Throughout a career that encompasses both visually arresting art-house hits and big-budget Hollywood spectacles, director Guillermo del Toro has continually redefined and elevated the horror genre with his deeply personal explorations of myths and monsters. These three Spanish-language films, each a tale of childhood in troubled times, showcase his singular fusion of the fantastic and the real. Drawing inspiration from a rich variety of sources, from Alfred Hitchcock to Francisco de Goya, the gothic-infused stories collected here—populated by vampires, ghosts, and a fairy-tale princess—make evident why del Toro is considered the master cinematic fabulist of our time.

Cronos

Cronos 1993

Guillermo del Toro made an auspicious and audacious feature debut with Cronos, a highly unorthodox tale about the seductiveness of the idea of immortality. Kindly antiques dealer Jesús Gris (Federico Luppi) happens upon an ancient golden device in the shape of a scarab, and soon finds himself the possessor and victim of its sinister, addictive powers, as well as the target of a mysterious American named Angel (a delightfully crude and deranged Ron Perlman). Featuring marvelous special makeup effects and the haunting imagery for which del Toro has become world-renowned, Cronos is a dark, visually rich, and emotionally captivating fantasy.

 The Devil’s Backbone

The Devil’s Backbone 2001

One of the most personal films by Guillermo del Toro, The Devil’s Backbone is also among his most frightening and emotionally layered. Set during the final week of the Spanish Civil War, it tells the tale of a twelve-year-old boy who, after his freedom-fighting father is killed, is sent to a haunted rural orphanage full of terrible secrets. Del Toro expertly combines gothic ghost story, murder mystery, and historical melodrama in a stylish mélange that, like his later Pan’s Labyrinth, reminds us the scariest monsters are often the human ones.

 Pan’s Labyrinth

Pan’s Labyrinth 2006

An Academy Award–winning dark fable set five years after the end of the Spanish Civil War, Pan’s Labyrinth encapsulates the rich visual style and genre-defying craft of Guillermo del Toro. Eleven-year-old Ofelia (Ivana Baquero, in a mature and tender performance) comes face to face with the horrors of fascism when she and her pregnant mother are uprooted to the countryside, where her new stepfather (Sergi López), a sadistic captain in General Francisco Franco’s army, hunts down Republican guerrillas refusing to give up the fight. The violent reality in which Ofelia lives merges seamlessly with her fantastical interior world when she meets a faun in a decaying labyrinth and is set on a strange, mythic journey that is at once terrifying and beautiful. In his revisiting of this bloody period in Spanish history, del Toro creates a vivid depiction of the monstrosities of war infiltrating a child’s imagination and threatening the innocence of youth.

SPECIAL FEATURES

DIRECTOR-APPROVED COLLECTOR'S SET:

High-definition digital restoration of Cronos, 2K digital restoration of The Devil’s Backbone, and newly graded 2K digital master of Pan’s Labyrinth, all supervised and approved by director Guillermo del Toro, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack for Cronos and 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks for The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth on the Blu-rays

Alternate DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround soundtrack for Pan’s Labyrinth on the Blu-ray

Audio commentaries

Interviews with del Toro, director of photography Guillermo Navarro, and actors Doug Jones, Federico Luppi, and Ron Perlman

Welcome to Bleak House, a 2010 video tour by del Toro of his personal collections

New piece on Pan’s Labyrinth featuring del Toro and novelist Cornelia Funke

Interactive director’s notebooks for The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth

Making-of documentaries for The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth

Geometria, a 1987 short horror film by del Toro finished in 2010

Footage of actor Ivana Baquero auditioning for Pan’s Labyrinth in 2005

Original Spanish-language voice-over introduction for Cronos

Introductions by del Toro for The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth

The Devil’s Backbone deleted scenes, with commentary by del Toro

Presentation of del Toro’s thumbnail sketches for The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth

Programs comparing del Toro’s thumbnail sketches and production storyboards for The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth with the final films

Piece on The Devil’s Backbone’s depiction of the Spanish Civil War

Animated comics featuring prequel stories for the creatures of Pan’s Labyrinth

Gallery of stills from Cronos, captioned by del Toro

Trailers and TV spots

English subtitle translations approved by del Toro

Deluxe box set for the Blu-ray, featuring new illustrations by Vania Zouravliov

Blu-ray: A 100-page hardcover book featuring an introduction by author Neil Gaiman and essays by critics Michael Atkinson, Mark Kermode, and Maitland McDonagh, along with production notes and sketches by del Toro and illustrators Carlos Giménez and Raúl Monge

DVD: Essays by Atkinson, Kermode, and McDonagh, and production notes for Cronos by del Toro 

New designs by Vania Zouravliov (Blu-ray) and Guy Davis (DVD)