Pan's Labyrinth - Guillermo del Toro

Fantasy movies often get a bad reputation for being too weird and ambiguous for the average viewer and many an audience refuse to open themselves up to what is behind the door. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy did an excellent job in bringing those viewers to the theater and fantasy films became popular again. My question is however: Are Fantasy films looked upon with any deeper level of seriousness today because of the LOTR films or are they still just sitting in the corner like an alienated little creature? Considering the level of stale product that has been popping out of Hollywood recently, Fantasy/Horror films may have a chance to reach a larger audience and be respected by them, and I believe that del Toro is the one to do it. This man has talent and knows how to tell a story, The Devil's Backbone was a clear indication of that: the pacing was well-timed, the viewer had to do part of the work in deciphering what was going on, and the viewer had to deal with what they found at the end. Similarly in Pan's Labyrinth, everytime is timed so that the audience can become part of the movie, this beautiful pacing enables the viewer to get closer to the characters -- it is amazing. Del Toro also reminds us of how dark certain stories can become when they are contrasted with real events that were, in themselves, very dark on a historical level. Also, we are brought back to the days in which Fairtytales and stories were not usurped by the jovial and arrogant little mouse and turned into mountains of fluffy fluff fluff; these stories taught morals and lessons for children, and children paid attention because they could not be as easily dismissed as they are today. This is definitely not a film for young children, but young adults may get a kick out of it and it could, hopefully, provoke some fruitful discussion with a parent or guardian.