It sounds like people are appreciating the older horror films showing up in the 31 Days of Horror. I also am a fan of the older horror movies but I do not want to just focus on them. There is a lot of good movies from all periods and also from all countries. Day 15 is going to focus on the Spanish ghost story El Espinazo del diablo (The Devil’s Backbone). The Devil’s Backbone

 is director Guillermo del Toro’s 5th movie from 2001. It was sandwiched in between Mimic and Blade 2. It tells the tale of Carlos (Fernando Tielve) a war orphan and the orphanage which he is sent to during the Spanish Civil war.

When Carlos arrives at the orphanage he discovers a large bomb that was dropped from a plane but did not explode. It has been diffused but it is an ever present reminder that the orphans are not safe from the war. Carlos quickly makes both friends and enemies within the orphanage. One of the enemies he makes is Jacinto (Eduardo Noriega), a former orphan who now works at the orphanage. Jacinto is sleeping with Carmen (Marisa Paredes), the head mistress of the orphanage as he believes that there is a hidden golden treasure within the orphanage. His plan is to steal the gold and run off with his girlfriend Conchita (Irene Visedo). In addition to Jacinto and Carmen the orphanage is also run by the much older Dr. Casares (Federico Luppi). Casares cares deeply about Carmen and is a good friend to the children. As you can already see there is more happening within The Devil’s Backbone

 than a simple ghost story.

In addition to a great small scale ghost story we get del Toro doing what he does best by taking a real world situation and combining it with the dark fantastic. Do not get me wrong this is not Hellboy nor does it have the creatures from Pan’s Labyrinth but what it does have is the dark atmosphere of a wonderful ghost story meshed together with the real life drama of the children and adults who are suffering because of the war. When you consider treating Jacinto as a metaphor for Facism, Carmen and Casares as the socialists and the children as the general people the The Devil’s Backbone

’s ending is able to then take on even more significance as we are left with the question of what will happen to the children now.

Looking back now it would be easy to start making comparisons between The Devil’s Backbone

, Pan’s Labyrinth and The Orphanage. Each of these movies deals with children who have lost their parents and have a very strong dark fairy tale feel to them. While all three movies are wonderful, I do prefer Pan’s Labyrinth the most as it is a near perfect fairy tale. The Devil’s Backbone

 comes a close second for me as it is feels less glossy and has a stronger story than The Orphanage. Any of these three would be a fine addition to my 31 Days of Horror but for this list I chose to focus on the lesser known yet still haunting The Devil’s Backbone

.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for Day 16 of the 31 Days of Horror.