My oldest son is really into horror movies, so when we heard that there was a Guillermo del Toro exhibit coming to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts we decided to go. I’ve had issues with shows selling out before, so we picked up tickets in advance, and on Friday night we made the trek to see what the exhibit had to offer.

The basis of the exhibit is a representation of Bleak House, a residence of his in Los Angeles. He has filled this house with memorabilia and artwork from decades of movies and books that he loves, including his own. The exhibit goes beyond just props and models from his own movies, and shares artwork that del Toro finds interesting and cool.

Overall, we had a nice time seeing all the various pieces. His collection is filled with amazing pieces of art from horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Many of the pieces are concept art for various movies, showing the early thinking into the look and feel that the designers were envisioning early on. There were some cool props from del Toro’s movies as well, including full size statues of some of the creepier characters.

If I had one complaint about the show, it was that it was too short. Although there were 8 gallery rooms as a part of the exhibit, it wasn’t densely packed, and there was almost no text accompanying the pieces. It took us just over 30 minutes to view every single piece at a leisurely pace. I really wish there had been more descriptions available with the art to talk about it’s history and meaning, and how it came to be a part of the collection. Instead, you simply enjoyed what you saw and moved on. Don’t get me wrong, it was all incredibly fascinating stuff, just not much depth to it.

In the end, a shorter exhibit probably worked better with teenage boys, and so your mileage may vary. If you’re planning on going to MIA any time soon it’s probably worth a visit, if you enjoy horror and movie history.