History Film / TheDevilsBackbone

* BlackEyesOfCrazy[=/=]CreepyChild[=/=]LooksLikeCesare[=/=]UndeadChild: Santi.

* DefrostingIceKing: Jaime

* ImColdSoCold: [[spoiler: Principal Carmen]].

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Both Carlos and Jaime have cameos in the film ''Film/PansLabyrinth'' as guerrilla soldiers, revealing that they survived this film. Unfortunately, they don't survive that one.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The teachers and a number of boys are dead, and the remaining boys have no choice but to venture out into the desert for help -- where they'll most likely die as well, forgotten by all. More sad when Jaime and Carlos are both seen in ''Film/PansLabyrinth''...where they both die. del Toro confirmed it ''is'' them at that.]]

''The Devil's Backbone'' (Spanish title: ''El espinazo del diablo'') is a 2001 Mexican/Spanish GothicHorror film written and directed by Creator/GuillermoDelToro. It stars Fernando Tielve, Íñigo Garcés, and Eduardo Noriega. del Toro has stated on the DVD that, along with ''Film/{{Hellboy|2004}}'', this was his most personal project. Has a [[SpiritualSequel "sister film"]] in ''Film/PansLabyrinth'', and supposedly one day will have a [[ThematicSeries third installment]] called ''36/63'', if del Toro [[AttentionDeficitCreatorDisorder ever gets around to it.]]

The UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar enters its final stage. Casares and Carmen operate a small orphanage in a remote part of Spain, along with the groundskeeper Jacinto and a teacher, Conchita. Casares and Carmen keep a large cache of gold to help support the treasury of the Republican loyalists, making this remote site a frequent target of Franco's troops; an unexploded bomb waits to be defused in the orphanage's courtyard.

* BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: In a sense: the orphanage barely manages to hold on, but the deconstruction here is that the orphan workers [[spoiler:(especially Cesare)]] are good people [[spoiler:(aside from Jacinto)]] with their own flaws and the like.
* BookEnds: [[spoiler: The film begins and ends with the dead Casare musing on the nature of ghosts.]]
%%* TheBully: Jaime is a mild example.

%%* DefrostingIceKing: Jaime
%%* DiesWideOpen: [[spoiler:Cesare.]]

* RealityEnsues:
** [[spoiler: Despite being physically stronger and having a gun, Jacinto is still just one guy while the kids have numbers on their side. As a result, he’s blindsided and easily stabbed before being thrown in the pool]].
** [[spoiler: Due to having so much weight on him from the gold he carried on his waist in a tight knot, Jacinto is unable to swim to the surface before Santi gets to him]].

* TheBully: Jaime is a mild example.

* DefrostingIceKing: Jaime
* DiesWideOpen: [[spoiler:Cesare.]]

* PsychopathicManchild: Jacinto, a fact the film emphasizes by dressing him identically to the orphan boys.

* BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: In a sense: The orphanage barely manages to hold on, but the deconstruction here is that the orphan workers (especially Cesare) are good people (aside from Jacinto) with their own flaws and the like.
* BookEnds: [[spoiler: The film begins and ends with the dead Casares' musing on the nature of ghosts.]]

* DarkIsNotEvil: Santi, who's more or less a creepy ghost...but at the same time, he doesn't seek to harm anybody and wishes to avenge his murder.

* DefrostingIceKing: Jaime.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The teachers are dead, and the children have no choice but to venture out into the desert for help -- where they'll most likely die as well, forgotten by all. More sad when Jaimee and Carlos are both seen in ''Film/PansLabyrinth''... where they both die. del Toro confirmed it ''is'' them at that.]]

** When the characters are preparing to leave the orphanage, Carmen remarks that her artificial leg feels heavier than usual. [[spoiler:It is because she hid the gold in it.]]
* GenreSavvy: Unlike characters in most Hollywood ghost stories, it actually occurs to Carlos to ''simply ask the ghost what it is he wants''. [[spoiler: He wants revenge on Jacinto.]]
* GhostlyGoals: Santi just wants his murder uncovered.
* HardHead: Averted. [[spoiler:Santi's injury is the result of Jacinto throwing him into a pillar while intimidating him.]]
* HeKnowsTooMuch: [[spoiler:The reason Jacinto killed Santi - he didn't want anyone to know he was looking for the gold.]]
* HotForStudent: The primary villain has been having an affair with his principal since he was barely a teenager.

* IronicEcho: Casares tells the children near the end that he'll keep watch and never leave this place. [[spoiler: Then he dies and becomes a ghost, forever haunting the orphanage]].

* MyGreatestFailure: [[spoiler:Jaime saw Jacinto kill Santi and throw him into the pool, but didn't do anything because he was too afraid of Jacinto.]]
* NeverBringAGunToAKnifeFight: A variation. [[spoiler:Despite being armed with a double-barrelled shotgun, Jacinto is defeated by a bunch of kids wielding pointy sticks.]]

* BigBad: Jacinto, especially when [[spoiler: it's revealed he killed Santi]] and was solely planning in [[spoiler: killing the orphans and burn the orphanage down]].

''The Devil's Backbone'' (Spanish title: ''El espinazo del diablo'') is a 2001 Mexican/Spanish GothicHorror film written and directed by Creator/GuillermoDelToro. It stars Fernando Tielve, Íñigo Garcés, and Eduardo Noriega. del Toro has stated on the DVD that, along with ''Film/{{Hellboy|2004}}'', this was his most personal project. Has a [[SpiritualSequel "sister film"]] in ''Film/PansLabyrinth'', and supposedly one day will have a [[ThematicSeries third installment]] called ''36/63'', if Del Toro [[AttentionDeficitCreatorDisorder ever gets around to it.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The teachers are dead, and the children have no choice but to venture out into the desert for help -- where they'll most likely die as well, forgotten by all. More sad when Jaimee and Carlos are both seen in ''Film/PansLabyrinth''... where they both die. Del Toro confirmed it ''is'' them at that.]]

* UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar

UsefulNotes/TheSpanishCivilWar enters its final stage. Casares and Carmen operate a small orphanage in a remote part of Spain, along with the groundskeeper Jacinto and a teacher, Conchita. Casares and Carmen keep a large cache of gold to help support the treasury of the Republican loyalists, making this remote site a frequent target of Franco's troops; an unexploded bomb waits to be defused in the orphanage's courtyard.

It is the Spanish Civil War. Casares and Carmen operate a small orphanage in a remote part of Spain, along with the groundskeeper Jacinto and a teacher, Conchita. Casares and Carmen keep a large cache of gold to help support the treasury of the Republican loyalists, making this remote site a frequent target of Franco's troops; an unexploded bomb waits to be defused in the orphanage's courtyard.