Last year, Guillermo del Toro, the creative genius behind such genre classics as The Devil's Backbone and Hellboy, unleashed the most amazing feature of his career. Set against a backdrop of Franco's fascist Spain circa 1944, Pan's Labyrinth is an enchanting yet malevolent tale of a lonely child who escapes war-torn reality via a mysterious maze populated by bizarre creatures. In the labyrinth, young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) learns she has to complete a trinity of unusual tasks to discover her true self.


The fact that Pan's Labyrinth works so brilliantly on so many different levels was justly reflected when it scooped Oscars for art direction, cinematography, and make-up, and a trio of BAFTAs.