The Devil's Backbone (2001)
"El espinazo del diablo" (original title)

After Carlos, a 12-year-old whose father has died in the Spanish Civil War, arrives at an ominous boy's orphanage he discovers the school is haunted and has many dark secrets that he must uncover.

Director:

Guillermo del Toro

Writers:

Guillermo del Toro, Antonio Trashorras,

Stars:

Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi

6 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marisa Paredes	...	Carmen
Eduardo Noriega	...	Jacinto
Federico Luppi	...	Dr. Casares
Fernando Tielve	...	Carlos
Íñigo Garcés	...	Jaime
Irene Visedo	...	Conchita
José Manuel Lorenzo	...	Marcelo
Francisco Maestre	...	El Puerco (as Paco Maestre)
Junio Valverde	...	Santi
Berta Ojea	...	Alma
Adrián Lamana	...	Gálvez
Daniel Esparza	...	Marcos
Miguel Ortiz
Juan Carlos Vellido
Javier Bódalo	...	Búho (as Javier González Madrigal)

Storyline

It is 1939, the end of three years of bloody civil war in Spain, and General Franco's right-wing Nationalists are poised to defeat the left-wing Republican forces. A ten-year-old boy named Carlos, the son of a fallen Republican war hero, is left by his tutor in an orphanage in the middle of nowhere. The orphanage is run by a curt but considerate headmistress named Carmen and a kindly Professor Casares, both of whom are sympathetic to the doomed Republican cause. Despite their concern for him, and his gradual triumph over the usual schoolhouse bully, Carlos never feels completely comfortable in his new environment. First of all, there was that initial encounter with the orphanage's nasty caretaker, Jacinto, who reacts even more violently when anyone is caught looking around a particular storage room the one with the deep well. Second, and more inexplicable, is the presence of a ghost, one of the former occupants of the orphanage named Santi. Not long after Carlos' arrival, Santi ...

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Plot Keywords:

orphanage | ghost | boy | bomb | death | 

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Taglines:

What is a ghost?

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Genres:

Drama | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and some sexuality

Details

Country:

Spain Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

20 April 2001 (Spain)

Also Known As:

The Devil's Backbone

Filming Locations:

Cubillo de Uceda, Guadalajara, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$4,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$16,290 (Hong Kong) (25 October 2002)

Gross:

$16,290 (Hong Kong) (25 October 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

El Deseo S.A., Tequila Gang, Sogepaq

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character of Jaime is heavily inspired by the famous Spanish comic writer Carlos Giménez.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[voice over narration]
Casares: What is a ghost? A tragedy condemned to repeat itself time and again? An instant of pain, perhaps. Something dead which still seems to be alive. An emotion suspended in time. Like a blurred photograph. Like an insect trapped in amber.

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Crazy Credits

El 11 de agosto de 2000, durante el rodaje de esta película, nació Luna, hija de Toni y Elisabeth y niña de todos (On the 11th of August, 2002, while this movie was being filmed, Luna was born, a daughter for Toni and Elisabeth, and a child for all of us).

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Connections

Referenced in The Blood Pact: The Making of 'Blade II' (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Besos fríos"
Written by R. Romero and R. Lhoba
Performed by Raquel Meller
Courtesy Blue Moon Producciones Discograficas

User Reviews

a complete film

This is not just an incredibly effective ghost story, but a cinematic masterpiece. Like his "Cronos," Del Toro has created a rich horror fable that is driven by 3-dimensional characters involved in a fascinating plot that leads to a wholly satisfying ending. With many developments along the way that shock, move, and thrill. And of course the political allegory and reality of the film, the Spanish Civil War, all the orphan boys of noble Loyalist fighters fighting their own war against a truly horrifying fascist villain, the young and handsome Jacinto, who is not without a sad ghost in his own past that feeds his destructiveness.

Del Toro is one of the most intelligent and humane directors working today, not something usually said about auteur in the horror genre. I have not seen "Hellboy" but think less of his US endeavors than these two Spanish masterworks...