is considered one of the best horror writer-directors of our time. With movies like The Witch and The Lighthouse behind him, his latest idea to remake Nosferatu had horror fans with high expectations. And although the story behind Nosferatu is well-known, from Bram Stoker's book dating back to 1897 to the countless Dracula adaptations over the decades since 1922, this 2024 iteration was able to change some key elements in how it's told. Most notably, it drastically updated how Count Orlok looks and sounds.

Bill Skarsgård definitely deserves a lot of credit for the effectiveness of this new version of the vampire. While the art and makeup departments also did an incredible job on their end, the actor managed to bring a much-needed freshness to the role. His Orlok strongly contrasts with previous versions of the villain and further cements Skarsgård's reputation as a good choice when recasting iconic horror monsters,...

Nosferatu, the tale of a predatory Transylvanian vampire, remains one of the most iconic vampire stories in cinema history. The 1922 silent movie by F. W. Murnau established what horror could look like, with the shadowy figure of the titular vampire remaining of the cinema's most iconic images. Like all great stories, it has begat many remakes. Up until this year, the most famous follow-up was Werner Herzog's 1972 version starring Klaus Kinski as Nosferatu. But now, one of today's most idiosyncratic directors, Robert Eggers, brings us his own vision starring Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok, luring the monster out of darkness and into the spotlight once again. While plenty of horror fans and moviegoers are champing at the bit to see Eggers' version of the vampire tale, many might not know that it's not the only Nosferatu remake that we're getting in 2024! Just a few months ago in October, David Lee Fisher...

Few film genres have been as effective at bringing to life wildly colorful and creative concepts quite like the fantasy genre, limited only by the confines of imagination to make for an array of exceptional, otherworldly fables. From massive overarching franchises like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings to exceptional arthouse dramas like Pan's Labyrinth and A Ghost Story, there are countless possibilities for exceptional storytelling in fantasy filmmaking.

Few directors have a catalog as rich and diverse as Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense. Known for his razor-sharp storytelling, psychological torment, and iconic characters, Hitchcock's work often explores the darker recesses of human nature. One such film, Shadow of a Doubt (1943), is particularly notable, not only for its chilling narrative but also for its piercing exploration of innocence and malevolence. Even the genius behind Pan's Labyrinth considers it to be in the league of perfection.

It's been a long road, getting from there to here. 

Jon Turteltaub's 2018 shark thriller "The Meg" was based on Steve Alten's novel "Meg" that was published way back in 1997. The book was optioned for a film adaptation by Hollywood Pictures, a Disney subsidiary, the year prior, and several screenplay drafts were immediately written. Jeffrey Boam was said to have written an adaptation of "Meg," but Disney didn't like it. Indeed, none of those screenplays were deemed good enough to develop into an actual feature, and three years passed without any movement on the project. In 1999, the rights reverted to Alten. 

Then, in 2005, the book was optioned again, this time by New Line Cinema. The new version of "Meg" was going to be an impressive affair, with Shane Salerno as its screenwriter, and Jan de Bont as director. A 2008 report in the Los Angeles Times even noted that "Meg...

With a number of horror movies under his own belt, Guillermo del Toro is sharing his rave thoughts on a recent body horror hit. Regarded as one of the most revered filmmakers in modern cinema, del Toro is known for his ability to weave fantastical and frightening tales with emotional resonance. As a two-time Academy Award winner for The Shape of Water (2017), his unique vision has been seen in everything from Pan’s Labyrinth to Crimson Peak and Nightmare Alley, often exploring themes of transformation, loss, and otherworldly beauty, earning him a reputation as a master of genre storytelling.

Del Toro's also known for his advocacy of other storytellers, which extends to his efforts in championing women filmmakers, particularly in the horror and fantasy genres. Del Toro has frequently emphasized the value of female perspectives in reinventing narratives that traditionally prioritize male voices. Through projects like The Babadook director Jennifer Kent...

Airell Anthony Hayles is no stranger to the world of horror. The British filmmaker, producer, and writer has steadily carved out a space for himself in the genre, delivering a mix of thought-provoking narratives and imaginative frights. With a degree in Theatre and Film Studies from Goldsmiths College, University of London, Airell’s passion for storytelling and genre cinema has led him to work on projects as varied as Heckle, starring Steve Guttenberg and Dani Dyer, and Werewolf Santa, a darkly comedic twist on holiday folklore.

His latest project, Advent, premieres at FrightFest Halloween before its digital release on 25 November 2024. The film blends supernatural horror with contemporary themes, drawing inspiration from the sinister “Blue Whale Challenge” and placing its protagonist—a social media influencer—at the mercy of a cursed advent calendar. It’s a concept that embodies Airell’s approach to horror: merging unsettling modern realities with classic storytelling tropes.

