Mexico On Film: Guillermo DelToro

Monster movies and horror films tend to have a lasting effect on those who view them, the imagery, the atmosphere and the music often add up to a memorable experience that the viewer is not able to shake off or forget easily - and so they should, for that is part of their purpose and often the intent of those who make them. The films of Guillermo DelToro employ all of the aforementioned ingredients in liberal doses, no surprise when one takes into consideration the fact that DelToro was obsessed with monsters and horror since childhood - countless hours spent watching classics such as Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolfman, etc. would inspire him to make his own movies and would go on to help him shape his career as a film maker.

Although he executive produced his first film (Dona Herlinda and Her Son, 1986) at the young age of 21, he would spend the next decade as a make-up supervisor and would parlay this experience into forming his own company, Necropia, in the early to mid 80's. He taught film workshops and also directed television shows during this period. Eventually, Guillermo found his way to feature films with his directing debut in 1993's 'Cronos', a revisionist and imaginative take on the vampire genre that would net him the esteemed critic's prize at that year's Cannes Film Festival. He developed his follow up to 'Cronos', the 1997's 'Mimic', while serving on the selection committees for both the Sundance Film Festival and the Independent Spirit Awards. It was clear to many that DelToro had arrived as a film maker in the horror genre, even though he was unhappy with the Hollywood system he had worked under while making the movie Mimic. DelToro returned to Mexico (In the wake of Mimic), to form his own production company (The Tequila Gang) and set out to make a thriller that was more dear to his heart than Mimic had been, the acclaimed film 'The Devil's Backbone'.

Satisfied with The Devil's Backbone, DelToro was now ready to try Hollywood again with everything he learned from his experience with Mimic informing his decisions. Next was the second film in Marvel's 'Blade' franchise, a film that is regarded as the best of the series, due in no small part to his visual flair and storytelling expertise. 'Hellboy' was another one of his projects that received critical and box office success; DelToro ingeniously adapted a comic book to the big screen with outstanding results.

After Hellboy, DelToro returned to the themes of childhood innocence and oppression visited in The Devil's Backbone with the visually fantastic (and frightening) Pan's Labyrinth. Merging real life atrocities with a psychological depth not seen in any of his previous films, Pan's Labyrinth was a crossover success for DelToro - Both art house and mainstream audiences were impressed with his work and he has also had multiple Academy Award nominations for his efforts. Two features, 'Pacific Rim', featuring massive, human-operated robots defending Earth against giant sea monsters, and a new version of Universal's old favorite 'Frankenstein', are currently on DelToro's plate.

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