Dark Fantasy Films (Film Guide) - The Dark Crystal, Pan's Labyrinth, Dark City, a Nightmare on Elm Street (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Commentary (films not included). Pages: 29. Chapters: The Dark Crystal, Pan's Labyrinth, Dark City, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Characters and races of the Dark Crystal, Skeksis, Legends of the Dark Crystal, Troll, The City of Lost Children, The Power of the Dark Crystal, The World of The Dark Crystal. Excerpt: Pan's Labyrinth (Spanish: , "The Faun's Labyrinth") is a 2006 Mexican Spanish-language fantasy film, written and directed by Mexican film-maker Guillermo del Toro. It was produced and distributed by the Mexican film company Esperanto Films. The film was selected by the Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematograficas (English: Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences) to represent the country in the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film. Pan's Labyrinth takes place in Spain in May-June 1944, five years after the Spanish Civil War, during the early Francoist period. The narrative of the film interweaves this real world with a fantasy world centered around an overgrown abandoned labyrinth and a mysterious faun creature, with which the main character, Ofelia, interacts. Ofelia's stepfather, the Falangist Captain Vidal, hunts the Spanish Maquis who fight against the Fascist reign in the region, while Ofelia's pregnant mother grows increasingly ill. Ofelia meets several strange and magical creatures who become central to her story, leading her through the trials of the old labyrinth garden. The film employs make-up, animatronics and CGI effects to bring life to its creatures. Del Toro stated that he considers the story to be a parable, influenced by fairy tales, and that it addresses and continues themes related to his earlier film The Devil's Backbone (2001), to which Pan's Labyrinth is a spiritual successor, according to del Toro in his director's commentary on the DVD. The original Spanish title refers to the mythological fau...