Rating: 
Summary: A Morbid... Yet Satisfying Picture
Review: Guillermo del Toro does a fantastic job of placing you in the small chaotic world of an orphanage on the brink of collapse. Carlos (Fernando Tielve), a young boy, is the newest addition to the orphanage. He is the outsider who begins to unravel the mysterious happenings going on behind the walls of the Spanish complex. There is a bit of a ghost story here, but the main plot revolves around Carlos, and how this one boy, affects the fate of everyone at the orphanage. I enjoyed the picture, and the atmosphere that del Toro presents to us. Some of the characters seem a bit wooden, but overall the movie is entertaining, and keeps you glued to the end (even though it was pretty easy to figure out the mystery).
Rating: 
Summary: I was scared and disgusted but still think it's a fine film
Review: In Spanish, with English subtitles, the setting is an orphanage in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. It's a bleak place, run by a kindly impotent old man and the one-legged woman he loves. When a new boy, named Carlito, is brought here, he goes through the usual torments of childhood petty rivalry. But there is something more horrifying than the unexploded bomb in the courtyard or the meager food rations or the decrepit building or the unrelenting heat of the cruel sun. There's a ghost here and it inhabits an eerie underground pool and permeates the atmosphere. Against this background of a war gone wrong, everyone in the orphanage is in mortal danger. As the mystery unfolds there is unrelenting violence with close up-shots of wounds and disfigurements and death. There is dripping water, sighs, and echoing footfalls. I was definitely scared and disgusted. This is not a film for the squeamish. And yet the screenplay was excellent, the acting wonderful and the cinematography perfect. I couldn't stand it and yet I know it was a fine film. Definitely a "must-see" for horror film lovers.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging mystery film but just misses being great
Review: The Devil's Backbone is a very rich and mostly satisfying film. It is thoroughly enjoyable to watch and it constantly feels believable and comfortable. However, this is also a mystery which using a ghost to enhance the story. That said, I don't know that I really would call it a ghost story - I think that would be insulting this film; because it IS more than that. With the Spanish Civil War as its background, the Devil's Backbone utilizes an out of the way boy's orphanage as its centerpiece. Running this orphanage is a woman who is a supporter of the resistance. She has on hand in her safe, ingots of gold which are to be utilized to help finance the resistance. (This is one of the points that I wish had been better explained in the beginning, as it is left to the viewer to interpret some of this from the subtitles - this could possibly be a problem with the subtitles, themselves, which may not be doing an exact translation throughout). Young Carlos is dropped off at this orphanage to live there as his father has been killed in the war. He goes through the typical difficult initiation in the school, but is also witness to a ghost of another young boy. The remainder of the movie involves two storylines: Carlos attempts to discern the identity of the ghost and what happened to him to make him a ghost. The other involves the groundskeeper, Jacinto, and his attempt to wrest the gold from the safe. For me, the difference in this getting four or five stars and the three that I've given it, revolve around the Jacinto storyline. It is this storyline that needs more detail. It is not adquately demonstrated why Jacinto has such animosity toward the principal and the orphanage. It is explained that he felt humiliated for being at the school such a very long period of time; but this hardly seems to be a valid excuse for his later actions. Had Jacinto's storyline been more fleshed out, this would surely have been one of my favorite foreign films. As it stands, I think that the filmmakers have done a phenomenal job with the sets, costumes, details, and special effects. Watching this film, one almost gets the feeling that it was a contemporary film made at the time of the Spanish Civil War, because it is so genuine looking and feeling. In a way, this film is a bit of a period version of "The Shining" (allow me this digression for a second). You have a young boy (Danny, in the Shining) who sees a spirit and a huge orphanage (the hotel). You have a benevolent doctor who wants the best for the boys (Scatman Crothers, in the Shining) and an imminent explosion (the hotel's furnace) and a ghost (there were many in the Shining) and a very evil interloper (Jack Nicholson in the Shining). Now - I truly hated the Shining (loved the book - hated the film)... I really liked "The Devil's Backbone". The ending of the Devil's Backbone had something that no American film allows - revenge. Unfortunately, I felt that the revenge angle wasn't as full as it could have been. The ultimate revenge is predictable and not as elegant as the film had been up to that point - it was an easy ending. If all these complaints would make it seem that I disliked this film, then please don't misunderstand me. It is because I so DID like this film that I am complaining about the areas where I would love to see it enhanced. Check this out and maybe you'll disagree with me. If so - great! This film definitely warrants closer inspection.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Spanish courtyards usually have a fountain?
