THE 12 NIGHTS OF HALLOWEEN: 6. The Devil’s Backbone (2001)

            “The Devil’s Backbone” is a Spanish film (“El Espinozo del Diablo”) by Guillermo del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth”). He originally conceived of the story when he was in college. The film was sixteen years in development. It is considered the brother to del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth” which he likens to the sister in the relationship. The film was critically acclaimed and was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film.

            The movie is set in Spain in 1939, which was the final year of the Spanish Civil War. A young boy named Carlos (Ferdinando Tielve) arrives at an orphanage run by Republican Loyalists. He meets a bully named Jaime (Inigo Garces), but they soon become friends after they break curfew and Carlos takes the blame. It was on this night of a prank that Carlos encounters the ghost that haunts the eerie orphanage. The belief among the boys is the specter is that of an orphan who disappeared during an air raid that left an unexploded bomb in the courtyard. The ghost is not the only disconcerting element of the orphanage. Most of the adults who run it are dangerous, including an ex-orphan who now works there. He is interested in locating a stash of gold hidden on the grounds. He will do anything to get rich. Once again in a horror movie, greed is the catalyst for the horror. Most of the adults will end up dying, but from human evil, not the ghost. Carlos and the other orphans are put in dire peril, but they have the ghost of an orphan on their side.

            “The Devil’s Backbone” is not really a war movie. It does fit into the subgenre of war horror movies. It is not as good as “Pan’s Labyrinth”, but it is still memorable. The acting is fine. Remarkably, Carlos is played by a boy who had auditioned to be an extra. Del Toro chose him to be the lead because he had the right kind of innocence. The ghost was inspired by the one in the Japanese film “The Ring”. It is spooky and creepy. The effects are outstanding, which is what you would expect from a del Toro film. If you know your history, it makes sense that he set his two great war horror movies in the tragedy of the Spanish Civil War. “The Devil’s Backbone” may not be a war movie, but the civil war factors in to the plot. Greed and war are a bad combination, as though orphans don’t already have it rough.

GRADE  =  A