"El Espinazo Del Diablo" it's a wonderful fantasy drama with small touches of horror, its one of the best films from director Guillermo del Toro, and this is also a personal movie for him, well, any movie its personal to its director, but this one seems to have a special place in del Toro, the film also captivated me with its engaging story and great performances.Watching this film is like being transported to 1939 and experiencing the misery and grittiness of a Civil War, while not being in direct contact with the battlefield. The film its amazingly directed by Guillermo del Toro, who does a fantastic job at directing the child actors in the film, all of them deliver a memorable performance in their roles. The characters are well developed, there isn't an unlikable character in the film, I mean, yeah there are villains but you get their motives, even when a character does a questionable action they find a way to redeem themselves. This is a crude and violent film, it doesn't restrain itself from showing graphic scenes of tragedy and death.Its an amazing film, I totally recommend it, but don't expect a horror movie, its closer to poetry than to horror.

The Republicans are losing the Spanish Civil War to General Franco and the right-wing Nationalists. Carlos is sent to an isolated orphanage run by Republican sympathizers one-legged Carmen and Dr. Casares who are hiding a cache of Republican gold. He hasn't been told that his father was killed on the frontlines. Dr. Casares sells his spiced rum "limbo water" to the villagers from a glass jar containing a baby with an exposed spine or the Devil's Backbone. Carlos encounters the ghost of Santi, a boy who disappeared when a giant bomb landed in the middle of the courtyard. The bomb is suppose to have been defused. Carlos is bullied by Jaime and the other boys. Carlos rescues Jaime from drowning and they become friends. Angry groundskeeper Jacinto was once one of the orphans being cared for and Conchita is the beautiful teacher.Carlos has a childhood innocence and this is an intriguing childhood ghost story from Guillermo del Toro. This is not scary but it has the tension of the Spanish Civil War like his later masterpiece "Pan's Labyrinth". It has a mood of dread and feel of wonder. The characters are all compelling. It would be nice to have Carlos and Jaime battle it out a little longer. It's all very well made.

I read the glowing reviews before deciding to see this film and was disappointed. While technically and cinematically well made, with many long close-up of faces and expressions under yellowish tint throughout the orphanage, and while it offers the occasional humor, the plot is thin - a boy murdered by the villain the caretaker because he accidentally discovered the villain was trying to steal gold, turned into a ghost and finally got his revenge. Yes it is not meant to scare but make you sympathize with the ghost. But so what? The movie has too many characters to delineate and they are delineated very slowly - the always stressed headmaster and her doctor/husband, the unbelievably brave 12-year-old hero, his rival the older orphan, the villain, the villain's girlfriend, etc. It tries to cover too many characters but ends up leaving each undeveloped or illogical. Why is the hero so brave and inquisitive having been suddenly abandoned in an orphanage? Are the headmistress and her husband in it for money, kindness, political correctness? Why would a worker whom we hardly met and then the headmistress be so silly to run towards the burning and exploding cans of gasoline to just be killed? Why was the villain's girlfriend so enamored by him and was going to marry him and suddenly became a martyr to die just to defy him? Are the boys happy and adjusted as it seems all they cared about was pranks and nobody seemed to care about the missing Santi boy who was rumored to become a ghost. Without character development, one never really identifies with the characters and get too involved with their curiosity, fear, cruelty, and agony. And the movie feels long. The director should be congratulated for not using artificial devices to just scare you, until that one sudden gunshot, which was louder than a canon!

Dr. Casares: "You know what? Of all the orphans, you were always the saddest. The lost one. A prince without a kingdom.."Presenting The Devil's Backbone (also known as El Espinazo Del Diablo) Guillermo Del Toro showed once again what he's capable of. Once again the Fantasy and Gothic aspects are present, just like in many of his other projects. The stylish yet spooky fairy tale, with various subplots, is rich in both character and story. As a result that I found easy as a viewer to connect with the vulnerable but brave protagonists. That being said, I'd also have to applaud the superb acting by the entire cast. The movie will make you uncomfortable, but probably in a different way than you initially thought. The story's setting takes place in a, fairly isolated, orphanage in Catalonia (Spain) that has fallen as a result of the Spanish Ciliv War.Even though it's being labeled as a Horror movie, I can confirm, while it remains mainly a ghost story, that the movie is clearly a War Drama. Guillermo Del Toro successfully shows off his creative skills by combining the different genres in a subtle manner. In all honesty, this is one of the best pieces of cinema I've come across. At least, that's my opinion. convincing even one person to watch this movie would be so satisfying because it's truly worthy of your time. Even Del Toro himself considers it to be his most personal film. The Devil's Backbone is a sad ride but a tense experience that will cause shivers down your spine.