By the two minute mark, when we first meet the young Ofelia (played with confidence and poise by twelve–year old Ivana Baquero), clutching her book of fairy tales on her way to meet her evil stepfather, it’s clear that there is a remarkable fablecraft at work here.

Of the craftsman, Mexican born writer/director Guillermo Del Toro, it can be said that he’s kind of something of a whore. He has a track record for repeatedly squandering his noteable talents, grinding off big meaty hunks of Hollywood gristle, and cashing the checks. HELLBOY?  Please.  BLADE II? Yikes. MIMIC?  I’m sorry I brought it up. Whorish as these safari’s into the dark heart of the big studio system may seem, however, it bears noting that he takes all that cash, and runs back to Mexico to make his own movies – pursuing his own visions, in his primary language, free from studio intervention.