Film Info
- SYNOPSIS
- CAST/CREDITS
- Spain, Mexico
- 2001
- 108 minutes
- Color
- 1.85:1
- Spanish
- Spine #666
One of the most personal films by Guillermo del Toro, The Devil’s Backbone is also among his most frightening and emotionally layered. Set during the final week of the Spanish Civil War, it tells the tale of a twelve-year-old boy who, after his freedom-fighting father is killed, is sent to a haunted rural orphanage full of terrible secrets. Del Toro expertly combines gothic ghost story, murder mystery, and historical melodrama in a stylish mélange that, like his later Pan’s Labyrinth, reminds us the scariest monsters are often the human ones.
Cast
Carmen | Marisa Paredes |
Jacinto | Eduardo Noriega |
Dr. Casares | Federico Luppi |
Carlos | Fernando Tielve |
Jaime | Íñigo Garcés |
Conchita | Irene Visedo |
Marcelo | José Manuel Lorenzo |
The Pig | Paco Maestre |
Santi | Junio Valverde |
Alma | Berta Ojea |
Gálvez | Adrian Lamana |
Marcos | Daniel Esparza |
Owl | Javier González Madrigal |
Luis | Victor Barroso |
Credits
Director | Guillermo del Toro |
Executive producers | Agustín Almodóvar and Bertha Navarro |
Producer | Pedro Almodóvar |
Director of production | Esther García |
Director of photography | Guillermo Navarro |
Coproducer | Rosa Bosch |
Associate producer | Michel Ruben |
Written by | Guillermo del Toro, Antonio Trashorras and David Muñoz |
Music | Javier Navarrete |
Art director | César Macarrón |
Editor | Luis de la Madrid |
Camera operator | Joaquín Manchado |
Casting | Sara Bilbatua |
Sound | Miguel Rejas |
Sound design | Salvador Mayolas |
Special mechanical effects | Reyes Abades |
Special makeup effects | DDT |
Special makeup effects supervisors | David Martí and Montse Ribé |
Special digital effects | Telson |
Makeup | Jorge Hernández |
Hairdresser | Fermín Galán |
Costumes | José Vico |
Disc Features
DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION:
- New, restored 2K digital film transfer, supervised by director Guillermo del Toro and director of photography Guillermo Navarro, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- Audio commentary featuring Del Toro
- Video introduction by Del Toro from 2010
- New and archival interviews with Del Toro about the creation of his film
- ¿Que es un fantasma?, a 2004 making-of documentary
- Interactive director’s notebook
- Four deleted scenes, with commentary by del Toro
- New interview with scholar Sebastiaan Faber
about the film’s depiction of the Spanish Civil War - Program comparing Del Toro’s thumbnail sketches and Carlos Giménez’s storyboards with the final film
- Selected on-screen presentation of Del Toro’s thumbnail sketches (Blu-ray edition only)
- Trailer
- New English subtitle translation by del Toro
- PLUS: An essay by critic Mark Kermode
Current Posts
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FEATURED
(3) -
FILM ESSAYS
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ALL
(3)
Three Reasons
Three Reasons: The Devil’s Backbone
July 30, 2013
Watch video »
Film Essays
The Devil’s Backbone: The Past Is Never Dead . . .
By Mark Kermode July 30, 2013
Guillermo del Toro’s ghostly fable beautifully reflects the director’s fascination with the personal and the political. Read more »
Video
Guillermo del Toro’s Ghostly Encounter
July 29, 2013
Watch video »
Film Essays
The Devil’s Backbone: The Past Is Never Dead . . .
By Mark Kermode July 30, 2013
Guillermo del Toro’s ghostly fable beautifully reflects the director’s fascination with the personal and the political. Read more »
Three Reasons
Three Reasons: The Devil’s Backbone
July 30, 2013
Watch video »
Film Essays
The Devil’s Backbone: The Past Is Never Dead . . .
By Mark Kermode July 30, 2013
Guillermo del Toro’s ghostly fable beautifully reflects the director’s fascination with the personal and the political. Read more »
Video
Guillermo del Toro’s Ghostly Encounter
July 29, 2013
Watch video »
My Criterion
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NOTES
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LISTS
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COLLECTIONS
(2754)
“I love Pan's Labyrinth & Hellboy films are beautiful & fun. I want this because if The Others taught me anything it's that the Spanish do horror best!”
Gord
“plethera of extras make this must have for fans of with Cronos as bookend. superlative initial film project gave hints to genius at work. spine # 666”
futurestar
“Not at all what I expected. From what I gathered it focused on the ghost story, but it is an incredibly human fairy tale about human monsters in a war”
clwestbr
“Much like Pan's Labyrinth, The Devil's Backbone makes the viewer want to crush the antagonist in the worst way possible, and I mean the human one. ”
JacksWastedMan
“Del Toro truly understood the ghost story, but added his own seductiveness, and subtlety that most horror films lack. This is one of his best films.”