The Devils Backbone is a ghost story set during the Spanish Civil War.Directed by Guillermo Del Toro this has some similarities to his recent and most successful film Pan's Labyrinth in the way it mixes fantasy with war torn Spain. Its a bit of a strange mix but works really well overall especially when its all spoken in Guillermo's native tongue.
The film's based at an orphanage where the ghost of a murdered child haunts the corridors and attaches itself to the newest orphan, Carlos. Carlos follows the ghost and eventually discovers how he was murdered after questioning the other children.
Meanwhile the janitor, a mid twenty-something who has lived at the orphanage since a child has ideas about stealing the orphanage's hidden gold supply for his own benefit.
Both stories come together for the explosive finale and some pretty gruesome stabbing scenes.
I really enjoyed the special effects in this film because they are so subtle. The ghost boy is really simplistic at first appearance but when you get to see his face close up you'll notice some great water effects. It wasn't until I saw one of the 'making of' features on the disc (only available on this region 1 special edition by the way!) that some of the scenes I thought were real were actually made using some really awesome animatronic puppetry.
I would recommend this to anyone that enjoyed Pan's Labyrinth. Guillermo is a really interesting director and one to definitely watch out for in the future.
