The Devil's Backbone (2001)

Do you believe in ghosts? I think I've seen one...here.'

Directed by Guillmero Del Toro

Starring: Marisa Parades, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi, Fernando Tielve 

Budget: (US) 4.5M       Box Office: (US) 6.5M

Concept

It is 1939, Spain is in a civil war with itself. An orphanage in an isolated area of Spain is seeing attacks from Franco's troops, as the owners of the orphanage are Republican followers. One day Carlos, a young child is taken to the orphanage, only to be purposefully left behind by his parents swiftly. 

Carlos is now left alone, and quickly befriends the other boys. The owners, Cesares and Carmen, the groundskeeper Jacinto and the teacher Conchita are the only adults and carers at the establishment. 

Stuck in this poor turn of fortune there then is a bomb dropped into the orphanage that fails to explode, and now becomes a landmark to everyone to stay away from it. As if things can't get any worse, Carlos now has an apparition of a young boy that follows him wherever he goes, and it's up to Carlos to solve the mystery. 

Review

This Mexican- Spanish film has plenty of plots in its story, not all of them involving our innocent protagonist Carlos. It is classed as a horror nonetheless, there is a good pace to this film that will keep you until the end.

It has a great feeling of isolation and being left behind, we connect with Carlos as when we were children ourselves, feelings of being lost or not being able to ocate your parents drives that youthful fear back into you in the eyes of this character. Add that with a war around him and a ghost that follows him, and you have a shiver running up your backbone.