Set at an orphanage in a remote corner of Spain during the Spanish Civil War, the narrative here mixes a great deal of human drama in with a supernatural ghost story. The owners of the orphanage hide a large cachet of gold somewhere within and the aggressive and violent handyman constantly seeks its location. The boys live in fear of this bully, as well as of the ghost of a boy called Santi who vanished the day of the arrival of a bomb. A bomb which remains unexploded and buried vertically in the courtyard.Like his later masterpiece Pan's Labyrinth (2006) Guillermo del Toro has concocted another tale with a backdrop of the Spanish Civil War which intertwines grim reality with a supernatural thread. In the case of this movie, the War is far more in the background yet so too is the ghost story. In fact, the horror is very downplayed here with what is essentially a sympathetic ghost and little in the way of genuine scare-oriented scenes. It is a technically very well-made film and it does sport good performances. It is a fine movie in many ways, yet at the same time it sort of feels like it could have added up to more. Perhaps the human drama section is not strong enough, given its main prominence in the story overall and perhaps the characters just aren't as interesting or sympathetic as they need to be. Whatever the case, it feels like something is missing here. Yet, I would still have to say it is certainly a good film on account of some of its visual ideas and de Toro's sure directorial hand but ultimately this is one I would recommend yet perhaps suggest is slightly over-rated.

This is what European cinema is all about. Great movie, great story. Hardly a horror movie. There are some appearances of a child ghost but nothing too scarry. The atmosphere is luxuriant and almost dream like, with surreal elements. The only problem for me was Jacinto who became almost overnight a maniac killer and killed without remorse the children and his girlfriend. There was no building up to this moment. Maybe they should have shown something from his previous life at the orphanage so you could understand what drives him to do it, as the desire for gold was not enough in my opinion, there should have been something more.

It's a lot like "What Lies Beneath" and "The Orphanage." It's a bit of a mystery, mixed with drama of the war and its effects on a poor orphanage for young boys. One in particular whom we follow, Carlos, is new and begins to suspect that the orphanage is haunted. There isn't a lot to criticize here, yes it may be predictable and dry at times, but it's well put together with an eerie setting. Personally, as a horror fan, I'm a bit disappointed in the movie. But as del Toro fan, and a cinematic fan in general, I was well satisfied with the movie. Its harsh reality and ghost theme helps set the somber mood, and no complaints about the actors either, everybody did a convincing job in their roles. Great movie, go see it if you like mystery, drama, and yeah, even horror, why not.

The Devil's Backbone only relies on one thing, it's tremendously well written story. To make a film though with that one quality is extremely difficult and there is just a few people out there that can pull it off, Guillermo Del Torro is one of them. There are really no scare scenes, high profile actors or even special effects. The only horror element it really has is a little ghost boy that appears periodically throughout the movie. What it lacks in is what makes the movie great because it makes the film realistic and sucks the viewer into its setting. There are so many moving components to the movie, it's something that the viewer has to really pay attention to or watch several times. It seemed I was always wondering how certain aspects of the film were going to pop back in. Del Torro with this movie proves he is a horror film-making genius and it should be on the top of everyone's top foreign horror lists.