Why Frankenstein Marks The End Of An Era For Director Guillermo Del Toro

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Guillermo del Toro is many things. He's an Oscar-winning director. He's a man capable of delivering blockbuster thrills, as evidenced by 2013's giant robots vs. kaiju epic "Pacific Rim." He's also obsessed with monsters dating back to his earliest works such as "Cronos," leading right up to his Best Picture winner "The Shape of Water." And now? He's tackled one of the ultimate monsters with his new take on "Frankenstein" for Netflix. With that, it seems that del Toro has come to the end of one road and the beginning of another as a filmmaker.

In the book "Frankenstein: Written and Directed by Guillermo del Toro," the filmmaker explains that in the three decades that he's been a director, he's developed a style that came in handy while making his adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic novel. Interestingly though, the director also states that this marks something of a conclusion to the journey he's been on:

"In three decades of filmmaking, I had developed a style and a method that would be called on every day of this production. I patiently gathered a small list of people I would rely on when the time came. All these arts and crafts people have lent their skill, abilities, and passion for perfection to this film, a film that concludes a quest that started at age seven on a Sunday and ends here – in a blessed enterprise moved by love upon love upon love for monsters."

Del Toro does, indeed, love monsters. He even recently said that four of his other movies, "Cronos," "Mimic," "Blade II," and "Hellboy," are "Frankenstein" stories of a sort, or close to it. But is he done with monsters now?

"This film finishes so many things for me," del Toro continued. "It gathers the possible wisdom and probable faith that has sustained me through the ages and tested everything I ever believed could be done with the tale. Meticulously planned and then blessed by a series of casting, creating, and crafting opportunities that sprung fully formed almost at every step, this is my favorite filmmaking experience without exception."

For nearly two decades del Toro had been talking about making "Frankenstein," with frequent collaborator Doug Jones once eyed to play the monster. Jacob Elordi ("Euphoria") ultimately took on the role and, as the director says, it resulted in his favorite experience as a filmmaker. That's saying something coming from a guy who has a Best Director Oscar to his name.

That might lend some understanding to why this feels like a moment of transition for him. Maybe it means that del Toro will no longer chase monstrous dream projects like "At the Mountains of Madness" and instead focus his talents elsewhere. In an interview with IndieWire, del Toro further explained that filming a particular scene with Oscar Isaac's Victor Frankenstein helped shift his thinking regarding his future as a filmmaker:

"Something happened when Victor was doing the assembly on the anatomy, because I had dreamt of that scene so long and all of the sudden, we're shooting it. I felt that was it for something, to do with monsters, to do with my filmic language, something changed. I think it's never felt like that. Ever. I felt it a little on 'Pan's Labyrinth.' I felt it a little bit on 'Shape of Water.' I felt it a little bit on 'Devil's Backbone.' Those are the times that that's happened."

"This is much bigger. It just felt like, okay, that was me then and this is me now," del Toro concluded.

Clearly, something shifted very meaningfully for del Toro. It's natural for any great filmmaker to evolve. Steven Spielberg coming off of "West Side Story" isn't the same man who made "Jaws." Kathryn Bigelow, who most recently made "A House of Dynamite," isn't the same woman who made "Point Break." But this isn't a slow, natural evolution. Del Toro is clearly stating that something has changed within him.

For fans of his work, what does that mean? It doesn't mean he's going to retire or anything like that. It means he's going to try something new. Perhaps something influenced by the great films of the '70s. Speaking further in that same IndieWire interview, del Toro offered some hints as to where he's going to go from here.

"I want to try new stuff. I'm very intrigued by the '70s. I want to do something rougher and I want to try different uses of light and set. I'm sort of a closeted production designer. That's what I want to try."

As of this writing, del Toro's next movie hasn't been announced. It's impossible to speculate what that might be, but with everything he's said, it's clear that it's going to be a major departure for him. Either way, we're talking about one of the most respected and beloved directors working today. Whatever he does next, it figures to be of interest to fans of cinema far and wide.

"Frankenstein" is streaming now on Netflix.