The Devil's Backbone
by Guillermo del Toro
List Price:
Our Price: $12.50
You Save: $2.45 (16%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.00 (click here)
Category: VHS Video
See more movie releases
Buy this VHS video movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
VHS Tape Cover Information
Actor: ??igo Garc?s, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi, Fernando Tielve, Marisa ParedesDirector: Guillermo del Toro
Producer: Guillermo del Toro
Writer: Guillermo del Toro
Producer: Agust?n Almod?var
Producer: Bertha Navarro
Producer: Michel Ruben
Writer: Antonio Trashorras
Writer: David Mu?oz
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: Color, NTSC, Subtitled
Running Time: 106 minutes
Release Date: 2002-06-25
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Studio: Sony Pictures
VHS Movie Reviews of The Devil's Backbone
Movie Review: An insect trapped in amber
Summary: 5 Stars
Guillermo del Toro is currently known as the guy who made the Oscar-winning "Pan's Labyrinth," the "Hellboy" movies, and is going to direct "The Hobbit."
But way back in in 2001, del Toro made a movie that serves as a sport of ghost-story prequel to "Pan's Labyrinth." With its mysterious specter, innocent hero and a story set during a bloody civil war, "The Devil's Backbone" is a unique kind of horror movie -- it deftly sidesteps the cheap tricks and scares that most ghost stories employ.
Unaware that his father has been killed, Carlos (Fernando Tielve) thinks that he's being left at a remote orphanage only temporarily.
Kindly Dr. Casares (Federico Luppi) sympathizes with the lonely new boy, but Carlos soon is distracted from his troubles. He keeps seeing shadows, footprints and falling pitchers -- and when he wanders down into the vaulted cellar, he catches a glimpse of a silent ghost with a bleeding head wound. Even worse, the ghost -- which was a boy named Santi -- informs him that many people there will die.
But the most dangerous one at the orphanage is the brutal former-orphan Jacinto (Eduardo Noriega), who is searching for a cache of hidden gold. As Carlos tries to figure out how Santi died -- and what angry, miserable Jaime (??igo Garc?s) has to do with it -- the orphanage is suddenly turned into an explosive war zone. As Dr. Casares tries to protect the remaining boys, Carlos discovers the reason Santi died -- and what he wants now.
"The Devil's Backbone" is a movie filled with death: the orphanage is a dying institution in a time of war, filled with orphans and surrounded by sun-burnt grass. It even has a defused torpedo stuck right in the middle of the courtyard. By the time the ghost shows up, it seems like almost a natural part of such a ruined, quietly sorrowful place.
Fortunately Guillermo del Toro avoids cheap scares -- the ghost doesn't make weird noises or leap out at Carlos for no reason. Instead he evokes the fear of a child in a dark, creaky old house who is ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that there's something out there. Also some beautifully creepy visuals, such as blood floating in the air as if it were in water.
But the whole creepy-ghostly-factor is eclipsed about halfway through the movie. After a slow buildup of tension, everything suddenly erupts when Jacinto suddenly reveals his true self. Suddenly we've got explosions, blood, shattered glass, mangled bodies and an all-too human enemy who is slowly closing in. It makes the ghostly Santi seem suddenly very... nonthreatening.
And though the plot seems simple, del Toro spins a spiderweb of interconnected hints and plot threads -- comic books, slug collections, a wooden leg and blood-tinged water all come into play. There's loads of symbolism, and the beautiful scenes (Dr. Casares' final poetry recital to Carmen) are handled just as powerfully as the more gory, ghastly ones (the orphans' final assault).
It's kind of amazing that this was Tielve's movie debut, because he's simply incredible -- his character slides through fear, courage, sorrow and confusion, all with a kind of unshakable innocence. Garc?s is equally good; at first he seems like a mere bully, but we gradually see how troubled and guilty he feels over what happened to Santi. Noriega is thoroughly nasty as a greedy, sociopathic thug who cares about nobody except himself (even his fiancee), while Luppi is a kindly, cultured old man who obviously loves the boys as if they were his own.
