Guillermo del Toro: 12 Must-See Films by the Director

Guillermo del Toro Gómez (Guadalajara, 1964) is an acclaimed Mexican filmmaker known for his mastery of monster-driven storytelling. He uses fantastical creatures to explore humanity, innocence, and imagination.

His style is marked by a blend of gothic horror, fantasy, and drama. He creates distinctive visual worlds rich in symbolism, where creatures reflect psychological and social complexities. The director values creative freedom and an author-focused approach to filmmaking.

Guillermo del Toro’s filmography is widely acclaimed. His adaptation of Frankenstein (2025) was a critical success that stood out as a horror film steeped in the melancholic spirit of Mary Shelley’s gothic romanticism.

Here are 12 films that will help you get to know his work better.

Cronos (1993)

Cronos, Guillermo del Toro’s debut feature, is a dark gothic fable that reimagines the myth of vampirism through the theme of obsession with eternal life.

Synopsis

The story follows the Cronos, an ancient scarab-shaped device that promises eternal life. Antique dealer Jesús Gris discovers it by accident, and the device stings him, beginning a rejuvenation process that brings with it a growing thirst for blood. As Gris slowly transforms into a vampire, he is hunted by a dying magnate and his violent nephew, who want the Cronos for themselves. The film explores the high cost of immortality.

Cast

Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Claudio Brook, Tamara Shanath, and Margarita Isabel.

Mimic (1997)

Mimic is Guillermo del Toro’s second feature, a notable sci-fi horror film that became a cult classic and is well known for its troubled production.

Synopsis

Entomologist Dr. Susan Tyler engineers a genetically modified insect called the Judas Breed to eliminate a cockroach-borne plague in New York. Three years after the apparent success, she discovers that the Judas Breed survived and evolved dramatically in the sewers, growing to human size and developing mimicry abilities to hunt. Tyler and her team must venture underground to confront the biological threat she inadvertently created.

Cast

Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam, Charles S. Dutton, Giancarlo Giannini, Josh Brolin, F. Murray Abraham, Alexander Goodwin, and Norman Reedus.

The Devil’s Backbone (2001)

A gothic horror drama often regarded as one of Guillermo del Toro’s most personal works and considered a companion film to Pan’s Labyrinth.

Synopsis

Set in an isolated orphanage in Spain during the final years of the Civil War, the film follows a young boy named Carlos. The orphanage is overshadowed by the dangers of war and secrets buried within its walls. Carlos encounters two threats: the caretaker Jacinto, who is searching for hidden treasure, and the ghost of Santi, a former student.

Carlos’s journey to uncover the truth about Santi allows Del Toro to explore themes of melancholy, memory, and injustice against the backdrop of conflict.

Cast

Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi, Fernando Tielve, Íñigo Garcés, Irene Visedo, and Javier Cerda.

Blade II (2002)

This was Guillermo del Toro’s first major studio project, in which he infused the Marvel superhero world with his signature gothic horror aesthetic and distinct creature design.

Synopsis

Blade forms an uneasy alliance with his enemies, the elite vampire unit known as the Bloodpack. Their shared threat is the emergence of the Reapers, a new and apocalyptic strain of genetically altered vampires led by Jared Nomak. The Reapers are stronger, have insatiable thirst, and prey on both humans and vampires.

To stop the Reapers from causing global devastation, Blade, his mentor Whistler, and the Bloodpack join forces in a brutal hunt through the underworld.

Cast

Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Luke Goss, Ron Perlman, Leonor Varela, Thomas Kretschmann, and Norman Reedus.

Hellboy (2004)

Hellboy was a passion project for Guillermo del Toro, who brought his distinctive aesthetic to this superhero film based on Mike Mignola’s comics. It stands out for its focus on creatures and humanity.

Synopsis

In 1944, Nazis and the mystic Rasputin attempt to summon demons, but only an infant demon named Hellboy emerges. Rescued by Professor Bruttenholm, Hellboy grows up to become the sarcastic lead agent of the B.P.R.D., working with Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman.

When the immortal Rasputin returns to carry out his apocalyptic plan, Hellboy and his team must stop him while Hellboy struggles to reconcile his demonic nature with his responsibilities and his feelings for the human Liz.

Cast

Ron Perlman, John Hurt, Selma Blair, Rupert Evans, Karel Roden, and Doug Jones.

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Pan’s Labyrinth is one of Del Toro’s most acclaimed films, a dark fable that blends the horrors of reality with the beauty of fantasy.

Synopsis

The film takes place in Spain in 1944 after the Civil War. Young Ofelia is forced to live with her cruel stepfather Captain Vidal, a fascist officer. To escape the brutality around her, Ofelia discovers an ancient labyrinth. A Faun tells her that she is a princess and must complete three macabre tasks to return to her magical kingdom.

The narrative contrasts the real horrors of war and human cruelty with the dangers and challenges of the fantasy world and raises the question of whether Ofelia’s refuge is real or imagined.

