A good film, although the fantasy elements jarred

Rating: 7/10 (6 October 2016)

Guillermo del Toro's fantastic horror-cum-thriller is a film with an unwieldy subject matter. It strives to blend a period thriller involving the battle between Fascists and guerrillas with a Alice in Wonderland-type storyline involving a young girl becoming embroiled in a quest in a magical world. I didn't really care for the inclusion of the latter genre in this film; the fantastic elements felt half-written and clichéd, too obviously modelled on previous Hollywood fare and lacking in depth or interest; ironically, considering del Toro's independent background, these are the elements that feel too much like blockbuster fare; a triumph of special effects over substance.
The bits I'm talking about include the insect at the beginning, the fairies and Pan himself, whose camp mannerisms and riddle-strewn monologues were a little too much for me to bear. Thankfully, one of the film's fantastic moments makes up for these other weak bits: it's the centre-piece involving the utterly horrific Pale Monster, a monster with eyes in his hands. Hands down this is one of the scariest moments of cinema I've seen in my life and I loved every second of it; it's a shame del Toro couldn't reach this height with the rest of the magical stuff in the film.
The thriller plot is far more engaging, a familiar story of an evil man and the people in his household who obey him and secretly work against him with the rebels in the nearby woods. The baddie is played by Sergi Lopez, who steals every moment with a nuanced, understated performance that puts him up there in the ranks of top film villains. Lopez plays a man prone to violence and torture, and there are quite a few grisly scenes to be endured that will be no surprise to anyone who's seen the likes of BLADE II. The other cast members are also good; mainly the actors are unknown outside of Spain, and this works in the film's favour. The only exception is Doug Jones, playing Pan and the Pale Man; at this rate he's shaping up to be the new Lon Chaney.
Technically, del Toro puts as much work in here as in his other films; there's no faulting the effects, the cinematography or the music. It's all very effective as is the script and the atmosphere. I just wish some of the fantasy bits could have been handled better; I prefer to think that they take place only in the young heroine's mind, thus keeping the film a work of realism. It's much darker and more unsettling when viewed in this light.