Watch: Trailer for Guillermo Del Toro's latest fantasy The Shape of Water

The first trailer for the sci-fi period piece The Shape of Water has been released online.

Once again Guillmero De Toro had merged real historical event with his monster movie magic. Whereas his Pan's Labyrinth was set in Spain during the civil war, this time round he's using his fantasy elements to tell a surreal story set in Cold war Era US.

Sally Hawkins (Blue Valentine) stars as a mute cleaning lady named Eliza working in a government laboratory whose seemingly monotonous existence is turned on its head when she discovers a secret experiment that's all too alive.

The anthropomorphic creature in question looks a lot like Abe Sapien from the Hellboy films, a franchise that Del Toro directed but is not in any way related to the action here. All we know is its not being treated as it should and I'm sure that wont end well for all involved.

Also present are some stellar character actors like Michael Shannon, Octavia Spencer and Richard Jenkins.

Watch the Trailer below