SDCC 2014: Guillermo del Toro Unveils Pacific Rim and Crimson Peak Attractions

On Thursday, Guillermo del Toro and Legendary Pictures unveiled a pair of immersive Comic Con attractions aimed at bringing fans (as literally as can be accomplished on the show floor) into the world of Crimson Peak and Pacific Rim 2.

First up is the Crimson Peak Gothic Gallery -- a kind of mini-haunted house designed and lit by del Toro himself, where fans will get a feel for the world they're crafting in the upcoming tale of gothic horror. Designed in the look of one of the sets of the movie, the Gothic Gallery is a living breathing gallery of curiosities that includes props, costumes, and an atmospheric soundscape designed by Academy Award Winner Randy Thom.

Next up is Pacific Rim: Yaeger Pilot, a 3D, immersive VR experience powered by Oculus. In the simulation, you'll be piloting Gipsy Danger in a battle against Knifehead and can see as much of the universe around you as you'll be likely to get; you can look up, down and all around, including at your co-pilot, data readouts on the Kaiju and more.

When you're at Comic Con International: San Diego, it will be a Legendary or Oculus employee who walks you through these attractions -- for a select group of reporters last night, it was del Toro himself. After the fact, he joined us for a few questions.

"The thing that we tried to create is a mini-experience of the big set," del Toro said. "The big set that we built in Toronto was a three-story-high, fully-functional Victorian mansion. SO what we did is we said, 'let's design the attraction so you get a bit of that feeling.' I spent about five weeks designing the attraction, I lit it, I designed the sound with Randy Thom, I designed the display, the way the display is put together so it could be a little sort of performance experience if you want."

He explained that the experience is actually a kind of mini-version of the story in the film; when fans enter, they're met with a glowering painting of the family matriarch, and then there's a cabinet that tells, via props, the story of the movie.

"You can see it doesn't end well," del Toro deadpanned. "But it is very munch displayed so that you can put together some of the story. So if you pay attention to the prop descriptions, you can actually figure out part of the story."

"It's important that people know that we are going for the same sort of painterly fairy tale/Gothic visual that I've done in my European movies. Rather than an all-out just scary movie, bam-bam-bam horror, we're doing a really beautiful GOthic romance that has the elements of romance, thriller, supernatural," del Toro said, adding that "the ghosts are scary, very scary, but the scariest thing in [the movie] is the humans. So it's a character-oriented, character-driven piece.

He added that he wanted people to see the very carefully designed atmosphere, the attention to detail on the props, to the wardrobe which utilizes original fabric from Victorian times. This is original lace, it was handmade to exacting specifications. There are places within the experience that look out of focus or blurry if you stand back from them.

There are also a series of overhead arches which are spaced so closely together that when you look at them from farther away, it builds on that illusion, making the corridor seem much longer. Those arches look Victorian and decorative, but also feature a shape that is decidedly creepy.

"The negative space is like a human figure -- the head, the shoulders and the rest of the body," pointed out del Toro. "The corridor is threatening even with no one there, but if you stay in the attraction long enough, every three or four minutes, a ghost crosses the back of the corridor. If you're lucky enough to see it, that's great -- it is just a negative form in the dust, but it does cross the corridor."

Asked about the decision to work personally on these immersive Comic Con experiences, del Toro said, "It was important for me for people to have a firsthand experience both of this and Pacific Rim. They are sort of the left and right hemisphere of my brain."

He and ILM also oversaw the design of the Pacific Rim event.

"Everything you see in the two attractions is overseen by me, curated by me. It will give you a good idea of what Pacific Rim was and is going to be, and what Crimson Peak is.