At the Cannes Film Festival, Guillermo del Toro discussed his forthcoming film Frankenstein, expressing that it is deeply personal and not a traditional horror movie. Despite his work on projects like Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, del Toro emphasized that his narratives focus on emotional depth, often exploring themes of fatherhood and identity. His films, while containing frightening elements, blend gothic fantasy and fairy tale motifsâexemplified by titles like Pan's Labyrinth and The Shape of Waterâreinforcing his commitment to storytelling that challenges genre boundaries.
For the first time, I considered that. It's an emotional story for me. It's as personal as anything. I'm asking a question about being a father, being a son... I'm not doing a horror movie - ever.
While it can be confusing to hear a man with story and producer credits on a film literally called Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark say he's 'not trying to do' horror, that mindset aligns with most of his career.
Del Toro's early movies, like Cronos and The Devil's Backbone, can certainly be classified as horror, but his later films break away from conventional horror and lean more into gothic fantasies and dark fairy tales.
Emphasizing with the ostracized is at the core of plenty of del Toro's work, whether its Elisa and The Amphibian Man's fairy-tale-esque love story or Hellboy's pursuit of normalcy.
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