This film made an enormous impression on me when I saw it in highschool (2005-06, or so), when it came out in theaters.

This isn’t my moment to gush about it, though. I’m examining the weird hypothetical afterlife of HP Lovecraft the film critic. 🍿 🦑 🎞️

And what in HADES or the Fae Realm or any other hellscape you might namedrop, what in the HELL would HP Lovecraft have thought of

PAN’S LABYRINTH

I think (based on his exacting standards and what he jived with in terms of films he saw) that he would probably be enthralled.

The “Pale Man” with eyes in the palms of his hands, is extremely Lovecraftian but done in a convincing manner. Doug Jones is a legend, playing him and other physically distinctive creatures like he did later in THE SHAPE OF WATER. He portrayed both the Faun 🐐 and the Pale Man 🫣 in this flick.

Moreover I think HPL would have enjoyed how the film walks a razor edge of whether these fae beings are real or just due to her shellshocked imagination.

He was also nitpicky about historical accuracy, so IF he were alive in the mid-Oughts (2000-2010) he would undoubtedly judge the film on whether it was accurate to its era.

Which I mention because I’m sure he would be THRILLED by the way Hollywood has eventually become in terms of historical verisimilitude. He dismissed some films on their weak plots, but even more if the atmosphere/scene-details were distractingly inaccurate.

There are many reasons to regard this film 🎞️ as a tour de force by G. del Toro, enough to discuss in more depth elsewhere. I personally adore PAN’S LABYRINTH, and highly recommend seeing it if you haven’t!

But I’ll pass the mic 🎤 along here — have we got any other fans of GDT’s work in the audience? 😃