By Mark Rahner
Seattle Times staff reporter
An orphanage is frightening enough in its own right. But when 10-year-old Carlos (Fernando Tielve) arrives at one during the Spanish Civil War, he also faces some rotten — and rotted — denizens: a vicious bully; a hateful stud raised there who now services the wooden-legged headmistress and one of the teachers; and Santi, the terrifying ghost of a boy who died there.
"The Devil's Backbone" deftly blends the style of "The Others" and "The Sixth Sense" with the sensibilities of old E.C. comics like "Tales from the Crypt," where ghastly poetic justice reigns. It's a sumptuously spooky and atmospheric horror film, but with a gorier edge — not to mention political allegory, if you can follow it.
It's also the best work of talented Mexican director Guillermo del Toro. He debuted in 1993 with the noteworthy "Cronos," a creative, sentimental vampire fantasy (also starring Federico Luppi); then he made a respectable Hollywood bug-horror flick with 1997's "Mimic." From an opening shot of a bomb dropped from a plane, through dead-of-night walks through the orphanage halls and subsequent mayhem, del Toro's directorial sure-handedness makes you settle back for an elegantly creepy ride that has some shockingly unsafe stretches.
"The Devil's Backbone"
*** With Fernando Tielve, Federico Luppi, Marisa Paredes and Eduardo Noriega. Directed by Guillermo del Toro, written by del Toro, Antonio Trashorras and David Muoz. 106 minutes. Rated R for violence, language and some sensuality. In Spanish with English subtitles. Harvard Exit.
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