Guillermo dꦿel Toro is one of the best storytellers and creative visionaries working in movies today. The way del Toro can let his imagination run wild with monsters, characters, and settings while still putting together a well-paced and emotionally charged film is special to watch. All of his movies are dark and magical, ranging from ghost stories to fantasy, sci-fi, and creature features, all with masterful direction.

With over three decades in the industry, del Toro built quite a career and his films have become🐼 as influential as the classic works he's been inspired by. Whether it be his monsters, dark fantasy narratives, or even Gothic horror, these films are all as thrilling as they are haunting.

Be sure to also check out some of Guillermo del Toro's other work not in a directorial capacity – Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, The Orphanage, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, The Hobbit Trilogy, Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans, The Witches (2020), and ♕also his TV shows – The Strain, Netflix's Cabinet of Curiosities, ꦕand the animated Tales of Arcadia Trilogy on Netflix.

11 Mimic

Guillermo del Toro had a rough experience working on his first major Hollywood creature feature, to the point where he disowned the movie's theatrical cut (a similar story to David Fincher 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:and Alien 3). Based on its ratings and del Toro himself not being a fan of the finished product, you know Mimic won't be an amazing experience. Thoughꦫ somehow, this film still managed to spawn two sequels.

Mimic is based on sci-fi author Donald A. Wollheim's short story, and it follows a team of scientists that now have to save the public from a genetically engineered strain of giant insects called the Judas Breed. These insects once helped them fight cockroaches carrying a devastating disease. 168澳洲幸运5开奖𝄹网:It's '90s sci-fi bug horror as you'd expect, but with some nice atmosphere and worthwhile pไerformances featuring the likes of Mira Sorvino, Josh Brolin, and🍃 Norman Reedus.

Mimic had a Director's Cut Blu-ray release in 2011, which del Toro approvꩲed.

10 Pacific Rim 🔯

As a creative, Guillermo del Toro is certainly 'King of the Monsters' when it comes to designing memorable horror movie monsters and highly original fantasy creatures, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:but his own Kaiju movie didn't quite overpower the strength of Godzilla 🍃or King Kong. The film had giant robot battles with Kaiju creatures that emerged through a portal 🗹in the Pacific Ocean, but it was ultimately a weaker venture.

Pacific Rim 🌳was more of a sci-fi, action-adventure blockbuster film for del Toro than his dark fantasy horror roots, so some of the heart and soul that lifts his other films gets a little bit lost. While the special ef꧋fects, monster designs, and action sequences are still very solid, the overall storyline isn't del Toro's finest.

9 😼 Nightmare Alley ﷺ

Nightmare Alley was del Toro's follow-up to The Shap🅷e of Water, and it didn't quite live up to the same expectations as his previous efforts. Despite the name, this movie is more psychological thriller than horror, with a clever morality tale of "how the mighty have fallen" built into its core. It follows Bradley Cooper's character, Stanton Carlisle, a clairvoyant con artist and fraud, who gets involved with the wrong person – psychiatrist Dr. Lilith Ritter.

The story is 🍌structured in a film noir template, and it's based on the 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham, so it can often feel a bit slow in parts before finally arriving at its main message and ending. However, it has an all-star cast with performances that don't disappoint, and the sets, atmosphere, and camerawork are ♛classic Guillermo del Toro.

8 Blade 2

Blade 2 was a fitting sequel to the original, and with Guillermo del Toro's creative vision driving the vampire action, you're in for a special treat with Marvel's Daywalker. The most unique vampire race brought to cinema was perhaps Blade 2's Reapers, creatures whose jaws can split apart and have a long proboscis to come out to extract their victim's blood. This also inspired del Toro's vampires in his 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:book serไies-turned-TV series, The Strain.

Although nothing c꧟ould top the nightclub fight from the first film, Blade 2 continues to have plenty of well-choreographed and brilliantly shot fight scenes, including the sewer nest sequence (with its spotlight on UV grenades) and plenty of one-on-one action for Snipes. Then, you also 𝄹have Ron Perlman as a fellow vampiric vampire hunter, Reinhardt, and Norman Reedus as Blade's new teammate, Scud.

7 Cronos

Cronos was Guillermo del Toro's debut film in 1993, sparking the start of a long-lasting friendship with his frequent collaborator Ron Perlman. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:It's a vampire film with Cronenberg-style body horror done in Guillermo del Toro's dark fantasy way. You have a device that's a parasitic gold scarab invented by an alchemist in the 16th century, which grants you eternal life when it attaches itself to your ski🌜n.

