Guillermo del Toro says he "isn’t interested" in scaring his audience.
The 53-year-old filmmaker confessed that while working on the genre as a director, he will use "horror images" but likes to treat his films "more like a fairytale".
In an interview with SFX magazine, he said: "As a director, I’m not that interested in scares. I use my horror movies more like a fairytale. I do horror images, but like a fairy tale.
Guillermo is currently producing the big-screen adaptation of Alvin Schwartz’s collection of short horror stories ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’ with André Øvredal at the helm and confessed that as a producer on a film, he is "very interested" in scares as it’s something he "enjoys watching".
He said: "As a producer, I’m really interested in the scares with Juan Antonio Bayona in The Orphanage, and with Andy Muschietti on Mama, and André Øvredal on [Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark]. I’m very interested because it’s something that I enjoy watching.
"In this movie, you need to coax the audience with very elegant camera work and very good set-ups. There’s a high production value, too. Plus, I have lots of empathy with the characters."
The ‘Hellboy’ helmer went on to explain that although this film – which is rated PG-13 – is made for families to watch together, he hopes audiences who are children now will be able to appreciate the film in the future.
When asked whether the movie was made for children, he said: "When I made the first ‘Hellboy’, I thought, ‘The audience that I really want for this movie is going to be able to tell me what they think 10 years from now!’
"I was making that movie for kids and, sure enough, the people who grew up with it are the people who love it most.
"However, the beauty of this project is the way that it’s a horror movie that can be watched with the family."
Guillermo del Toro isn’t ‘interested’ in scares as director
