Pan's Labyrinth

Proof there is always another chance, I missed the opportunity to see Pan's Labyrinth (2006) during its initial theatrical run, but the following year, a local theatre near my college showed it as part of a film course, so I did see it on the big screen. 

By that point, I had seen the movie on DVD and knew what to expect. My fellow film students, knowing only it was a Spanish-language fantasy movie about a little girl and fairies, were not as prepared as me.

Very much a modern cinematic fairy tale, Pan's Labyrinth is not, I repeat not, a children's movie. Between the eyeless monster that eats babies, the fairies that get their heads bitten off, and the looming faun that looks like he belongs on a Dimmu Borgir album cover, this is a dark, intense fairy tale.

The film is also arguably not a fantasy movie; all these wonderful and frightening creatures we witness could very well be just the products of the imagination of a little girl desperate to escape the real life horrors of war surrounding her. Sure, monsters and supernatural creatures can be bad, but they got nothing on a cruel stepfather and an oppressive political regime.

The Shape of Water

There's a quote attributed to Stuart Gordon, director of Re-Animator, about how in all those old horror movies, you'd see the monster carry the heroine off into the swamp, but you'd never get to see what he planned to do. That desire to depict what the monster had in mind partly served as the inspiration for the infamous head scene in his Lovecraft adaptation.

Director Guillermo del Toro takes a similar philosophy in a different direction in The Shape of Water (2017), which he co-wrote with Vanessa Taylor. His heroine, the mute Elisa (Sally Hawkins), and his slimy creature, referred to as the Asset (Doug Jones, naturally), indeed go all the way, a couple of times, but it's played as sweet and romantic instead of disgusting and creepy.

You may be wondering how a human woman and a mutant fish-man can engage in coitus. Don't worry. Elisa helpfully explains the process, through sign language and other hand gestures, to her best friend and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer), in a conversation that runs the gamut from stunned incredulity to curiosity to unwavering support. We should all have friends as cool and understanding as Zelda.

Frankenstein (2025)

The newest adaptation of Frankenstein presents me with a critical question: would I have enjoyed this exact same movie more had it been directed by anyone other than Guillermo del Toro? I don't know

del Toro has one of the most impressive filmographies of any director currently working in Hollywood, and few other filmmakers in history have made so many lasting contributions to the sci fi, horror, and fantasy genres: Pan's Labyrinth, The Devil's Backbone, The Shape of Water, I can go on.

Frankenstein has long been a dream project of del Toro's. I remember when it was announced in 2007 with plans to star del Toro regular and go-to man in the creature suit Doug Jones. del Toro's films demonstrate a keen understanding of monsters, tragedy, the evil of men, and both the beauty and horror of the Gothic that del Toro and Frankenstein, on paper, is a match made in Heaven.

The Terminator

Strip away the legacy that followed. Forget the pop culture baggage. Ignore the subpar sequels. Examine The Terminator on its own terms. 

That can be difficult. So much has come and gone in the more than 40 years since the movie's initial release, some good, some bad, and some all but impossible to believe.

But try to set all that aside. Just watch the movie and experience it on its own terms. The Terminator a lean, mean thrill machine, packed with nightmarish imagery, an intriguing apocalyptic story, an iconic performance by Arnold Schwarzenegger, and enough humanity to offer hope for the future.

Aliens

In the final 20 minutes or so of Aliens, series protagonist Ripley (an Oscar-nominated Sigourney Weaver) prepares to enter the creatures' hive to rescue Newt (Carrie Henn), a little girl captured by the nasty creatures.  Ripley loads up with a massive pulse rifle, a flamethrower, and grenades. 

As the elevator descends to what could be her death, we see how strung out and exhausted Ripley is, covered in sweat and grime. With her weapons ready, she closes her eyes, mentally preparing herself for the horrors she's about to confront.

That little moment demonstrates why Aliens is a worthy follow-up to the original Alien. It expands both the characters and the narrative instead of repeating the same plot and because writer-director James Cameron gives Ripley something sci fi and horror characters don't always receive: choice. 

Many science fiction horror tales drop their protagonists in a pressure cooker and watch them react, and the best ones, like Alien, show us what those characters are made of. In Aliens, we get that, but some of the best moments occur not when the monsters unexpectedly attack but when Ripley chooses to confront them. Instead of seeing her as a fool, we the viewer understand, sympathize, and root for her for doing so.

The Abyss

An early image in The Abyss captures the mystery and danger of the hidden world lurking in the ocean depths. Oil rig workers, recruited by the Navy for a rescue mission, search the flooded innards of a sunken nuclear submarine and are greeted by the pale corpses of doomed sailors as they navigate in clunky scuba gear and breathing apparatus. One rig worker sees spider-like crabs nestled on a dead man's face, and in a gruesome moment, a crab scuttles out of the mouth. 

Even without aliens or creatures of unknown origin, the ocean contains its share of the strange, the uncanny, and the dangerous. Never mind the sea creatures that will eat you without a moment's thought; the human body is not capable of surviving in the ocean without extreme measures and hard-developed technology. With the cold, the water pressure, and lack of air, humans are outmatched and out of their element.

I'm Dangerous Tonight

It's accurate to say Tobe Hooper peaked early in his career when he directed The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, one of the most influential horror films of all time. It's also misleading because to reduce Hooper's output to one movie or to say he never made another one as good is to overlook a filmography filled with offbeat projects and hidden gems.

One such project is I'm Dangerous Tonight, a TV movie made for the USA Network and inspired by a novella (unread by me) by Cornell Woolrich, the noted crime writer who also wrote the story that inspired Hitchcock's Rear Window.