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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Guillermo del Toro (written by) and
Antonio Trashorras (written by) ...
more
Release Date:
20 April 2001 (Spain) more
Tagline:
The living will always be more dangerous than the dead. more
Plot:
It is 1939, the end of three years of bloody civil war in Spain, and General Franco's right-wing Nationalists... more | add synopsis
Awards:
6 wins & 7 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(22 articles)
Updated: Eugenio Mira shooting baroque retro-futuristic thriller Agnosia
(From QuietEarth. 5 November 2009, 2:26 PM, PST)
Two Resident Evil Actors to Star in Spainish Horror Exorcismus
(From HugAZombie. 20 October 2009, 11:52 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
among the best work I've seen more (140 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Marisa Paredes | ... | Carmen |
 | Eduardo Noriega | ... | Jacinto |
 | Federico Luppi | ... | Dr. Casares |
| Fernando Tielve | ... | Carlos |
| Íñigo Garcés | ... | Jaime |
 | Irene Visedo | ... | Conchita |
| José Manuel Lorenzo | ... | Marcelo |
| Francisco Maestre | ... | El Puerco (as Paco Maestre) |
| Junio Valverde | ... | Santi |
| Berta Ojea | ... | Alma |
| Adrián Lamana | ... | Gálvez |
| Daniel Esparza | ... | Marcos |
| Miguel Ortiz | ||
 | Juan Carlos Vellido | ||
| Javier Bódalo | ... | Búho (as Javier González Madrigal) |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
The Devil's Backbone (Europe: English title) (UK) (USA)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for violence, language and some sexuality.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
106 min | Australia:108 min
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Netherlands:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Chile:14 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Japan:PG-12 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Finland:K-15
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Guillermo del Toro has said that this is his favorite movie of his own (2003). more
Quotes:
Casares: What is a ghost? A tragedy condemned to repeat itself time and again? An instant of pain, perhaps. Something dead which still seems to be alive. An emotion suspended in time. Like a blurred photograph. Like an insect trapped in amber. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in The Blood Pact: The Making of 'Blade II' (2002) (V) more
Soundtrack:
Una lágrima more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (140 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for El espinazo del diablo (2001) moreRecommendations
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Great care has been taken with the art direction. You are immediately transported to 1939, with Franco's army about to descend on the Spanish countryside. Even the crumbling buildings of the boys' school the characters inhabit play a role. The actors are superb, and the child actors give award-worthy performances.
This story is only incidentally a ghost story. It's a story about love and betrayal and the miseries of war visited on a people. It has a lot to teach about the depths of human cruelty, and the grace of sacrifice. It left me weeping. I don't want to label it Del Toro's masterpiece so early in his career, but it will stand through the years with his best work.