An interesting blend of fantasy and reality. Some will love it and others will find it tolerable. This film is in Spanish, so be ready to read subtitles if you don't speak fluently.

THINGS THIS MOVIE CONTAINED: A giant (3 or 4 feet tall) toad, a guy getting his face bashed in, "El Capitan"

THINGS THIS MOVIE DID NOT CONTAIN:  Chun Li from Street Fighter, cell phones that talk shit and beat you up at night, Steve Martin. Untrue Fact: The monsters in this movie are actually real monsters, working as actors when they can't get a job eating people.

The Review: I know people are going to be mixed on this, so you are warned in advance. A young girl in the middle of the Spanish Civil War finds out she is part of another world. The movie contrasts the brutality and savagery of the war against the dark fantasy world of the girl, and weaves them together quite perfectly. The imagery is fantastic, and some of the fantasy even contains horror elements. That being said, apart from one partciularly awesome scene (and you'll know it, let's just say it has a monster that likes to eat kids) the most ruthless and hard to watch scenes take place in the normal world.

There isn't really THAT much fantasy in there, to be honest. It comes and goes, but most of the action takes place in the real world. The fantasy aspect is led by some awesome costume design, and when it does show up it's great fun to watch. The story is meant to examine society, humanity, and reality on a deeper level, but you have to be sharp to catch on to all that. The film comes off as a dark fairy tale set against a bleak reality, and it can be quite harsh. Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy, Blade II, etc) directs this one into what some would consider a masterpiece.

Unfortunately, while it is brilliantly put together, it isn't quite as fun as it could have been. I enjoyed it, but not to the point that I'd call it a masterpiece of entertainment. I at least would have liked more of the fantasy elements. The Spanish war parts were still good, it's just that the fantasy storyline was so intriguing I wanted more. While the film proved enjoyable for me, it might just be lacking enough fantasy for the fantasy seeker, and lacking enough action for the war movie lover. It's unique, but it's certainly not for everyone.

Complaints:  This movie had one of the coolest, most original monsters I've seen in a long time. Sadly he gets only about 10 minutes of screen time. They should do a spin off about the monster that eats kids, maybe make it a television series. Tune in each week to watch a new batch of kids get devoured. Now that's entertainment.

On a side note: The Ninja Master once met a gigantic Toad of human size. They played billiards together, and The Ninja Master won. The Toad lost all his money, and his wife disowned him.