It's a striking film and further good news for the Spanish cinema, too few of whose films open here.
Comment
09/24/07
The Devil's Backbone (2001)
92 %
Reviews Counted: 99 Fresh: 91 Rotten:8 Average Rating: 7.5/10
Consensus:
Creepily atmospheric and haunting, The Devil's Backbone is both a potent ghost story and an intelligent political allegory.
Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins
Synopsis: During the Spanish Civil War, newly orphaned Carlos is taken to a school for the children of those who died fighting against fascism. He is given the bed that formerly belonged to Santi, a boy who recently died during an attack in which a bomb dropped, landing in the school's courtyard... [More]
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Starring: Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi, Fernando Tielve, Irene Visedo
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Screenwriter: Guillermo Del Toro, Antonio Trashorras, David Munoz
Producer: Agustin Almodovar, Berta Navarro
Screenwriter: Guillermo Del Toro, Antonio Trashorras, David Munoz
Producer: Agustin Almodovar, Berta Navarro
Reviews
A finely acted, atmospheric period piece with a strong streak of mystery and the supernatural. Both chilling and rewarding.
09/24/07
Top Critic
So much better than Del Toro's studio efforts, with a masterful command of sound and and colour that is breathtaking.
12/30/06
Top Critic
If only for its technical aspects, this would rate as a pleasurably superior supernatural psychological thriller, with polished but subtle special effects, painterly, atmospheric cinematography and vivid performances.
06/24/06
Top Critic
The work of a great stylist with a uniquely disturbing attraction to, and vision of, the frontier between life and death.
03/03/02
The Devil's Backbone reverses expectations by telling its doom-laden Gothic narrative in broad daylight and baking sunshine.
12/03/01
Top Critic
If you can imagine Victor Erice's classic Spirit of the Beehive as made by the young Bunuel for Roger Corman, you might just get the flavour of Del Toro's Spanish civil war ghost story and psychodrama.
12/02/01
Top Critic
Besides being genuinely creepy, it is also surprisingly moving. It is, quite probably ... the saddest horror movie ever made.
07/14/08
Calling The Devil's Backbone a ghost story is an unfair simplification of an exquisitely crafted film... If you must label this film as horror, then it's a horror film with a soul.
07/10/08
A treasure of artistic elements and genres synthesized together in a flawless cohesion of cinematic and visual poetry.
07/22/05
Makes the mistake of revealing too much too soon . . . however, the film excels in most other areas.
03/19/03
Related Forums
Guillermo del Toro's THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE is two movies in one - now that's scary!!!
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Guillermo del Toro's THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE is two movies in one - now that's scary!!!
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Guillermo del Toro's THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE is two movies in one - now that's scary!!!
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Guillermo del Toro's THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE is two movies in one - now that's scary!!!
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Around the Network
• The Devil's Backbone at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Devil's Backbone at IGN
• The Devil's Backbone at AskMen
• The Devil's Backbone at IGN
• The Devil's Backbone at AskMen
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