Not for me, but I'm not going to deny that it is excellent

Rating: 10/10 (27 December 2009)

Many aren't going to believe the following; I have never been into faerie tales. I questioned the logic, the concept of pure evil, etc., from when I first heard them. And honestly, when I initially came into contact with Del Toro's work(with Mimic, possibly nearly ten years ago by now), I did not care for it. It's pretty clear to anyone who's seen any of the flicks by him that he is big on fantasy. And you know what? I didn't love this, but I can be objective enough to see that it is a brilliant piece, and that is largely because of him. He injects such ample amounts of imagination and creativity(and unlike Hellboy 2, he focuses properly, and doesn't put an excess of beings up on the screen, so *everything* otherworldly in this has an impact). This feels like one of the classic stories, and I really mean that, not the Disney-fied, sanitized version, no, the original, from when they were written down and further back. If you don't already know, let me make it clear to you; this is *not* for children. It is an adult film(stop snickering), with themes and visuals not for young minds and eyes. This is disgusting, creepy, grotesque and unpleasant. It is not for everyone. The editing and cinematography, in general, the look of this, is just *gorgeous*. Every acting performance is spot-on. I am thoroughly impressed by the 11-year-old Baquero. To be that talented at that age is always noteworthy. Doug Jones is *the* man you want to put in heavy make-up, and he yet again proves his outstanding dedication. The effects and live-action elements meld rather well. There is a lot of graphic, bloody violence and disturbing content, as well as, apparently, a little strong language(meanwhile, I don't speak Spanish well enough to tell, so...) in this. The DVD holds a brief intro by Guillermo, where he says that this came close to killing him. From the Trivia, he clearly put a ton of effort into this, and it truly paid off. Whether or not you like this or any other movie of his, in my book, he deserves respect. I recommend this to any fan of the genre. 10/10