The Pan's Labyrinth director had to buy a second home next door to his Hollywood mansion when his prop collection overran his family's pad. The place is full of wacky movie memorabilia and friends and fans are so intrigued, Del Toro stages small weekly tours around his home, so he can share his odd collection.

And when cops paid him a late-night visit recently, he felt obliged to let them in to explain why they could see a 'dead woman' in his lounge.

The filmmaker recalls, "The sheriff has shown up many times and the last time they were about to shoot the door open because through the glass they could see a dead woman. It's (a model of) Linda Blair from The Exorcist - I watch TV with her; I have her life-size on the sofa. They said, 'The lady's not reacting', and I said, 'She's not reacting, because she's made of silicon!'

"I opened the door and I gave them the whole tour. It turns out everybody was a fan and they radioed a couple of more patrol cars and more sheriffs came."

Del Toro reveals he has created a series of crazy and secret passageways linking up his two homes, one of which is a film fan's dream "man cave".

He explains, "I have passages behind portraits and a rain room, where it rains seven days a week. It's fun... I'm like the weirder Michael Jackson."