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After proving his mettle with the American genre hits Mimic and Blade 2, director Guillermo del Toro returns to Spanish-language filmmaking with The Devil's Backbone. An atmospheric ghost story set in a renegade orphanage during the Spanish Civil War (specifically, 1939), the film frightens more through storytelling than via special effects. Following the mysterious disappearance of a resident/student, young Carlos (Fernando Tielve) arrives at the orphanage, which is an arid oasis in the war, run with tough love by headmistress Carmen (Marisa Paredes, All About My Mother) and Professor Casares (Federico Luppi, Cronos), both of whom traffic in gold and moonshine on the side. Amid typical run-ins with the local bullies, Carlos discovers the ulterior motives of Jacinto (Eduardo Noriega, Open Your Eyes), the aggressive young groundskeeper who has his eye on the headmistress's hidden treasure. Around the premises, Carlos begins to see a ghost child, who repeatedly foretells the explosive results of Jacinto's greed. The seasoned and impressive adult cast is well balanced by the young neophytes, who offer as much range and sympathy as their elders. Del Toro deals in eerie imagery, the most striking of which is an unexploded bomb dropped in the center of a courtyard; the ghost's a chiller, too, always appearing to be submerged underwater, even while walking the halls. Equally masterful is del Toro's handling of the trials of childhood. Rarely has a horror film been as honestly sensitive to growing pains as The Devil's Backbone. Tony Nigro

All Movie Guide

Guillermo del Toro, who quickly became one of the most talked-about directors in contemporary horror films with his first two features, Chronos and Mimic, takes on a more subtle tale of terror with this psychological suspense piece. Casares (Federico Luppi) and Carmen (Marisa Paredes) operate a small home for orphans in a remote part of Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Helping the couple mind the orphanage are Jacinto (Eduardo Noriega), the groundskeeper, and Conchita (Irene Visedo), a teacher who is also involved with Jacinto. Casares and Carmen are aligned with the Republican loyalists, and are hiding a large cache of gold that's used to back the Republican treasury; perhaps not coincidentally, the orphanage has also been subject to attacks from Franco's troops, and an unexploded bomb waits to be defused in the home's courtyard. One day, a boy named Carlos (Fernando Tielve) arrives at the home, looking for a place to stay after being left behind by his parents. Casares and Carmen take him in, and the boy soon strikes up an unlikely friendship with Jaime (Inigo Garces), a boy with a reputation for tormenting other kids. But Carlos soon begins having visions of a mysterious apparition he can't identify, and hears strange stories about a child named Santi who went missing the day the bomb appeared near the orphanage. Mark Deming

Chicago Sun-Times

The Devil's Backbone has been compared to The Others, and has the same ambition and intelligence, but is more compelling and even convincing. Roger Ebert

Los Angeles Times

With the ambitious and ominous The Devil's Backbone, Del Toro rises to a new level of accomplishment, adding history and politics to his distinctive blend. Kevin Thomas

Product Details

• UPC: 043396056763
• Source: SONY PICTURES
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: Español
• Subtitles: English
• Time: 1:48:00
• Sales Rank: 24,662

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