While Guillermo del Toro is mostly known for his big budget American productions like "Pacific Rim," his Spanish language productions are still his best, most compelling pieces of work. While "Pan’s Labyrinth" is universally beloved, his best is probably "The Devil’s Backbone," a film that shares "Pan’s" fascist-occupied-Spain setting.
Set in an impoverished orphanage (an undetonated bomb sits in the middle of the orphanage’s dusty courtyard), the film is a ghost story where the ghost is the most sympathetic character. In del Toro’s films, the greatest monster is always man. And never is that more clear than in this beautifully told, wonderfully acted chiller.
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