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I was expecting The Chronicles of Narnia minus all the overbearing Christian allegory. Instead, Pan's Labyrinth is more like Schindler's List with fairies. And in Spanish. Rather than use the real world of 1940s Spain as a launching point for a child's journey into the fantastic, à la Narnia, Labyrinth is mostly set in reality with only brief forays into the Labyrinth. That reality, with Franco's fascists hunting freedom fighters in the woods, is far scarier than anything in a fairytale. Even in farytales like these, which are much closer in style to the Grimms' than to Disney.

That this film is the product of the same mind that inflicted Mimic and Blade II on the world is astounding. It's a masterpiece, in the literal sense. Undoubtedly the highlight of Del Toro's career (okay, so I haven't seen Hellboy but I think it's a safe bet), and a confident prediction for at least a nomination in the foreign film category at this year's Oscars.

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