Review: The first scene of THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE demands attention. The camera is placed above an enormous aerial bomb, which, after its release, drops through the aircraft's bomb bay doors and descends through the night sky towards a large building. The doors close before we see the weapon hit ground. It's 1939 in a Spain convulsed by civil war. Carlos (Fernando Tielve) is the son of a Republican fighter abandoned into tha care of a remote orphanage that specializes in harboring the sons of Repuplican warriors. Indeed, the governess of the place, Carmen (Marisa Paredes), states that when the Nationalists arrive, they'll find "Reds taking care of Reds". Carmen, the one-legged widow of a communist stalwart, is helped by the kindly Professor Casares (Federico Luppi). Upon his arrival, young Carlos must deal with the dominant male among the orphans, Jaime (Íñigo Garcés), the bad-tempered handyman, Jacinto (Eduardo Noriega), the ghost of a dead boy, Santi (Junio Valverde), and the imposing hulk of a rusted bomb imbedded nose-down in the dirt of the courtyard. The point is made early on that the munition has been defused, but Jaime tells Carlos that one can hear its heart still "ticking". Additional atmosphere is provided by the gold ingots which may or may not be concealed in a hidden wall safe, the deformed fetuses which the Professor keeps in jars of very old (and tasty) rum, and the over-sized slugs which migrate to the edge of a murky pool (which contains only-God-knows what) in a ruined basement. Every one of the characters in THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE is effectively played, though most of them remained curiously detached from this viewer's sympathies. Professor Casares, an amateur poet, was, in my mind, the one best scripted to evoke some degree of emotional attachment and goodwill. Perhaps the film's finest scene was the last dialog between Casares and Carmen. Tielve earns admiration as the plucky Carlos, who must first cope with his abandonment, then bad food, Jaime's bullying, a terror-filled hazing of sorts, an unfortunate bed location, the pesky attentions of the phantasm, and finally worse. The tension is effectively heightened by the ominous presence of The Bomb, which represented, I think, the contextual concept of destruction and death waiting to happen. While it's certainly macabre, I didn't find the film as creepy as, say, THE OTHERS (Nicole Kidman, 2001). Perhaps it's the difference beween English Gothic and Spanish Gothic. But THE DEVIL"S BACKBONE is certainly worth seeing as a change of pace to the mindless thrillers that are over-represented in the video outlets.
Rating:
Summary: Magical Realism that the Europeans Do So Well
Review: This is a beautiful film that I discovered through recommendations here. It lived up to those accolades. Only the Europeans seem capable of telling ghost stories on one level yet also combining dramatic elements from the tangible world on other levels within the same film. Here the Spanish Civil War is underway and this one orphanage acts as the focal point for the violence and brutality at large in Spain at the time. Eduardo Noriega (II) is as good here as he was in "Open Your Eyes." He is the villain of the piece from the first moment you see him but he is a deeply layered villain and Noriega presents his full complexity beautifully. The children are wonderful in the story and the episodes with the ghost child will have you on the edge of your seat. This is no American mad slasher film though. It is a fully realized beautifully told tale of righting wrongs in a world gone mad.
Rating:
Summary: Stylish and thrilling!
Review: A beautifully told story that far exceeds the Kidman/Cruise film, The Others. Little Carlos arrives to the Santa Lucia School after losing his father during the Spanish Civil War. He stumbles upon a horrible secret of a murdered boy whose spirit haunts it's occupants. Wonderful performances abound; a must see for any movie lover.
Rating:
Summary: El renacimiento del cine español esta aqui
Review: Esta es una magnifica pelicula de suspenso, magnifico repertorio, ademas de tener una calidad a la de cualquier pelicula hecha en hollywood.
Rating:
Summary: just beautiful, a little gem of a film
Review: I'm not going to tell you what this film is about, plenty of others have done that already. Instead, I will tell you that this is a beautifully paced and constructed work of art. The acting is brilliant, the sets and scenery are brilliant; it is a very, very European film. Very intimate, very focussed, and absolutely perfect. For me to watch an entire film in Spanish, in which I am relatively but not completely fluent, with no subtitles, better believe it has to be exceptional. It is a very simple story, but so exceedingly well done that it captivates the watcher and draws him or her in.
Funny thing. I told my oldest daughter, who was raised in Spain and now is married and lives in New York to get this movie. She called me up last night and said, "Eduardo Noriega is a GOD!" Yeah, so for you girls out there who like really hunky guys, think Noriega. He also starred in Abre Los Ojos, the original and very good version of that turkey, Vanilla Sky. When Spanish films are good, they are very, very, good indeed.
Rating:
Summary: Every Little Bit As Good As The Sixth Sense (if not better)
Review: For any of you who enjoy foreign films, this is one not too miss. And if you're never seen a foreign film before and don't mind reading subtitles, I think you'll agree that this is an excellent movie. Part historical drama, mystery, and horror this one has it all. The supporting cast is incredible, especially Fredericco Luppi (who I loved in Men With Guns), who plays an elder professor. This movie will kept you spellbound from the beginning, and lead you through a spine tingling mystery. This is without a doubt one of my favorite films of last year. Solid storytelling through and through, this truly is a film to behold.
Rating: 
Summary: A Simple Story Gussied-Up For No Reason
Review: It's a straightforward story of a ghost looking for revenge. Or it should have been. Unfortunately either the director or the writer (you can never tell) decided to throw in a bunch of stuff that clouds the issue. Like an unexploded bomb sitting in the middle of the schoolyard. Much is made of it, but it's nothing more than (as far as I can make out) a 500 pound symbol of...something. And the title refers to a condition apparantly found in children and referred to superstitiously as The Devil's Backbone, but it's never tied in to the story. It seems to be nothing more than an excuse for the director to show some disgusting images of aborted fetuses soaking in jars of rum (of all things.) Adds nothing to the story. Neither does the artifical leg worn by the woman who runs the place. A couple of spooky moments, but that's about it. In place of a tightly told, well constructed story, we get a lot of very distasteful and confusing images obscuring a poorly-constructed story.
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