Release:
2006 Written and Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
Starring:
Ariadna Gil as Carmen Vidal Ivana Baquero as Ofelia Sergi López as Capitán Vidal Maribel Verdú as Mercedes Doug Jones as Pan/Pale Man
Pans Labyrinth is not a horror movie.
I feel good to have gotten that off my chest. It took me quite a while
to watch Pans Labyrinth…maybe due to the
subtitles or perhaps because there were other movies in the theaters
that I wanted to see more, I don’t know. I do know that this
one showed up in a large number of “Best of 2006”
lists presented by many of the horror movie sites lurking around the
web.
Of course, after seeing Pans Labyrinth on so many
lists of the greatest horror of 2006 (above my personal pick of The
Descent) I just HAD to see this masterpiece for
myself. Unfortunately by the time I came to the realization that Pans
Labyrinth was considered a “must see”
there was not a movie theater in all of Georgia
that was showing it. Just my luck.
Finally
Pans Labyrinth was released on DVD, and I was able
to view this triumph of horror mastery. I will share my thoughts about
this incredible movie first, and my disdain for the “horror
intelligencia” that called it the best horror movie of 2006
later.
Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) is a young girl accompanying her mother (Carmen
Vidal) across the country to stay with her new father, a fascist
Captain leading troops in 1944 Spain. Since Ofelia's natural father
died, she and her mother have had a rough life…but
“El Captain” will save them from all of that
– and take possession of the child that Ofelia’s
mother is carrying in the process.
The
figments of Ofelia’s active imagination come to life when she
finds a fairy on the side of the road that leads her to the lair of
Pan, Pans Labyrinth. Ofelia, it turns out, is the
reincarnation of a magical princess that must complete three important
tasks to reclaim the forest for magical beings.
The score, visuals, characters and story are incredible in Pans
Labyrinth. This is a fantastic tale of good vs. evil, magic
and a child’s imagination. Truly magical from beginning to
end, Ofelia’s quests take her to dangerous and amazing
places to confront the evil beings that prevent the enchanted creatures
of good from flourishing. In parallel the evil fascists militia must be
defeated and the kind-hearted resistance fighters, determined to regain
their freedom, challenge the tyranny in the name of all that is
righteous.
Wrought
with incredible situations, emotional intensity and social commentary, Pans
Labyrinth will take you on a journey where anything is
possible and good always prevails.
As wonderful as Pans Labyrinth is, it is most
certainly NOT a horror movie. Why, then, would horror
movie-themed
websites name it as the best horror of 2006? I have a couple of
theories.
Pans Labyrinth is presented in Spanish with English
subtitles available for those that require translation. The fact that
this is a foreign-language sub-titled film immediately appeals to the
art-house crowd and therefore the horror intelligencia.
Pans
Labyrinth is intensely political, speaking to government
atrocities and the plight of honorable citizens to overcome seemingly
insurmountable odds to emerge victorious, freedoms intact. This puts Pans
Labyrinth in the realm of social commentary, also appealing
to the horror intelligencia.
The overwhelming conclusion here is that anyone that would call Pans
Labyrinth the "best horror movie of 'anything'"
is themself a member of the “horror intelligencia”, a group
of movie critics that believe that they have such a refined sensibility
that anyone that doesn’t agree with them is clearly
trailer-trash. They define genres because, of course, they know best.
We couldn’t understand.
Listen, I am just a guy that likes horror…and other types of movies too as evidenced by the fact that I think Pans Labyrinth
is truly fabulous. Just don’t try to tell me that Pans
Labyrinth is horror because I’m going to get mad.
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Pans
Labyrinth is intensely political, speaking to government
atrocities and the plight of honorable citizens to overcome seemingly
insurmountable odds to emerge victorious, freedoms intact. This puts Pans
Labyrinth in the realm of social commentary, also appealing
to the horror intelligencia. 