Tom Cruise Teams Up For Lovecraft Adaptation (Photo Credit – Facebook/Instagram)

Guillermo del Toro, the Academy Award-winning director of acclaimed horror stories such as The Shape of Water and Pan’s Labyrinth, has long entertained audiences with his visually absorbing worlds of darkly whimsical plots. While the Mexican filmmaker’s rendition of Dr. Frankenstein is currently under production at Netflix for a 2025 release, many of his ambitious projects never saw the light of day. Among these was a bold and epic tentpole that involved notable Hollywood powerhouses like James Cameron and Tom Cruise.

The now-defunct passionate endeavor of del Toro involved bringing author H. P. Lovecraft’s sci-fi horror novella, At the Mountains of Madness, to the big screen for an adaptation that would turn out to be as epic as it would cost. In an interview with Collider, the filmmaker opened up about his failed attempt during the late 2000s...

One of the great genre filmmakers of our time has been Guillermo del Toro. Whether it be Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy, Pacific Rim or Crimson Peak, the filmmaker has constantly reinvented what big budgeted projects/adaptations could look like. Horror fans are eagerly awaiting his version of Frankenstein next year. However, while we get closer to del Toro’s next gothic venture, the director has revealed that he’s working on an extended cut remaster of his Oscar nominated 2021 thriller Nightmare Alley.

Guillermo del Toro remains one of the most visionary filmmakers working in Hollywood. He remains best known to many audiences for his two Hellboy movies starring Ron Perlman, as well as 2013's Pacific Rim, but his filmography extends far beyond these blockbusters into a wide variety of genres and tones. His most recent film, for example, is Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, which was told entirely using stop-motion animation.

This 2022 Pinocchio adaptation took home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, but it's far from the first del Toro movie to strike a chord with critics and awards bodies. After Blade II (2002) and Hellboy (2004), del Toro directed Pan's Labyrinth (2006), which earned him a Best Original Screenplay nomination. His next showing at the Oscars was in 2017 with The Shape of Water, which won Best Picture and Best Director, in addition to a Best Original Screenplay nomination. Another del Toro movie, however, also earned an impressive Oscars nomination,...

Polish filmmaker Bartosz M. Kowalski, known for his works ‘Hellhole’ and ‘Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight’, is gearing up to thrill audiences with his latest horror fantasy film, ‘Night Silence’.

The recently released teaser of the film takes viewers into the eerie confines of a nursing home where monsters begin to prowl, reminiscent of the haunting atmosphere in Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’.

The plot revolves around Lucjan, a retired actor portrayed by the late Maciej Damiecki. Lucjan finds himself temporarily placed in a countryside nursing home by his son while his house undergoes renovations.

Initially hesitant, Lucjan’s apprehensions are soon put to rest by the warm reception from the home’s staff and residents.

However, peace is short-lived as a series of murders and terrifying nightmares plunge the nursing home into chaos, forcing Lucjan to confront a grotesque threat.

The film not only promises to deliver...

Up next from Hellhole and Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight filmmaker Bartosz M. Kowalski is a new dark horror fantasy that sees a nursing home invaded by eerie monsters: Night Silence. The official Night Silence teaser gives glimpses of the creatures in a story and tone akin to Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth.

Kowalski co-wrote the screenplay with Pawel Maslona and Mirella Zaradkiewicz.

In Night Silence, “Lucjan, a retired actor, is placed in a nursing home in the middle of the countryside by his son. Nothing definitive, just for a few months while the house is being renovated. Reluctant at first, he is won over by the hospitality of the staff and residents. Soon, however, a wave of murders terrorizes the place. Tormented by terrifying nightmares, Lucjan must face a grotesque threat if he wants to get out of there alive.”

Maciej Damiecki, Zdzislaw Wardejn, and Wlodzimierz Press star.

Doug Jones revealed that his What We Do In The Shadows character was originally intended to be killed off in season 1. Based on the 2014 film by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, the comedic fantasy series follows the lives of vampire roommates navigating modern life in Staten Island. The mockumentary has received widespread acclaim for its clever humor and inventive take on vampire lore. Jones, known for his work in prosthetics-heavy roles, plays the grotesque yet oddly charismatic What We Do In The Shadows character Baron, an ancient vampire whose appearance has become a highlight for fans.

In an interview with Screen Rant, Jones revealed that the Baron’s longevity on the show was unexpected. He detailed how the character was originally supposed to die at the end of season 1 during “Baron’s Night Out,” but showrunners decided to keep him alive, reviving the Baron in season 3. He continued reprising his...