The Devil’s Backbone (El Espinazo del diablo) (2001)
92%RT Audience Score: 89%
Awards & Nominations: 6 wins & 11 nominations
Creepily atmospheric and haunting, The Devil’s Backbone is both a potent ghost story and an intelligent political allegory.
Guillermo Del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone is like a spooky history lesson that you actually want to pay attention to. It’s got ghosts, political allegories, and a whole lot of creepiness. But don’t worry, it’s not all serious – there’s also some revenge and betrayal thrown in for good measure. Plus, the imagery is so striking that it’ll stick with you long after the credits roll. So if you’re in the mood for a horror flick that’s got a little something extra, give The Devil’s Backbone a watch. Just maybe don’t watch it alone in the dark.
Production Company(ies)
Miramax, A Band Apart Jersey Films,
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Talamanca del Jarama, Madrid, Spain
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for violence, language and some sexuality
Year of Release
2001
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 46m
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Language(s):Spanish
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Nov 21, 2001 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 27, 2004
Genre(s)
Drama/Horror
Keyword(s)
The Devil’s Backbone, R, Drama/Horror, 1h 46m, 92% Tomatometer, 119 Reviews, 89% Audience Score, 25,000+ Ratings, directed by Guillermo del Toro, written by Guillermo del Toro, Antonio Trashorras, David Muñoz, starring Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi, Fernando Tielve, Irene Visedo, Iñigo Garcés, reviewed by Jami Bernard, Bruce Diones, Joe Morgenstern, Nathan Rabin, Jonathan Holland, Martin Rubin, Carmen, Jacinto, Cásares, Carlos, Conchita, Jaime, produced by Sony Pictures Classics, box office gross USA $754.7K, MPAA rating R, Spanish language, ghost story, political allegory, orphans, Republican militia, violence, sexuality, language, surround sound, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Dolby Stereo
Worldwide gross: $6,582,065
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $11,092,678
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,938
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 1,209,670
US/Canada gross: $755,249
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,272,812
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,129
US/Canada opening weekend: $34,963
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $58,923
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,139
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $4,500,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $7,583,798
Production budget ranking: 1,765
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $4,083,875
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$574,995
ROI to date (est.): -5%
ROI ranking: 1,424
Eduardo Noriega – Jacinto
Federico Luppi – Cásares
Fernando Tielve – Carlos
Irene Visedo – Conchita
Iñigo Garcés – Jaime
Director(s)
Guillermo del Toro
Writer(s)
Guillermo del Toro, Antonio Trashorras, David Muñoz
Producer(s)
NA
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
6 wins & 11 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (119) | Top Critics (38) | Fresh (110) | Rotten (9)
Guillermo Del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone is a really cool ghost story with an extraordinary human and political dimension.
October 14, 2014 | Rating: 3/4
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News
TOP CRITIC
Del Toro’s elegant pacing and gothic touches imbue the proceedings with a cool mystery.
October 7, 2013
Bruce Diones
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
It’s a horror flick, and a creepily good one, that also functions as an allegory of the war that still haunts Spain seven decades later.
October 7, 2013
Joe Morgenstern
Wall Street Journal
TOP CRITIC
The Devil’s Backbone augments its abundant creepiness with an equally powerful poignancy.
October 7, 2013
Nathan Rabin
AV Club
TOP CRITIC
Though it fails in its final reels to capitalize on its early promise, pic is still stylish, accomplished and tremendously enjoyable fare.
October 18, 2008
Jonathan Holland
Variety
TOP CRITIC
An entertaining and atmospheric revenge tale.
September 24, 2007
Martin Rubin
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
The Devil’s Backbone truly is a masterful film, one rife with both symbolism and story. This is a poetic piece of cinema that manages to expose the horrors of war through the lens of fantasy.
July 24, 2017 | Rating: 9/10
Ford Maddox Brown
Starburst
A microcosm, that is like a small war, combining living and dead, resentments, betrayals and revenge in an exceptional way with an impeccable cast. [Full review in Spanish]
October 31, 2016
Lucero Solórzano
Excelsior
Although spooky, The Devil’s Backbone becomes weighed down by perhaps one too many subplots.
September 8, 2014 | Rating: 7/10
Austin Trunick
Under the Radar
What Del Toro provides with The Devil’s Backbone is the recognition that evil exists within the most routine of circumstances. That knowledge is as old as humanity’s belief in the fantastic, and just as powerful.
October 7, 2013
Serena Donadoni
Metro Times (Detroit, MI)
You may find that images from this movie clamber back into your memory weeks after you see it, and give your spine a chill.
October 7, 2013
Michael Sragow
Baltimore Sun
Though the whodunnit takes a fairly predictable course, the Spanish Civil War background adds powerful narrative and symbolic weight, while the striking imagery is simply poetic.
October 7, 2013 | Rating: 4/5
Andrew Collins
Radio Times…
Plot
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. A 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. 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. Despite their concern for him, and his gradual triumph over the usual schoolhouse bully, Carlos never feels completely comfortable in his new environment. First 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. Second, and more inexplicable, is the presence of a ghost, one of the former occupants of the orphanage named Santi. 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. 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.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Federico Luppi’s performance as Dr. Casares is described as “superb, providing us with a true hero, a gentleman of class and compassion.”
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