Hallowe'en Horror: Spine Chilling (The Devil's Backbone (DVD))

Member Name: plipplop

Product:	The Devil's Backbone (DVD)
Date:	11/10/07 (118 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Creepy, atmospheric and stylish

Disadvantages: Slightly slow in places, rather depressing

In the final days of the Spanish Civil War, a young boy named Carlos is orphaned and taken to a remote orphanage, the home of many other children from Republican families. Watched over by an elderly couple named Casares and Carmen, the inhabitants of the orphanage live in the shadow of fear, terrified that the fascists will find them. To add to the strain of their lives, the boys live in fear of the school caretaker, a cruel, disturbed young man named Jacinto, whose loyalty to the orphanage is limited at best.

Alone and bewildered, Carlos is soon the target for the orphanage bully, Jaime. When Jaime challenges him to venture out into the darkness of the school courtyard, Jaime calls his bluff and insists that the older boy accompanies him. In the rustic kitchen, strange sighs and whispers echo around the old stone walls and when Carlos follows the noise down into the basement, a shadowy, spectral figure stalks his every move.

In the days that follow, Carlos soon finds himself surrounded by mysteries and secrets. Who is “the sighing one”? What happened to Santi, a fellow orphan who disappeared mysteriously many nights ago? There are those in the orphanage who know more than they are prepared to tell. And there are others who know their secrets…….

Part ghost story, part murder mystery and part war drama, The Devil’s Backbone is a stylish, atmospheric slice of cinema from director Guillermo del Toro, the director of Pan’s Labyrinth. The Devil’s Backbone is one of those thought-provoking films that somehow manage to be many things at the same time. Rich in troubled characterisation, there are few black and white lines between good and evil here; even the supposed villain of the piece is not entirely without his own tragedies. But whilst the film tells its tale in a rather tragic fashion, it is without a doubt, one of the creepier films in its class.

The film’s opening sequence sets the scene for what is to come; a shadowy, mysterious mixture of images and poetry, questioning the nature of what a ghost is. For each of the possibilities presented by our narrator, the film that follows provides a dramatic realisation of whether that possibility may be the case or not, leaving the final decision entirely up to the viewer.

From the beginning, del Toro’s film has a gloomy, dread-laden atmosphere that serves only to unnerve. Colour plays an important role here. Scenes set during the day have a grainy, grimy, sun-baked feel to them, filtered by the baking heat of the orphanage and its oppressive surroundings. At night, the colour seems to disappear, replaced by a lifeless, spectral blue filter that irradiates the screen with a supernatural quality. Oppression is everywhere, as if the students of the orphanage are unable to escape the inevitable impact of the vicious war raging only a few miles from their walls. It’s as though a bomb is always about to go off. Literally. In the courtyard rests the eerie tower of an unexploded torpedo, supposedly diffused by the army, but whispering and echoing as though it yields the secret of what is about to come.

The impending doom is prophesised quite literally by the ghoulish figure lurking in the school’s corridors. Shrouded by a mist of blood droplets, the ghostly figure is that of a young boy, his head still gaping from a nasty wound, his emaciated form flickering between flesh and bone as if he is unable to decide which world he intends to inhabit. Terrified of the gruesome visitation, Carlos must somehow overcome his fear in an attempt to find out what it is that the ghostly boy wants. Whispering a simple message, it soon becomes clear that terrible things may happen to the inhabitants of the orphanage.

Del Toro’s imagining of the ghostly boy is artful and innovative. The gruesome shroud of blood droplets is unusual and highly effective, providing the figure with an even larger screen presence. Del Toro perfectly walks the line between frightening and intriguing it is clear from the beginning that it is not the presence of the ghost that is to be the film’s main revelation. In the hands of other directors, the ghostly boy would have been far more malevolent. In The Devil’s Backbone, he seems mischievous and yet purposeful.

The film bears many similarities to Pan’s Labyrinth (although given that it was released several years before, that should probably be stated in reverse.) Both films feature an unfortunate child, moved to a new home through the death of a parent. Both lead children encounter the supernatural and both experience the cruelty of the war. Indeed, in both films there are distinctly cruel men. In The Devil’s Backbone, Jacinto takes on this role, deeply bitter about his childhood heritage and intent only on staying at the orphanage until he can locate a secret stash of gold bars. There is a certain inevitability about The Devil’s Backbone but things don’t play out quite the way that you might expect. The supernatural elements here are also far less significant. Backbone is essentially a human story about life, love and loyalty.

The film boasts an excellent cast. Child actor Fernando Tielve is outstanding as young Carlos, who must quickly adapt to his new environment if he is to survive. Indeed, all the child actors present here are excellent. Frederico Luppi exudes warmth as the orphanage doctor, a kindly, intelligent man who protects the boys until the bitter end. His wife, Marisa Peredes, is a troubled figure, torn between her love for her husband and her frustrations with their relationship. This makes her easy pickings for the villainous Jacinto, Eduardo Noriego, who is almost certainly too handsome to be a bad guy, but convincing nonetheless.

In which of the various genres The Devil’s Backbone is most successful, it is difficult to say. Del Toro (once again) captures the brutality of the conflict with brief scenes of cruelty, highlighting the desperate plight of the Spanish people. As an emotional drama, Del Toro successfully develops empathy in all his characters, weaving a fairly complex analysis of how human beings survive. Resoundingly, however, it is as a ghost story that The Devil’s Backbone succeeds the most. The old orphanage provides the perfect setting for the tale; it’s long corridors and stone floors echoing every sound as if something lurked in every shadow. It is certainly hard not to share Carlos’s terror, as the childish phantom pursues him, intent on passing on its message.

The Devil’s Backbone is an accomplished film. Extremely well crafted, this is a thoughtful chiller that will stay with you long after the final credits have rolled.

You can purchase the DVD for around £8 from a number of online retailers. Please note that this is a Spanish language film, with English subtitles.

Summary: A companion piece to Pan's Labyrinth