60
That The Devil's Backbone makes any sense at all -- with its many, swirling plotlines -- seems like a little wonder.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
75
San Francisco Chronicle by Edward Guthmann
The film doesn't explore the nature of ghosts, as it promises to initially, but it's fun to watch Del Toro confront death and fear with such energy and humor.
90
Here is a ghost story so dynamic you could call it a ghost poem.
75
A seductively corrosive horror story that also potently suggests the ways war can shatter childhood.
91
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
Del Toro builds excitement, dread, and melodrama in equal layers.
80
New Times (L.A.) by Luke Y. Thompson
The sensitive art-house viewer should be warned: Though slow-moving at first, the film ends in explosions and violent death, with a level of sadism that will undoubtedly prove too intense for some viewers.
80
TV Guide Magazine by Maitland McDonagh
Brooding ghost story is rich with psychological and political implications that never obscure its fundamental creepiness.
75
Miami Herald by Rene Rodriguez
After a leisurely first half, The Devil's Backbone becomes utterly spellbinding, its tension mounting in steady increments, its story taking one dark turn after another, and its bittersweet resolution destined to haunt you long after you've left the theater.
75
Philadelphia Inquirer by Steven Rea
Creepy and compelling and beautifully shot, The Devil's Backbone is a tale of the supernatural that feels completely natural. Its realness is what makes it so scary.