Looking at that list of films as a movie fan, it’s hard to rank those films on face value.
While the film did go on to make a big splash for Guillermo del Toro’s career, it was almost sabotaged by the fact that several possible studios were willing to offer more financing if the film was made in English, and with bigger stars.
But looking at some of the pitfalls and stories behind some of those films, you can see where they may have fallen behind.
Even The Shape of Water ran into some studio-suggested changes, as his original black-and-white vision was swapped for the more colorful approach that the film currently inhabits.