Celebrating Guillermo Del Toro’s 5 best films

Guillermo del Toro is an Oscar-winning director who will finally be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. We’re celebrating his five best films.

If you were rooting for The Shape of Water to win the Academy Award for Best Picture last year, then you’re well aware of the genius of Guillermo del Toro. The accomplished Academy Award-winning director is best-known for his dark storytelling and unique narratives.

Next month, he will be honored with a long-overdue star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The ceremony is set to take place on August 6 at 11:30 am PST. To celebrate this momentous occasion, we’re talking about his five best films and where you can watch them right now!

5. Hellboy (2004)

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Guillermo del Toro both wrote and directed this 2004 film based on the Dark Horse Comics graphic novel Hellboy: Seed of Destruction. Ron Perlman played the title role of Hellboy, and the plot followed his work to keep the world safe from paranormal threats.

The movie performed well both with audiences and critics. It’s a shame we only got to see one sequel movie before the franchise sort of fell into disrepair. The latest Hellboy reboot, released earlier this year, was both a critical and box office bomb. Many fans would be pleased to see del Toro return to the Hellboy story someday.

Where to watch: Hellboy is streaming on Netflix and Hoopla, or you can rent/purchase the movie from Vudu, Playstation Store, FandangoNOW, Amazon, RedBox, GooglePlay, iTunes, or Microsoft Store.

4. Crimson Peak (2015)

Crimson Peak is one of Guillermo del Toro’s lesser-beloved films, but I’ve always considered it a favorite. The story is a gothic romance starring Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Charlie Hunnam, and Tom Hiddleston.

If you’re a fan of shows like Penny Dreadful, you cannot miss out on watching this movie. It is also set in Victorian-era England and follows an aspiring novelist who journies to a Gothic mansion. While there, she is haunted by strange ghostly visions and must uncover the dark secrets of Crimson Peak.

Where to watch: You can rent/purchase the movie from Vudu, Playstation Store, FandangoNOW, Amazon, RedBox, YouTube, GooglePlay, iTunes, or Microsoft Store.

3. Pacific Rim (2013)

Easily one of del Toro’s most underrated films, Pacific Rim is one of the best movies about Kaiju you will ever see. It’s certainly on par with other legendary monster movies like Godzilla. It’s an original story, and sadly, it didn’t perform as well at the box office as studios would have liked. That said, the movie still got a sequel, but as del Toro wasn’t involved. The fandom universally hated it for several obvious reasons (you deserved so much better Mako).

That said, if you missed out on Pacific Rim in the past, I highly recommend it. The movie is about a world where monsters rise from the sea and start a war. To combat the Kaiju, special weapons are devised: massive robots known as Jaegers. Jaegers are controlled by two pilots who must let their minds meld together in a neural bridge.

Two unlikely heroes, a former pilot (played by Charlie Hunnam), and a new trainee (Rinko Kikuchi) team up to save humanity. The film also stars Idris Elba, Ro Kazinsky, Ron Perlman, and Charlie Day.

Where to watch: Included with SlingTV subscription or you can rent/purchase the movie from Vudu, Playstation Store, FandangoNOW, Amazon, RedBox, YouTube, GooglePlay, iTunes, or Microsoft Store.

2. The Shape of Water (2017)

Winner of Best Director, Best Picture, Best Production Design, and Best Original Score at the 2017 Academy Awards, The Shape of Water is a perfect showcase of Guillermo del Toro’s storytelling mastery. Like Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water also contains many fairy tale elements.

The story is set in the Cold War era, and centers around a mute janitor who falls in love with an amphibious man held captive at the lab where she works. The film stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, and Octavia Spencer.

Where to watch: Included with Cinemax subscription or you can rent/purchase the movie from Vudu, Playstation Store, FandangoNOW, Amazon, RedBox, YouTube, GooglePlay, iTunes, or Microsoft Store.

1. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Pan’s Labyrinth is a Spanish dark fantasy film that premiered in 2006. Again, del Toro wrote and directed this film. The story is set five years after the Spanish Civil War during the summer of 1944. We follow Ofelia,  who interacts with an abandoned labyrinth and mysterious faun in a mythical world beyond the real one.

It is influenced by many fairy tales and considered to be a  spiritual successor to del Toro’s previous film, The Devil’s Backbone. The movie won numerous accolades including Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Makeup. Ivana Baquero, who played Ofelia, also won the Golden Globe Award for Best New Actress.

Where to watch: Included with STARZ subscription or you can rent/purchase the movie from Vudu, Playstation Store, FandangoNOW, Amazon, RedBox, YouTube, GooglePlay, iTunes, or Microsoft Store.

Which Guillermo del Toro film is your favorite? Have you seen all the movies on this list? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Guillermo del Toro will receive his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 6, 2019.