Cast

Ivana Baquero, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú, Doug Jones, and Ariadna Gil.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

Hellboy II: The Golden Army is the direct sequel to the 2004 film and showcases the director's most uninhibited take on an action-fantasy universe with an even stronger focus on creature design.

Synopsis

The film continues the story of the B.P.R.D., which is forced to act when Prince Nuada, an exiled elven warrior, breaks an ancient pact with humanity. Nuada intends to awaken the Golden Army, a force of 4,900 indestructible mechanical soldiers created to destroy humankind. To do this, he must reunite the three pieces of a mystical crown.

Hellboy, Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien must stop Nuada from activating the army and causing global extinction while navigating the increasingly complex dynamics of their personal relationships.

Cast

Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Jeffrey Tambor, Luke Goss and Anna Walton.

Pacific Rim (2013)

Pacific Rim is the director's grand tribute to Japanese kaiju (giant monster) and mecha (giant robot) films, delivering a spectacular mix of science fiction and action.

Synopsis

In the near future, Earth is attacked by giant monsters known as Kaiju that emerge from an underwater portal called the Breach. Humanity responds by creating the Jaegers, enormous robots piloted by two individuals linked through a Neural Bridge. As the Kaiju threat grows, the Jaeger program nears collapse.

Commander Stacker Pentecost gathers the last remaining hope: a final group of pilots that includes the traumatized Raleigh Becket and the inexperienced Mako Mori. Together they must operate an outdated Jaeger in a desperate attempt to close the Breach once and for all.

Cast

Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman and Ron Perlman.

Crimson Peak (2015)

Crimson Peak is a visually rich gothic horror film influenced by classic haunted house stories and marks Del Toro's return to romantic horror.

Synopsis

At the end of the nineteenth century, aspiring writer Edith Cushing, who can see ghosts, marries the mysterious English aristocrat Sir Thomas Sharpe. She moves with him and his sister Lucille Sharpe to their decaying and haunted family mansion in England, Allerdale Hall.

Edith begins to encounter crimson ghosts that warn her of danger. The story becomes a gothic journey where the dark secrets and cruelty of the living outweigh the threat posed by the dead. Edith must uncover the truth about the Sharpe family before it is too late.

Cast

Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston and Charlie Hunnam.

The Shape of Water (2017)

The Shape of Water is a dark romantic fantasy that became Guillermo del Toro's most celebrated success, winning the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director.

Synopsis

In Baltimore in 1962 during the Cold War, Elisa Esposito, a mute and lonely janitor, works in a secret government laboratory. Her life changes when an amphibious humanoid captured in the Amazon arrives and is subjected to brutal treatment by Colonel Strickland. Elisa forms a forbidden and unexpected bond with the creature, communicating through sign language.

When she learns that the government plans to dissect it, Elisa and her friends create a risky plan to rescue the being and release it into the ocean. The film is a fable about society's marginalized figures and invites viewers to reflect on the true nature of humanity.

Cast

Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Shannon, Doug Jones and Richard Jenkins.

Nightmare Alley (2021)

Nightmare Alley is Guillermo del Toro's first film without supernatural elements, a neo-noir thriller based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham.

Synopsis

In the 1940s, the ambitious drifter Stanton "Stan" Carlisle begins working at a traveling carnival where he learns the techniques of cold reading, a form of simulated psychic performance. Alongside his partner Molly, Stan brings their act to the elite circles of New York and quickly gains fame by exploiting people's belief in the supernatural.

His downfall begins when he partners with the dangerous and manipulative psychiatrist Dr. Lilith Ritter. They form a dark alliance to perform hot reading, a fraudulent technique that extorts individuals by pretending to contact the dead.

Cast

Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins and David Strathairn.

Pinocchio (2022)

Pinocchio is a stop-motion musical adaptation that reimagines Carlo Collodi's classic tale with the director's signature dark, emotional and political themes.

Synopsis

The stop-motion animation reinterprets the story in fascist Italy in the 1930s, giving it a somber political background. The grieving carpenter Geppetto builds the wooden puppet Pinocchio, who is magically brought to life. Pinocchio is impulsive and disobedient, which frustrates his guide, the Cricket.

The story follows Pinocchio's journey to become a "real boy" by learning about life, love and loss rather than simple obedience. He is exploited by Count Volpe and used as fascist propaganda during wartime, reinforcing the film's exploration of family and identity.

Cast

Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, Cate Blanchett and Ron Perlman.

Guillermo del Toro is the master of dark fantasy who has invited audiences for more than thirty years to see humanity through the eyes of monsters.

His style is unmistakable. He blends the horrors of reality with the beauty of magic and celebrates the idea of "Beauty in the Marginalized," reminding us that outcasts often possess more heart than those considered normal. With remarkable versatility, he moves easily between intimate stories and large-scale action films.

In the end, his work delivers a powerful message. True monstrosity is most often found in the human heart rather than in the creatures we grow to love on his screens.

So which of his films is your favorite?

See you next time!