Trilogía de Guillermo del Toro

Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has brought a distinctive sensibility to horror cinema since his debut feature, Cronos (1993), which offered an alchemic twist on vampire lore and the costs of eternal life, presented with a mix of clockwork devices and weirdly organic imagery. This box set collects all three of del Toro's Spanish-language films, which afforded him greater creative control in exchange for smaller budgets than his American productions. Cronos, a clever take on the vampire film grounded in morality play and human drama, took del Toro to Hollywood, but he went to Spain to make The Devil's Backbone (2001), an elegant and harrowing ghost story set in a remote, makeshift orphanage during the final days of the Spanish Civil War, as greedy thieves converge to search for hidden gold. Del Toro uses stark, bold, and intense imagery, but still finds tenderness and even innocence amidst the savagery. Both titles have been previously available on DVD and Blu-ray from Criterion, but Pan's Labyrinth (2006) makes its Criterion debut here in a beautiful edition. It's an elemental Alice in Wonderland tale set in Francisco Franco's reign-of-terror Spain, circa 1944, as young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) discovers a magic world of faeries and an underworld of monsters. Del Toro's fantastical creatures have a primal, earthy quality and he reaches deep into the mythological subconscious and unadulterated horror of early fairy tales for his primal visions. Pan's Labyrinth won Oscars for cinematography, art direction, and makeup. Extras on this handsome set (the films are also available separately) include audio commentaries, interviews with del Toro, a “Welcome to the Bleak House” video tour of del Toro's personal memorabilia, a short film by del Toro, audition tapes, deleted scenes, storyboards, animated comics, a 100-page book, and more. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)