The side effects of the scarab? You start having a thirst for blood and are sensitive to sunlight. Tragically, an elderly antique store owner who watches after his granddaughter falls into the curse of the scarab, buဣt little does he know there's also an antagonistic businessman on the hunt for the life-giving device.

6 ♍ Hellboy And Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

Blade wasn't the only comic book hero del Toro got to adapt for the big screen, as he teamed with Mike Mignola to infuse his own fantasy vision into the first-ever live-action Hellboy. Starring as the titular giant-fisted red demon from hell is Ron Perlman, the best and most iconic iteration of Hellboy in live﷽-action. Joining him is John Hurt as Professor Broom, Selma Blair as the pyrokinetic Liz Sherman, and Doug Jones as Abe Sapien (and David Hyde Pierce as the voice).

The plot of the first film centers around a resurrected Rasputin's quest to destroy the world with the help of a Nazi steampunk killing machine, Karl Ruprecht Kroenen. 168澳🥀洲幸运5开奖网:The Golden Army is a hig🐓hly underrated sequel and a rare case where it was even better than the original. Much of that is owed to the gr♋eater emphasis on fantasy worldbuilding, and the exquisite costume design, set design, and makeup, especially for P❀rince Nuada and Princess Nuala.

5 Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio

Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio easily beat out 168澳洲幸运5ꦺ开奖网:the underwhelming live-action movie from 🅷Disney starring Tom Hanks the same year it came out. The director has a deep love for animation, as he expressed in his 20𝔉23 Oscars speech when Pinocchio won Best Animation, specifically stop-motion. It's a unique way to bring new life into this story. It's certainly one of the best Netflix movies of all time and one of the best film adaptations of Collodi's Pinocchio.

The story is dark and emotional in a PG way, bearing all the key marks of del Toro all over it. It's set in Ital꧒y just before WW2, so there♒'s that theme of fascism that's a constant driving force in his stories, and the fantasy creatures, particularly the Wood Sprite, are reminiscent of designs like those seen in Pan's Labyrinth. The characters themselves are all detailed and well-designed, with a highly talented voice cast behind them.

4 ♋ Crimson Peak

Like Robert Eggers' Nosferatu, Crimson Peak is 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:a masterclass in Gothic horror and romance, and even far superior to the 2024 vampire film in certain respects. This Victorian ghost story starts with the main character receiving a warning from her deceased mother – "Beware of Crimson Peak" – and those words will echo beyond the Gothic castles and mansions to haunt her until the fiꦿlm's shocking and twisted end.

Edith Cushing is betrothed to a wealthy inventor and miner, Sir Thomas Sharpe, despite her father's disapproval. Edith moves into his family's grand estate, Allerdale Hall, along with Thomas' sister, Lucille, and💯 things take a turn from there. A mystery will unfol🀅d about the terrifying ghosts that are haunting the mansion, as well as what Thomas and Lucille's true intentions are with Edith.

3 🌺 The Shape Of Water

The Shape of Water is Guillermo del Toro's most beautiful, poignant, and brilliantly written and directed creature feature to date. You have an unconventional Cold War-era love story between a lonely mute woman and a lethal Amphibian Man creature that ends in the most perfect way it can, and it's also the recipient of numerous Oscars, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:including Best Picture and Best Director.

Sally Hawkins plays Elisa, a janitor at a secret government facility where the Amphibian Man is being studied and who gradually develops a romantic bond with him. When learning of a plan to kill the creature, Elisa will break the Amphibian Man out of the facility with the he🌞lp of her co-worker, Zelda, and her friendly neighbor, Giles, so they can both be together and safe from evil government scientists.

2 The Devil's Backbone

Not enough praise can be said about The Devil's Backbone. It's a masterpiece of a ghost story in the way that it's written, d𓄧irected, and acted. The movie features one of Guillermo del Toro's most compelling mystery storylines with commentary on fascism, greed, innocence, and togetherness. The ghost design is also unlike anything you've seen with previous movie ghosts, and would actually influence Crimson Peak.

Set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War at an all-boys orphanage helping the Republican cause, The De♚vil's Backbone is suspenseful, frightening, incredibly meaningful, and offers plenty of twists. Eduardo Noriega's vile villain, Jacinto, Federico Luppi's Dr. Casares, and Fernando Tielve's Carlos are among del Toro's strongest characters. The beautiful way the opening narration connects to the ending is also one of the most masterful ways of crafting a film.