Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Writer: Guillermo del Toro

Tagline: Innocence Has A Power Evil Cannot Imagine.

Actors: Ivana Baquero, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú, Doug Jones, Ariadna Gil, Álex Angulo, Manolo Solo, César Vea, Roger Casamajor

Runtime: 1h 59m

Category: Fantasy, Thriller

Synopsis: Ofelia and her mother Carmen are traveling to a military establishment out in the country. They are to live there with Carmen’s husband Capitán Vidal, Ofelia’s stepfather. Carmen is pregnant with a son and is becoming ill. They stop briefly on the way to the outpost and Ofelia finds a “fairy”. It follows her to the compound and leads her to the mouth of a great stone labyrinth. Later that night, the fairy leads her through the maze to a circular opening in the ground. She travels down and meets a faun. The faun tells her of a great, almost mythical underworld civilization of which she is the princess of. He instructs her that she must complete three tasks before she can reoccupy her throne. In the midst of her tasks, Capitán Vidal and his army have been battling a small group of gorilla terrorists that, in his mind, threaten the civility of Spain. The two stories collide at a final, life-threatening decision that Ofelia must make: save her baby brother…or save herself!

Review: I have been looking forward to this movie for some time now, and I have to tell you…I was not disappointed! I was expecting an interesting story dumb-down by copious amounts of CGI characters. Fortunately I was mislead. I have been told many good things about this flick and wasn’t really sure what to believe…or expect. But after watching this movie I finally understood what all the fuss was about.

The story is the most compelling part of the movie. It follows two separate stories that intermingle at random and hold a sense of tension all their own. I was hoping for more insight into the underworld and its inhabitants, but I guess you can’t have everything. Unfortunately, I do not really see where this constitutes a horror label but I have seen it on a number of other horror sites and decided to give it a go. Trust me, you will not be disappointed with this movie; with an interesting story and really cool cinematics, you’ll be sure to love it…or hate it.

The acting was very, very good. Each character was compelling in their own right and was cast perfectly; Capitán Vidal was the villain you love to hate, Ofelia was the innocent child in search of a destiny, Mercedes was a women torn between helping her brother and staying close to the captain, and Carmen was the medically-challenged mother of an overbearing husband. Then, the creatures were another matter unto themselves; the faun as a muse and elder of the underworld, the fairies as guides who hold conscience to par, and the thing in the wall that eats anything. Each one was excellent.

The effects were terrific. The make-up and prosthetics of professional caliber and were convincing enough. The faun’s movements and facial expressions were wonderful, mostly because they were animatronic. If they would have been CGI, it would have sucked. Even the thing in the wall was wicked awesome. Its movements and mannerisms were beautifully done and masterfully executed. I actually have nothing bad to say about this section.

Rating: 18. I wanted so much more of the underworld and so much less of the military. I wish they would have done more with the creatures of the underworld…like show them. There were only, what, four characters; the faun, the thing in the wall, the toad, and the fairies. I was aching for more the whole time, especially after the faun yelled at Ofelia and left. I mean, come on…give us more! Great flick…though…not really horror. Great all the same. (18of25).