The latest panel featuring the highly regarded Guillermo Del Toro got under way at Comic Con this afternoon. This time, rather than surprise project announcements for Disney, the visionary was on the panel for Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, a movie he produced and co-wrote by director Troy Nixey. The trailer certainly garnered attention. The debut teaser began with a voiceover saying, “there’s nothing to be afraid of.” Subsequently actors Katie Holmes and Guy Pierce are shown all kinds of terrified as they dodge “creepy creatures” in their home.
The film is about a girl who moves into her dad and his girlfriend's house only to find the chimney is an ancient thing that possesses evil spirits from the dark part of the fairy world and they want to take her there.
Del Toro, no longer censoring his usual foul mouth as he did for the Disney panel yesterday, described the film as "as serious as a [expletive] attack of gonorrhea."
The filmmaker also took a moment to endear himself to fans by encouraging them to draw him a picture of any film pitch they have and hand it to him at the convention. He does not read screenplays, but visual images can pique his interest. He also alerted that his newest creation, a remake of an earlier film that mixes horror with fairy tale mythology, will be rated R for “pervasive scariness.” This revelation was followed by a clip of the prologue of the film.
A full description of the clip is available from Shocktillyoudrop.com here: http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/comicconnews.php?id=15969
The terrorizing clip got many gasps from the audience. It was followed by a few attempts at levity, though Del Toro admits that he hasn’t quite got the formula for mixing horror and humor.
Del Toro also talked of future plans to resurrect a television horror anthology and a film that (and this sounds just outrageous enough to work) pits vampires against Luchador wrestlers. He also mentioned something about a horror film he's shooting next May that he did not provide details on as well as a stop-motion version of "Pinnochio." Basically, the guy's always busy doing something. As for The Hobbit, he said the first film is about 90 percent his conception and the second about 50 percent. He's hoping Peter Jackson himself will finish the work and that we'll maybe get to see his vision.
