FilmRSupernatural Ghosts & Haunting Gothic

The Devil's Backbone2001

Name: The Devil's Backbone
Genre: Supernatural, Ghosts & Haunting, Gothic, Psychological
Released: 2001-04-20
Rating: 7.6

“What is a ghost?”

Directed by Guillermo del Toro

7.6

Crypt Score

Blended from 4 sources

IMDb 7.4Rotten Tomatoes 93%Metacritic 78TMDB 7.3

✍ Review

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Year

2001

Runtime

108 min

Box Office

Budget

$4,500,000

Revenue (worldwide)

$6,582,065

Domestic

$755,249

🏆 6 wins & 11 nominations total

The premise

Spain, 1939. In the last days of the Spanish Civil War, the young Carlos arrives at the Santa Lucía orphanage, where he will make friends and enemies as he follows the quiet footsteps of a mysterious presence eager for revenge.

Horror Vault's take

Set against the dying embers of the Spanish Civil War, a young boy arrives at a remote orphanage and quickly senses that its crumbling walls hide more than the living dare admit. Guillermo del Toro crafts a ghost story inseparable from the violence of its era, where the horrors of history and the supernatural bleed into one another with quiet devastation. Every shadow in Santa Lucía feels earned — a place where adults carry dangerous secrets and children must navigate threats both flesh and spirit.

Content: Violence Against Children, War-Related Violence, Death, Disturbing Imagery