The Devil's Backbone (Special Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Atmospheric melodrama
Review: "The Devil's Backbone" is a ghost story, but it is also much more. Set during the Spanish Civil War, the story chronicles the happenings in an isolated school for orphaned boys. The school admininstration consists of just a few characters, which makes the school seem even spookier and alienating. In the background, the war moves closer to the school, creating additional horrors. A new boy, Carlos, arrives and he begins seeing a ghost. These scenes are very chilling and well-directed, but not really scary per se. As the action progresses, it becomes clear that the ghost is not the only evil in the school. The plot is well-written and has some great plot twists. The actors are all terrific, with the kids putting in some impressive work in difficult roles. I really enjoyed this movie and highly recommend it for fans of psychological horror films, such as "The Others."

Rating:
Summary: Touches the heart while chilling the spine
Review: THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE [El Espinazo del Diablo] (Spain 2001): During the Spanish Civil War, a young orphan boy (Fernando Tielve) is sent to an isolated boarding school where he encounters the ghost of a murdered child (Junio Valverde) who warns him of impending disaster...

A masterpiece. Filmed in Spain by writer-director Guillermo del Toro following his unhappy Hollywood debut (MIMIC), this spellbinding melodrama works both as an examination of the political turmoil which characterized the Spanish Civil War, and as a simple ghost story in which a tragic spirit seeks vengeance for a terrible crime. Employing restless camerawork and atmospheric set designs to their best advantage, del Toro visualizes his own script (co-written with Antonio Trashorras and David Munoz) as the story of a vulnerable child cast adrift in a strange new world, where he must contend not only with everyday problems (such as the school bully, Inigo Garces, whose motives are rather more complex than they first appear), but also his frequent encounters with the unhappy ghost, some of which are genuinely unsettling (watch out for the heart-stopping sequence in which Tielve is besieged in a closet by the enraged phantom). Production values are first-class throughout, ranging from Cesar Maccaron's evocative art direction and Salvador Mayolas' ultra-creepy sound design, through to Luis de la Madrid's crisp editing skills and Javier Navarrete's unforgettable music score. Visual effects and makeup designs are also superb, though deliberately underplayed for maximum emotional effect. The cast is toplined by Spanish movie veterans Marisa Paredes (a favorite of Pedro Almodovar) and Federico Luppi (CRONOS), and there are impressive turns by Irene Visedo as a young woman whose loyalties are divided by circumstances, and rising star Eduardo Noriega (the Spanish equivalent of Brad Pitt) as Visedo's boyfriend, an orphan-turned-caretaker whose volatile nature leads to a dramatic conclusion, with appalling consequences for everyone around him. Tielve is magnificent as the wide-eyed innocent around whom the entire narrative revolves, and Garces is every bit his equal as the bully who reclaims his dignity during a climactic showdown with the forces of evil. Released around the same time as THE OTHERS (Los Otros, 2001) - another Spanish ghost story, filmed in English as a vehicle for Nicole Kidman - THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE was consigned to Art-house distribution by virtue of its status as a subtitled movie and suffered a comparative loss at the US box-office, though del Toro's magical fever dream is unquestionably the better of the two films.

The movie runs 107m 21s on Columbia TriStar's region 1 DVD (not including the Columbia Classics logo at beginning and end, which wasn't part of the original film), and the image - less vivid and colorful than DVD versions from other countries, but still impressive - is letterboxed at 1.85:1, anamorphically enhanced. Released theatrically in Dolby Digital, the film's all-important soundtrack is reproduced in Dolby 5.1, and is deeply immersive throughout. Extras include a trailer and brief 'Making-of' featurette, and a terrific commentary from del Toro and cinematographer Guillermo Navarro. The film itself is presented in Spanish, with optional English subtitles, though closed captions have not been included.

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: nicely done
Review: though some other amazon.com reviews put forth that this is a horror movie, that's not really the case--for the mere presence of a head-wound-gushing ghost and a gaggle of superstitious children does not a horror movie make. i'd say this is really more of a mystery--though that's not entirely accurate either, as the movie goes ahead and spills the beans about who the "bad guy" is early enough that you spend 2/3 of the movie just hoping everyone avoids him (as opposed to figuring out who he is). but TDB is definitely suspenseful, and filled with very well-drawn, well-played characters who are both complex and convincing.

there's a certain formula to a good ghost story, and that formula is a simple one: (a). spooky ghost (b). tries to communicate in order to (c). illuminate the circumstances surrounding his/her death and possibly (d). achieve vengeance and/or (e). protect others from the same squicky fate. it's a good formula, and TDB follows it with an astounding level of expertise.

for some reason, it seems that this is a set up that's easy to screw up; but when the formula is followed well, you end up with all the best elements of horror, suspense, mystery and even romance--all seasoned with a delightfully creepy paranormal ambience. this is most definitely the case with The Devil's Backbone. it is successfully spooky in parts, suspenseful throughout, and deeply romantic; yes, in accordance with the cliche, there's something for everyone.