Guillermo del Toro on Hellboy II

In The New York Times, David Itzkoff talks to Guillermo del Toro about his new film Hellboy II: The Golden Army, which opens in America this Friday (and in the UK on 22 August).

In the follow-up to his 2004 comic-book adaptation, he imagines a collision of the natural world and a world of magic hidden in the fringes of urban life. “What if tooth fairies were illegally imported in containers to work menial jobs in garbage collection?” Mr. del Toro said. “What would happen if trolls were just bag ladies collecting stray cats for eating?”

The result is a tale of good versus evil in which Hellboy, a heroic demon who works for a secret government agency, squares off against a ruthless elf prince determined to destroy humanity.

Also, in a special interactive feature for The New York Times, del Toro discusses the visual journals he kept during the film's development.