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 THE
DEVIL’S BACKBONE aka El Espinazo del Diablo. DVD. Horror.
110 minutes. Rated R, violence, some sexuality. In Spanish with optional
English subtitles. Directed by Guillermo del Toro. During the last days of
the Spanish Civil War, Twelve-year old Carlos is abruptly dropped off at
the Santa Lucia School for safekeeping. The school, which is more of a
compound, houses orphans of The Republican Militia soldiers killed during
the war. Once Carlos settles in, he immediately makes some friends, as
well as some enemies. As the days pass, Carlos learns there is far more
going on here than the schooling of orphaned boys. After Carlos mistakenly
interrupts Jacinto, the school’s handyman and former student, doing
something he shouldn’t be doing, the two become instant adversaries and
butt heads. Along with worrying about Jacinto, Carlos is visited by the
eerie looking ghost of Santi, a boy who disappeared from the school a few
weeks earlier. Wanting to pass along a message, Santi’s ghost whispers
to Carlos, “Many of you will die..” Together, and under the most
extreme of circumstances, the boys of the school are forced to come of
age.
Director Guillermo del Toro really nailed it with this one. The
atmosphere in The Devil’s Backbone is outright creepy, unnerving, and
will surely have you seeing and hearing things while in bed at night. Not
only will the ghost send jitters up and down your spine, the school itself
is so ominous it should have been listed as a character in the movie’s
credits. Fernando Tielve does a great job playing Carlos, and Eduardo
Noriega plays the maggot Jacinto to perfection. Irene Visedo, who plays
Jacinto’s love interest Conchita, is one hot chickie! Everyone in fact
does a great job with the acting. The DVD includes; English commentary by
the director and cinematographer, a making of feature (which is more of a
promo, butt kissing reel), trailers, and storyboard comparisons. The
Devil’s Backbone is probably one of the best lesser known movies that is
widely available. “Backbone” is categorized as a horror, but del Toro
doesn’t hide behind cut’em up slash and gore for shock value. Instead,
he builds suspense by intertwining several b-plots together and slowly
releasing the tension. Definitely check this one out! – Denis Sheehan
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