Synopsis / Plot Summary: After Carlos - a 12-year-old whose father has died in the Spanish Civil War - arrives at an ominous boys' orphanage, he discovers the school is haunted and has many dark secrets that he must uncover. Nevertheless, with every step of the plot, it becomes apparent that the ghost's predictions as to who (or what) will die, the real source of danger and even the definition of death itself may be more ambiguous than first thought. Not long after Carlos' arrival, Santi latches onto Carlos, badgering him incessantly at night and gloomily intoning, "Many of you will die." As if that wasn't enough to keep the orphanage's occupants in an unrelenting state of terror, there's the un-exploded bomb that dominates the orphanage's courtyard, still ticking away With the orphanage left defenseless by its isolation, and the swift progression of Franco's troops, the ghost's prediction seems depressingly accurate. Second, and more inexplicable, is the presence of a ghost, one of the former occupants of the orphanage named Santi. The orphanage is run by a curt but considerate headmistress named Carmen and a kindly Professor Casares, both of whom are sympathetic to the doomed Republican cause.ĭespite their concern for him, and his gradual triumph over the usual schoolhouse bully, Carlos never feels completely comfortable in his new environment.įirst of all, there was that initial encounter with the orphanage's nasty caretaker, Jacinto, who reacts even more violently when anyone is caught looking around a particular storage room the one with the deep well. 8.It is 1939, the end of three years of bloody civil war in Spain, and General Franco's right-wing Nationalists are poised to defeat the left-wing Republican forces.Ī ten-year-old boy named Carlos, the son of a fallen Republican war hero, is left by his tutor in an orphanage in the middle of nowhere. Qualities that more than help it make up for a lot of that missing terror. The Devil's Backbone is a dark, beautiful wartime parable made up of ghosts, violence, and enchantment. This is especially true for the children that are left behind when their parents take up the fight.
The threat of an explosion is very intense.
DEVILS BACKBONE MOVIE MOVIE
The ghost in the movie could be frightening. Frightening & Intense Scenes Moderate 11 of 19 found this moderate The main antagonist is a violent and terrible person. Sometimes those who never step on the battlefield end up just as wounded as those who did. A man drinks a shot of rum from a jar containing a preserved mutated baby fetus. A disappointment, but at least del Toro's knack for sometimes stomach-churning gore is still present. Much like the director's later work "Crimson Peak" (which I now believe is a spiritual successor to this film), the supernatural horror elements aren't so much used to frighten, but instead to imbue the story with a somewhat mythical quality. Believable interactions and well-written, multilayered characters ensure that the narrative never gets stale. This is very much a story about the innocence of youth and why adults should take care not to spoil it. The lingering dead actually play second fiddle to the living. Those who watch over the children harbor lust, regret, and anger in their hearts. Behind The Devil’s Backbone The story of a child taken to a new, dangerous place during the Spanish Civil War is repeated in Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), which del Toro says is the sister film to. Dark secrets are hidden inside it's walls, and not just the kind related to the restless spirit that wanders the halls. Guillermo del Toro's gothic drama is set in an orphanage during the Spanish Civil War.
A tale of greed, war, and tragedy all set against the backdrop of a ghost story.
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