Spanish language film with English subtitles.

Set in facsist Spain in 1944 the story tells of Ofelia an 11 year old girl who escapes her nightmarish surroundings in books full of fairy stories. Having lost her Father she and her pregnant Mother travel to a forest to join her Stepfather, the slightly psychopathic Captain Vidal. Here Ofelia discovers the Labyrinth and a rather scary looking Faun who tells her that she must complete three tasks if she is to rejoin her Father as Princess of the Underworld.

Being one of the few people not to have seen Pan's Labyrinth I had obviously heard how fantastic it was meant to be. I watched a projected Blu Ray version so as not to miss out on the aspects for which it won three Oscars: Art Design, Cinematography and Makeup. These were very impressive but the most notable thing for me was the story. It's a cracker! Del Torro interlaces the separate worlds of men and fantasy showing us that the true monsters live among us.

There is an extra on the Blu Ray disk where Del Torro is interviewed by Mark Kermode. It's a fabulous incite into the mind of a master story teller.

I decided to give it a 10 even though the subtitles detracted ever so slightly from my enjoyment of the film. It's almost worth learning Spanish and then watching it again.