The Devil's Backbone (El Espinazo del diablo) (2000)
Average Rating: 7.5/10
Reviews Counted: 106
Fresh: 96 | Rotten: 10
Creepily atmospheric and haunting, The Devil's Backbone is both a potent ghost story and an intelligent political allegory.
Average Rating: 7.5/10
Critic Reviews: 29
Fresh: 27 | Rotten: 2
Creepily atmospheric and haunting, The Devil's Backbone is both a potent ghost story and an intelligent political allegory.
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Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 32,691
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Movie Info
Guillermo del Toro, who quickly became one of the most talked-about directors in contemporary horror films with his first two features, Chronos and Mimic, takes on a more subtle tale of terror with this psychological suspense piece. Casares (Federico Luppi) and Carmen (Marisa Paredes) operate a small home for orphans in a remote part of Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Helping the couple mind the orphanage are Jacinto (Eduardo Noriega), the groundskeeper, and Conchita (Irene Visedo), a
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Cast
-
Marisa Paredes
Carmen -
Eduardo Noriega
Jacinto -
Federico Luppi
Casares -
Inigo Garces
Jaime -
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All Critics (106) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (97) | Rotten (10) | DVD (19)
Though it fails in its final reels to capitalize on its early promise, pic is still stylish, accomplished and tremendously enjoyable fare.
An entertaining and atmospheric revenge tale.
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.
A well-crafted, white-knuckle cinematic journey.
Top Critic[Del Toro] finds real substance in shadows and whispers, in the terrors that reside at the back of the mind.
The chills and suspense and graphic violence are leavened with the horror that comes from knowing the victims -- and knowing they are undeserving of their fate.
...a hopelessly erratic piece of work.
Blending terror with tenderness, Guillermo Del Toro has crafted something both traditional and original: a sun-kissed gothic horror.
It's a schoolboy ghost story, the kind best told after lights-out.
Besides being genuinely creepy, it is also surprisingly moving. It is, quite probably ... the saddest horror movie ever made.
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.
A weirdly poetic film.
Beautifully filmed, written and acted.
It's a striking film and further good news for the Spanish cinema, too few of whose films open here.
A finely acted, atmospheric period piece with a strong streak of mystery and the supernatural. Both chilling and rewarding.
So much better than Del Toro's studio efforts, with a masterful command of sound and and colour that is breathtaking.
A treasure of artistic elements and genres synthesized together in a flawless cohesion of cinematic and visual poetry.
Not exactly and improvement over the original Devil's Backbone DVD, so this one is purely for Guillermo del Toro completists.
A freakshow royale.
A visually appealing daylight ghost story...
Makes the mistake of revealing too much too soon . . . however, the film excels in most other areas.
[An] elegant, spooky story.
Atmospheric in detail, the film's visuals are its strongest point.
Audience Reviews for The Devil's Backbone (El Espinazo del diablo)
Super Reviewer
Don't get me wrong: this is very well made, and it looks great and is enjoyable, but it really just felt like a stepping stone to me, and not really as special as many feel it is.
Super Reviewer
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Latest News on The Devil's Backbone (El Espinazo del diablo)
November 14, 2008:
Five Favorite Films with Guillermo del ToroRT caught up with Hellboy II director Guillermo del Toro at the DVD/Blu-ray Launch Event for Hellboy...
July 13, 2008:
Guillermo del Toro - RT's Dinner and the Movies InterviewWe have an extended chat with the director of Cronos, Pan's Labyrinth and this week's Hellboy II to...
April 10, 2007:
Del Toro Talks "Hellboy 2" and Other New ProjectsGenre master Guillermo del Toro is presently in Budapest, hard at work on pre-production for...
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Foreign Titles
- The Devil's Backbone (DE)
- The Devil's Backbone (UK)
