Guillermo del Toro’s Monsters: Matter Out of Place

Abstract

The films of Guillermo del Toro abound in monsters, and the cinematic monster is a question of matter out of place. Monsters in literary, cinematic, and media texts are those creatures that on one level repel us, and they do so precisely because their physical existence defies our expectations of normality in ways that offend us. They ingest or expel substances that we find revolting; they look peculiar and misshapen. Many monsters appear humanoid, which underscores the notion of matter out of place still further, as we have ourselves as a so-called normal template for comparison. These monsters look like us except for the fact that matter is out of place: they drink blood, their flesh rots, their faces are misshapen, they become unnaturally hairy. Jasia Reichhardt argues, “Only a human being or a humanoid can be a true monster. No monstrous cupboard, chair, plant or teapot could engender real fear, horror and fascination all at once. The essential condition for a monster is that the human characteristics it possesses must not be changed too far” (1994, 139). These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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