The Devil's Backbone (2001) Horror Thriller Drama Fantasy

Rated R | Genres Horror, Thriller, Drama, Fantasy | Runtime 1h 46m
The Devil's Backbone (2001) Horror Thriller Drama Fantasy Poster

The Devil's Backbone Plot Synopsis:

It is 1939, the end of three years of bloody civil war in Spain, and General Franco's right-wing Nationalists are poised to defeat the left-wing Republican forces. A ten-year-old boy named Carlos, the son of a fallen Republican war hero, is left by his tutor in an orphanage in the middle of nowhere. The orphanage is run by a curt but considerate headmistress named Carmen and a kindly Professor Casares, both of whom are sympathetic to the doomed Republican cause. Despite their concern for him, and his gradual triumph over the usual schoolhouse bully, Carlos never feels completely comfortable in his new environment. First of all, there was that initial encounter with the orphanage's nasty caretaker, Jacinto, who reacts even more violently when anyone is caught looking around a particular storage room the one with the deep well. Second, and more inexplicable, is the presence of a ghost, one of the former occupants of the orphanage named Santi. Not long after Carlos' arrival, Santi latches onto Carlos, labelring him incessantly at night and gloomily intoning, "Many of you will die." As if that wasn't enough to keep the orphanage's occupants in an unrelenting state of terror, there's the un-exploded bomb that dominates the orphanage's courtyard, still ticking away; With the orphanage left defenseless by its isolation, and the swift progression of Franco's troops, the ghost's prediction seems depressingly accurate. Nevertheless, with every step of the plot, it becomes apparent that the ghost's predictions as to who (or what) will die, the real source of danger and even the definition of death itself may be more ambiguous than first thought.


Synopsis / Plot Summary: After Carlos - a 12-year-old whose father has died in the Spanish Civil War - arrives at an ominous boys" orphanage, he discovers the school is haunted and has many dark secrets that he must uncover.

Tagline: The living will always be more dangerous than the dead.

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Official Trailer

  • The Devil's Backbone Official Trailer

The Devil's Backbone Movie Information:

Type: Movie
Year: 2001 (more 2001 movies)
MPAA Rating: R
Runtime: 106 minutes /
Genres:  Horror, Thriller, Drama, Fantasy
Horror Genres:  Supernatural, Thriller
Horror Subgenres:  Drama, Orphans, Revenge, Sci-Fi, Mexican
Directors: Guillermo del Toro
Stars: Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi, Fernando Tielve, Íñigo Garcés … (cast list)
Box Office: $755,249
Awards: 6
Nominations: 11

What is The Devil's Backbone Streaming On?

The Devil's Backbone is Streaming on Peacock, Tubi
Language: Spanish
Country: Spain, Mexico
Writers: Guillermo del Toro, Antonio Trashorras, David Muñoz
Producers: Agustín Almodóvar, Pedro Almodóvar, Rosa Bosch, Guillermo del Toro, Bertha Navarro, Michel Ruben
Musicians: Javier Navarrete
Cinematographers: Guillermo Navarro
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