5 Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies to Watch While Waiting for 'Frankenstein'
Let's take a look at the recommendations from Guillermo del Toro himself and prepare to properly meet his creation.
As the world eagerly awaits the release of Guillermo del Toro's latest masterpiece, his long-awaited adaptation of Frankenstein, we present the perfect opportunity to immerse yourselves in the right atmosphere.
We've rounded up five movies that influenced the master and earned his special praise. These films resonate with del Toro's own ideas of loneliness, human nature, the divine and the sinful, and the magic of cinematography itself.
1. 'Frankenstein', 1931
IMDb Score: 7.7/10
It was a movie that changed seven-year-old Guillermo del Toro's life forever. The future director was deeply moved by the story and the character of Frankenstein's monster, played by Boris Karloff.
Now, del Toro is closer than ever to realizing his own vision of the classic monster story. The idea that was born during his first viewing is finally coming to the big screen. Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein will be released on October 17.
2. 'Suspiria', 1977
IMDb Score: 7.3/10
Suzy, a young American, arrives in Freiburg, West Germany, to study ballet at a renowned dance academy. However, on her first night, she is denied entry to the school.
The next day, she returns and learns that a murder occurred the previous day – one of the dancers had died. Suzy meets a friend of the deceased who suspects that something sinister is happening at the school.
Del Toro described Dario Argento's masterpiece as "the work of pure madness and cinematic joy."
3. 'Saint Maud', 2019
IMDb Score: 6.6/10
Maud, a religious woman, works as a nurse. Her new patient is Amanda, a terminally ill former dancer who lives alone in a large mansion.
Maud carries out her usual duties, but after Amanda calls her a savior, Maud decides that she alone can save Amanda's soul from eternal torment.
On his X account, Guillermo del Toro wrote: “Astonishing first film. A filmmaker's voice emerges fully formed. Hagiographies have always been horror literature to me: Martyrs, Cephalophores, etc. Having been raised a Catholic, this hit a profound, very specific nerve.”
4. 'Memories of Murder', 2003
IMDb Score: 8.1/10
Del Toro feels a special kinship with Bong Joon Ho, the director of Parasite, which won an Oscar two years after The Shape of Water. Both directors want to show stories through the prism of specific historical and social contexts that change the perception of their work.
Set in 1986 South Korea, the film follows rural detective Park Doo-man as he investigates serial murders. Seo Tae-yoon, an investigator from Seoul, arrives to help, but for both men, the case turns into a painful, multi-year odyssey of failures and disappointments.
5. 'The Spirit of the Beehive', 1973
IMDb Score: 7.7/10
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Víctor Erice's drama shows the Spanish Civil War through the eyes of six-year-old Ana, who is discovering the fragile beauty of the world.
The catalyst for her revelation is watching James Whale's Frankenstein, after which she meets the "monster" – a soldier who fought against Franco's regime.
The Spirit of the Beehive inspired del Toro's best works, the Civil War diptych The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth, in which the line between the fascinating and the ugly, the fabulous and the real is also blurred.
