Really exceptional foreign language films pass us by, probably unnoticed, every day. Every once and a while one breaks out into the fairly mainstream - Downfall, Das Boot, Hidden Dragon. Many more go relatively unnoticed by all except those who keep an eye out or stumble across them - Brotherhood, being the near perfect example.

Pan's Labyrinth is another such movie - I didn't even know it was a Spanish film until faced with the choice between seeing it and some teen comedy movie or other. Subtitled (thankfully the era of dubbing is long gone) into English, the movie is a mix between historical drama and Grimm Fairytale.

Set in just-post-civil-war Spain the movie follows 12-year old girl Ofelia; who moves with her pregnant mother to be with her new stepfather, a captain in Franco's army hunting down the last pockets of communist resistance in the country.

Without ruining too much, the movie mixes the rather horrendus Spanish history of the era - with rebels hunted down ruthlessly - with some rather scary fairytale elements. There's blood, screaming and edge-of-your-seat moments as Ofelia decends into a fantasy world, including a chase by a demon which bears no small resemblence to the Combine slaves in Half-Life 2. Disconcerting.

The film is out in the UK, and is on a limited release in the US with a general release due on January 19.