Guillermo del Toro

Preview 2009 - Books

8 Jan 2009

It’s another hot year for the Scottish contingent with Denise Mina, Irvine Welsh and Ewan Morrison all bringing out books (July) although arguably the country’s most intriguing 2009 publication comes from Dundee debutant Gavin Bain. California Schemin…

Don't be Afraid of the Dark

Unimaginitive reboot of 70s cult horror film

13 Sep 2011

(15) 99min Looming large in the childhood memories of many US pop culture aficionados, the original Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark was a minor but effective 1973 TV movie in which Jim Hutton and Kim Darby played a couple menaced by demonic creatures in…

Julia's Eyes

A very well made chiller in the stalk ‘n’ slash tradition

1 Jul 2011

(15) 112min In addition to directing visionary adult horror-fantasies (The Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth) and outstanding Hollywood blockbusters (Hellboy and its sequel), Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is also carving a second career for…

Guillermo del Toro's monster attraction

Celebrity Gossip

21 Jun 2009

Guillermo del Toro is "kinky". The 'Hellboy' director is proud of his obsession with everything strange and supernatural because it helps him make sense of his life. The 44-year-old filmmaker said: "When mankind needed to eat and sleep as cavemen…

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

21 Aug 2008

Fresh from the critical and commercial success of his Oscar-feted Spanish horror-fantasy Pan’s Labyrinth, Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro returns to Hollywood with a second blockbuster adaptation of Dark Horse Comics’ cult supernatural title. A…

Summer Film Special - Best of the rest

22 May 2008

The Incredible Hulk The big angry green killing machine gets another bite at the superhero film franchise cherry (after the box office disaster of Ang Lee’s Hulk). This version is adapted by the folk behind the X-Men films, directed by Louis Leterrier…

Ian McKellen's Gandalf reprise

Celebrity Gossip

1 May 2008

Sir Ian McKellen will play Gandalf in 'The Hobbit'. The Oscar-nominated British actor is to reprise his role from the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy for the latest film adaptation of a J. R. R. Tolkien novel. Last week, it was confirmed Mexican…

The Orphanage (El Orfanato)

13 Mar 2008

HORROR/MYSTERY (15) 105min It’s only March but you’re unlikely to see a better ghost story at the cinema this year than The Orphanage. First-time director Juan Antonio Bayona has obviously taken great inspiration from his producer Guillermo del Toro…

Lovecraft next up for del Toro

4 Oct 2007

I would have thought up a dreadful pun for the headline, but Guillermo del Toro deserves some respect from hacks like me. The man who brought us the fabulous Pan’s Labyrinth has revealed his next project after Hellboy 2: The Golden Army will be an…

Pan's Labyrinth

(15) 119min

13 Nov 2006

FANTASY/ALLEGORY This wildly imaginative fabulist fable from Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro works as a companion piece to his earlier excellent Spanish language ghost story, The Devil’s Backbone. Like that film, Pan’s Labyrinth locates…