Dir. Guillermo del Toro, Spain/Mexico, 2001, 108 mins, Spanish with subtitles
Genre: World / Horror / Fantasy / Thriller
Cast: Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi
Review by Carol Allen
Following hard on the heels of Alejandro Armenábar's The Others comes another good spooky story from a Hispanic director. With The Devil's Backbone Guillermo Del Toro, who also directed the "monster insects in the subway" movie Mimic and the disturbing vampire tale Cronos, has created a gripping, unexpected and very different ghost story.
It's set towards the end of the Spanish Civil War in a remote orphanage, run by Casares, a kindly, ageing professor (Luppi) and strict, down to earth widow Carmen (Paredes). Also on the staff is caretaker Jacinto (Noriega), who was raised in the orphanage and is eaten up by bitterness and ruthless lust for the cache of gold he believes is hidden somewhere on the premises. Carlos (Fernando Tielve), a new arrival at the orphanage, is disturbed by glimpses he keeps getting of a ghostly boy, Santi, who disappeared mysteriously some months earlier. The ghostboy's best friend Jaime (Inigo Garces), at first hostile to the newcomer, gradually forms a friendship with him, as together they find a way to give Santi's ghost the revenge he craves.
The movie's effectiveness comes not from special effects, although the ghost is really scary, but from Del Toro's story telling skill in creating atmosphere and on the unexpected turns of the story. And there is a really terrifying and disturbing edge of the seat climax.
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