Spain 1939, during the end of the Spanish Civil War and young Carlos is dropped off at a remote boarding school where he encounters the spirit of a murdered boy, Santi. The other children at the school refers to the ghost as "the one who sighs" and Carlos soon finds himself fighting for survival, surrounded by ongoing war, cruelty, greed and a ghost.
The Devil's Backbone is a very subtle film that has a horror/supernatural theme to it but that has its focus on telling a good and poignant story, rather than delivering tons of scares. So while the film is not a scary one per say, it is chilling, not to mention atmospheric and has this very realistic feel to it that sometimes makes you forget that you're just watching a movie; the tale the film tells of is quite gripping and it doesn't take long before one is caught up in the fantasy and horror it lays upon you. All the characters are very much real and pretty much all of them has a lot of depth, something that makes you care more about what happens to them and also shows you exactly who is to root for and who's not.
Set in rural Spain at a remote boarding school that is really an orphanage, we're introduced to young Carlos who's one day dropped off at the place unknowingly of that his father is dead and that the school is to be his new home. He soon find out that he will be a permanent resident and if things weren't going bad enough for poor Carlos, a ghost soon appears and scares the living crap outta him. Some of the other boys, especially an older one, are giving him a hard time but somehow Carlos manages to keep his spirit up and eventually things get better.. at least for Carlos.
 
It is in fact a bit hard writing about The Devil's Backbone without giving too much away. What I can tell you though is that it's so not your typical horror movie, but more like a drama set in a harsh reality with a few fantasy and horror elements added to it. And it works so well, at least if you give it the chance to.
Throughout the entire film, the feeling of hopelessness is pretty much hanging like a big cloud above it, but every now and then we're treated to a little sunshine and thank god for that because it's heavy enough as it is. Taking place at an orphanage, there are of course quite a few child actors to be found within the film and you just gotta give them some kudos for their performances. Not once does it feel like they're out of place and they all play their parts tremendously well. The "older" actors are also doing a fine job portraying their characters and some extra kudos goes to the film's "bad guy" who is so bad one just can't get enough of him.
Do yourself a favor and watch The Devil's Backbone. It's quite chilling and tells a story that is pretty much impossible not to get all caught up in. The whole film is like a mix between a very harsh drama with a great fairy-tale like feel to it, and a truly atmospheric horror film indeed.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: El Espinazo del Diablo
MOVIE YEAR: 2001
DIRECTOR: Guillermo del Toro
WRITING CREDITS: Guillermo del Toro, Antonio Trashorras
GENRE: Horror, Thriller, Fantasy
CAST: Eduardo Noriega, Fernando Tielve, Junio Valverde
COUNTRY: Spain
RUNTIME: 106 min
RATING: 8/10
Devil's Backbone, The Website/IMDB Click here
Devil's Backbone, The Trailer Click here
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