5/5 Ticking sounds and Profound Revelations: The Story of a Boy
  by TastyBabySyndrome ("Daddy Dagon's Daycare" - Proud Sponsor of the Little Tendril Baseball Team, USA)
As we learn in the movie, The Devil's Backbone refers to a deformity that was once thought to be evil. The way this plays into the movie seems to play on what happened at the orphage where an army of children sit and play, watching the time tick by as they stare at the bulk of an unexploded bomb. They start to see a ghost, something out of time, once thought to be evil but now possibly telling a story that needs to be heard. The only problem is getting someone to listen, and making them know exactly what happened on that one terrible night. That's the problem with things; a ghost needs to be heard and the world sometiimes hears it, but the things it says are distorted fishbowl sounds and are seen one way when they should be seen differently.

When i watched the movie the first time, I was taken aback by a few things that I saw differently after a second helping. The first thing was the pace, which seemed a trifle slow, adding up minutes without anything happening. The second time I watched it i saw passed my first assumption, however, noticing that the world was not a slow motion clock but was instead a story coming from many angles. Speaking of angles, my second problem had to do with that. Instead of finding peace looking through a valley of plotlines, I found only boredom as i thought too many things were being introduced. I saw through that the second time as well, knowing that I needed all of these things if I were to understand what was going to happen. I guess, much like The Devil's Backbone, I also saw things in the wrong light. I didn't notice the skillful preperation of the actors or the way things were playing out so they could be interpreted a number of ways. I thought i wanted a haunting, got it in a way i didn't like, and that was that. Thank goodness i didn't leave my mindset that way.

If you like the direction in former movies by this figure, then you should know what to expet. Think of the Orphanage or of Pan and think of the way it developed. This is the way things have to be because, unlike a Blade II, it cannot simply whisk through an already established plot. I came to see that and i think people that have seen the movie might see that as well with another viewing, so maybe even they should consider another look at this movie. It has elements that make it a ghost story and not really a horror movie, like a Fog with political threads that run deeper than those even did, and that is interesting. It is being educated about the place and seeing what took place at the same time. I say others might like the way this plays through as well, and know what to expect. Check it out, possibly renting it beforehand, unless you feel confident you will like the thing described. Either way, it does come through with pale fingers and a haunted hand, touching the world in the way a ghost might actually touch.

5/5 Great Director
  by Kevin M. Miller
Guillermo del Toro is a fantastic director who deserves much more praise. People who enjoy beautiful directing and and intriguing plot lines over action sequences will enjoy this movie.

5/5 just my two cents
  by B. Lafave (lakeland , fl)
with all these other fine writers here , i see little reason to write at length about film . you can rent it from so many places (often sent to your home for nearly nothing) . you can read about it in countless publications (genre and not) . you can read about it at many excellent online film sites . i'm not a spanish speaking person (so yes , i had to read this film) . like MR. DEL TORO'S other favorite films of mine ; MIMIC , PAN'S LABRYNTH , BLADE II and now THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE , i feel we're fortunate to have such a unique and wonderful storyteller making adult and intelligent motion pictues . BRAVO . hope you like it too .

2/5 Buy the orphanage instead
  by M. Rennie (Scotland)
I bought this movie for my girlfriend last christmas as we had went to see the orphanage earlier in the year and both really enjoyed it.

Then there was this film...

As the film started I was quite sucked in and interested, expecting a relatively eerie movie with a strong original plot.

How wrong I was!

As i mentioned, this film starts off quite interesting with a young boy being sent to an orphanage for boys. The kids share stories about a kid who used to live there and say he dissapeared and that he's apparently a ghost etc etc...Story goes on to reveal one of the carers is a bad guy etc blah blah blah

It's just not interesting enough to go on really. Some silly pointless story elements and overall, a long winded movie.

When you SEE the ghost-boy, it's just not as horrifying or intense as it is in the orphanage. It reveals too much too soon!

My girlfriend hated it, I pretty much hated it, and we will be trading it into blockbuster very soon I'm sure (and that's once we fish it out of the back of her wardrobe where it now resides!)

If your looking for a way to bore yourself to tears then this would be a pretty good place to start with it.

I gave it two stars because the sets are quite nice...that's its only real redeeming feature.

2/5 a boring ''horror'' movie
  by the mook (brooklyn, ny United States)
but nice to look at. if i went in expecting a well done period piece drama, i might not have went to see this. i wasnt scared, grossed out, intrigued or interested. i am in the minority as many like their ''horror'' movies dripping with low/non existant body counts and fabulous photography. this ''horror'' movie dragged on and on. while mindless gore is just as bad, there is such a thing as a happy middle.

anyway, in case you need one, heres the synopsis as i remember it; back in 1900's theres a boys school or orphanage thats haunted. theres also bad guy/s in search of buried treasure and a ghost. not much action or frights. but if youre a dp in training......!