Insight Editions just released a new book titled “Guillermo del Toro: At Home With Monsters,” which details the various beasties, creatures, mutants, ogres and all-around freaks that inhabit both del Toro’s films and home. The book’s release coincides with the current museum exhibit of his collections at LACMA, so we decided to make a ranking of what we consider to be The 10 Best Guillermo del Toro Monsters, which you can check out in the gallery below!
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Del Toro has said many times that he feels most comfortable on a movie set if there’s a monster on the call sheet, and the book details not only the monsters from his movies but their antecedents in folklore, literature and paintings. The volume also provides a look at his meticulously-decorated home Bleak House, which houses hundreds of sculptures, paintings and books to inflame the imaginations of all who enter. This book and accompanying exhibit are probably the best ways to experience del Toro’s home without a crowbar and a ski mask.
Check out our list in the gallery below, and be sure to let us know which Guillermo del Toro monsters are your favorite in the comments section!
RANKED: The 10 Best Guillermo del Toro Monsters
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#10: Knifehead from Pacific Rim
There were so many Kaiju to choose from in del Toro's big budget monster mash, but we have a soft spot in our hearts for Knifehead, who takes Gypsy Danger down in the opening salvo. He's a bit of a cross between old Gamera villains Gyaos and Guiron.
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#9: Sammael from Hellboy
For a man-in-suit monster, Sammael the Desolate One (also known as Lord of the Shadows, Harbinger of Pestilence, Seed of Destruction and Hound of Resurrection) has a very unique look and feel. His textures go from normal monster to tunes to brain-like, and his ability to turn into two more versions of himself when he dies makes him a formidable adversary for Big Red.
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#8: Forest Elemental from Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Notable not only for its immense size, this ancient tree god has an interesting ability for a monster: Its blood transforms whatever it falls on into mossy nature. When Hellboy chooses to destroy it, we feel it as a loss more than a victory, something of a twist for what was supposed to be a standard popcorn superhero flick.
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#7: Margaret from Crimson Peak
Margaret McDermott, the second ex-wife of Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), comes back from the dead not to terrorize Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) but to warn her of ol' Tommy's murdering ways. Her hollowed out face (achieved with a greenscreen cap over an otherwise practical make-up) makes her unique in the annals of movie ghosts.
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#6: Behemoth from Hellboy
This demon from the Ogdru Jahad, who bursts out of Rasputin's body in the finale of the first Hellboy, may be the closest we ever get to seeing del Toro's vision for H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu onscreen after the cancellation of At the Mountains of Madness.
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#5: Angel of Death from Hellboy II: The Golden Army
With some similarities to The Pale Man from Pan's Labyrinth, this is the next evolution of a similar design sense, with Doug Jones once again stepping inside one of the most elaborate make-ups ever conceived. The cracked face makes him distinct, but it's those peacock-esque eyeballs on his wings that make this Angel a sight to behold.
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#4: Pan the Faun from Pan's Labyrinth
The title character from del Toro's masterpiece has a devilish/prankish manner, but deep inside he wants what's best for Ofelia (Ivana Baquero). Doug Jones embodies this dichotomy with a beautiful performance that breathes startling life into the fairy tale creature.
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#3: Reapers from Blade II
With this triumphant sequel del Toro took ideas he'd had for a long time on ways to expand vampire physiology and applied it to The Reapers, a group of alpha vampires infected with a virus that makes them impervious to all vampire weaknesses except sunlight. The split chin and throat stinger, not to mention their always-blood-hungry inner organs, put a new spin on a very old monster.
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#2: Santi from The Devil's Backbone
The tragic figure at the center of the film, Santi's cracked porcelain visage makes way for a head wound suffered in a pool when he died, thus a constant stream of red blood floating out of it at all times in his ghostly form. This design was referenced again in Crimson Peak, although it made less sense in that context.
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#1: The Pale Man from Pan's Labyrinth
This fairy-eating terror from the deepest depths of del Toro's subconscious is a marvel of design, right down to the hanging skin on its once-plump frame that gives the creature a sense of history. And then there's the eyes in its hands. Yikes!
