Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

So, I think it's time I introduced you to my favorite movie of all time, Pan's Labyrinth, (warning this shit is amazing):

 

The movie is about a girl (Ivana Baquero) who is told by a faun that she is a princess and she must complete three tasks to return to her world. Amidst all this is a compelling family drama set against the backdrop of the Spanish civil war. In addition is recognizing Baquero's amazing performance, two other very notable performances in the film on Maribel Verdu playing the strong female rebel Mercedes, and Sergi Lopez playing the evil step-father.

The film is directed by Guillermo del Toro, (a.k.a my favorite director)

Pan's Labyrinth is well acted and the special effects are beautiful and it tells one of the most frightful and beautifully sad stories ever told. It gets a 10/10 for me based soley on it's shear freaking brilliance, seriously...this movie IS DA SHIT.

Also this next picture is just badass:

Also just for reference the movie's website is still active and is very fun to poke around on: Pan's Labyrinth Website

The Abandoned (2006)

In this 2006, horror thriller we a see a woman going to Russia to collect her inheritance, after finding out her mother has died. While the movie begins sort of slow it slowly builds to a terrifying clusterfuck of scariness.

The movie does a nice job of blending scary sequences with a solid plot and very good acting from the two leads, Anastasia Hille and Karel Roden. One of the nicest parts of these two performances is the fact of just how refreshing they are in the horror movie world. The way that they are not refreshing is the fact that they topless teenage girls being stabbed by masked men.

The basic plot is that once the main character arrives shit hits the fan and she begins seeing ghosts, her own ghost and it's pretty fucked up:

Then she meets her brother, his doppelganger isn't much better:

From here the shit continues to hit the fan.

The Abandoned combines a solid dramatic plot, with scary and intense scenes seamlessly. The acting is very well done and overall I give it a 9/10, the only reason I couldn't give it a 10 is because the flashback sequences sometimes seemed a little forced which is awkward, other than that this remains to be my all time favorite horror movie.