"The Devil's Backbone" is a haunting kind of ghost story, where the ghost is not the scariest thing you'll see. A powerful, striking movie.
Summary of The Devil's Backbone
Seething passions, wandering ghosts, and an unexploded bomb fill this beautifully filmed tale of war and suspense. Though The Devil's Backbone was advertised as a horror movie in the States, it's really more of a drama that happens to have ghosts in it. During the Spanish Civil War, young Carlos is abandoned at a completely isolated orphanage. The tensions therein have been building for years, exacerbated by the unexploded bomb resting menacingly in the courtyard. Bullies scheme, tempers flare, and a ghost that visits Carlos's bed seems to be the key to it all. The movie is full of excellent performances, especially by Marisa Paredes as the gruff-but-kind headmistress, Eduardo Noriega as the handyman with secrets to keep, and Federico Luppi as the benevolent professor who likes to keep deformed fetuses in jars. A rich, satisfying drama with some good, spooky fun thrown in. --Ali DavisArt House & International VHS Video
VHS Video Movies
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation VHS Video
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics VHS Video
- Comedy VHS Video
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama VHS Video
- Educational
- Fitness
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror VHS Video
- Kids & Family
- Military & War VHS Video
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports VHS Video
- Television VHS Video
- Westerns VHS Video
Movies most talked about in Go international (through the cinema)
The Devil's BackboneSony Pictures; Release date: 2002-06-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.50
Price in other shops:
The MonsterRelease date: 1999-10-05; DVD
Best price: $95.56
Life Is BeautifulRelease date: 1999-11-09; DVD
Best price: $10.17
Price in other shops:
M - 2 Disc Special Edition - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2004-12-07; DVD
Best price: $25.38
Price in other shops:
Metropolis (Restored Authorized Edition)Release date: 2003-02-18; DVD
Best price: $16.34
Price in other shops:
The Triplets of BellevilleSony; Release date: 2004-05-04; DVD
Best price: $7.53
Price in other shops:
![Les Diaboliques (Diabolique) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ] Image](/images/Les-Diaboliques-Diabolique-NON-USA-FORMAT-PAL-Reg-0-Import-Australia-B000AXJKYE-X.jpg)
Les Diaboliques (Diabolique) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ]DVD
Best price: $23.98
AmelieTAUTOU,AUDREY; Release date: 2002-07-16; DVD
Best price: $11.26
Price in other shops:
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking BarrelsRelease date: 1999-08-31; DVD
Best price: $7.21
Price in other shops:
Nine QueensSony; Release date: 2002-10-01; DVD
Best price: $9.64
Price in other shops:
Similar VHS Movies
Children of Men (Widescreen Edition)Universal; Release date: 2007-03-27; DVD
Best price: $4.29
Price in other shops:
The Fountain (Widescreen Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2007-05-15; DVD
Best price: $5.39
Price in other shops:
CronosRelease date: 2003-10-14; DVD
Best price: $20.98
VolverSony; Release date: 2007-04-03; DVD
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops:
MimicRelease date: 1998-04-22; DVD
Best price: $3.90
Price in other shops:
Amores PerrosAMORES PERROS (AKA LOVE'S A BITCH) (DVD MOVIE; Release date: 2001-09-25; DVD
Best price: $4.08
Price in other shops:
The City of Lost ChildrenSony; Release date: 1999-10-19; DVD
Best price: $16.28
Price in other shops:
Hellboy (Two-Disc Special Edition)Sony; Release date: 2004-06-21; DVD
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops:
The OrphanageWarner Brothers; Release date: 2008-04-22; DVD
Best price: $3.82
Price in other shops:
Pan's LabyrinthWarner Brothers; Release date: 2007-05-15; DVD
Best price: $4.98
Price in other shops: