Guillermo Del Toro has a knack for setting juxtaposing plots and settings alongside each other, Pan’s Labyrinth was a fable set against an extremely dark and violent backdrop, Hellboy put the spawn of Hades in among the Nazis, and in The Devil’s Backbone he manages to plonk a ghost amid a makeshift orphanage on the periphery of the Spanish Civil War.
While using these disparate elements is sometimes distracting and not always effective, you cannot fault Del Toro’s ambition and care for his subject matter. The Devil’s Backbone doesn’t always work, but it is never less than compelling.
The orphanage is the central location in the film, and is run by a kindly old one-legged lady Principal who sympathises with the rebel factions in the war (going as far as holding gold for them with which they finance their struggle). Other staff within the run down institution include a handsome strapping handyman named Jacinto – who was himself an orphan living within the walls (and resents that very fact) – his girlfriend and a kindly old Doctor who holds a flame for the Principal.
Carlo is the new kid at the orphanage, so new, innocent and green that he unfortunately isn’t even aware he is in fact an orphan. He is thrust into the everyday politics of young boys, with bullies, smart kids and introverts all trying to find their way in a period of their lives which is hard enough even without a war going on just outside the orphanage walls.
As always it is the bully, Jaime who rapidly becomes the most prominent factor in Carlo’s life. Jaime is older, taller and stronger than Carlo and most of the other boys, but while Carlo might be quiet and small, he is determined and not lacking in courage, something that becomes increasingly evident…
… when the ghost announces itself to him.
Let me first say that the existence of the ghost is never questioned in this film. From the early goings it never bothers hiding or sneaking its way around the buildings. Almost everyone in the facility knows that he is there, in fact they refer to him as ‘the one who sighs’. But Carlo, the kids and the film eventually learn who the ghost is, and how he came to be in his predicament, what with the being dead and perpetually bleeding and all…
Given all that is happening in The Devil’s Backbone it is hard to explain the situation without spoilers. So I won’t. What I will say is that there are a great many subplots in motion simultaneously, many of which eventually prove to be linked in one way or the other as the war moves ever closer.
The Devil’s Backbone is a very credible and worthwhile ghost story set against a very real and disturbing backdrop. It features some very adult situations and some frankly brutal sequences. But it is not merely a gore filled horror flick, nor is it a period piece into which a ghost is clumsily inserted. The Devil’s Backbone is a horror film for those that might not ordinarily like horror, it is a thinking film for those that might not normally choose to select a ‘thinking movie’, it is more than anything a meticulously crafted film that might not be for everyone.
But that doesn’t make it any less of a film.
Final Rating – 7.5 / 10. A collage of disparate elements that together form not just a high quality horror film, but also a high quality film period.
