This film is currently unavailable
The Devil's Backbone
Guillermo Del Toro’s elegant and chilling ghost story, set in an orphanage for victims of the Spanish Civil War, which is haunted by the spectre of young boy.
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Overview
Guillermo Del Toro’s elegant and chilling ghost story is set in 1939, during the Spanish Civil War, with a defused bomb from Franco’s troops looming over the courtyard of a boys’ orphanage run by Republican loyalists. Young Carlos (Fernando Tielve) arrives and is given the bed of missing orphan Santi (Junio Valverde), known to the gang of boys as ‘the one who sighs’. A horrifically presented ghost, surrounded by a shroud of blood and water, Santi is gentle in his haunting of Carlos, warning of upcoming dangers. Threat comes from the living in this supernatural story.
Long before his blockbuster successes, Del Toro returned to Spanish-language filmmaking following his first, unsuccessful Hollywood excursion (Mimic). The result remains one of his most impressive works. The Mexican director channels Spanish classics such as The Spirit of the Beehive for the theme of the suppressed horrors of the Civil War; a milieu to which he’d return with Pan’s Labyrinth.
Contains strong language and violence
Related
Red Rooms Red Rooms
Horror 2023 118 mins Director: Pascal Plante
The allure of the serial killer is explored in this deeply unsettling and unforgettable exploration of the impact of extreme violence.
Sleep Sleep
Comedy 2023 94 mins Director: Jason Yu
A recently married couple find their lives turning upside down as a result of the husband’s nocturnal behaviour.
Starve Acre Starve Acre
Horror 2023 98 mins Director: Dan Kokotajlo
Dark and sinister forces invade a couple’s home in this wildly eerie British folk horror, with unflinching performances from Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark.
The Horrible Dr. Hichcock The Horrible Dr. Hichcock
Horror 1962 87 mins Director: Riccardo Freda
A widowed doctor has gruesome plans for his new wife in this lush, Hitchcockian Italian gothic horror.
Witchfinder General Witchfinder General
Horror 1968 87 mins Director: Michael Reeves
A witchfinder traverses 17th-century England executing those he suspects of witchcraft.
Street Trash Street Trash
Comedy 1987 101 mins Director: Jim Muro
A deadly liquor rips through a community of vagabonds living in the junkyards of Brooklyn, in this outlandish 80s body horror.
All Consuming Love All Consuming Love
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2011 9 mins Director: Louis Hudson
Kevin Eldon voices this oddball, award-winning animated short about a tiny middle-aged man who lives inside a stray cat.
The Battle of Algiers The Battle of Algiers
Drama 1966 121 mins Director: Gillo Pontecorvo
Gillo Pontecorvo’s masterpiece about the last years of French colonial rule in Algeria, seen from the perspective of both the revolutionaries and the French authorities.
Caravaggio Caravaggio
Biopic 1986 93 mins Director: Derek Jarman
Derek Jarman’s unique biopic of the 17th century Italian artist Michelangelo da Caravaggio is a powerful meditation on sexuality, criminality and art.
Daisies Daisies
Comedy 1966 73 mins Director: Věra Chytilová
Two self-confessed hedonists wreak wanton havoc in Věra Chytilová's visually spectacular neo-dadaist farce.
Island of the Hungry Ghosts Island of the Hungry Ghosts
Documentary 2018 98 mins Director: Gabrielle Brady
A therapist helps traumatised refugees detained on a remote island where powerful natural and tribal rituals prevail, in this extraordinary mix of fact and fiction.
Heathers Heathers
Comedy 1989 103 mins Director: Michael Lehmann
Winona Ryder and Christian Slater star in the endlessly quotable cult black comedy that subverted expectations of teen movies forever.
The Queen of My Dreams The Queen of My Dreams
2023 99 mins Director: Fawzia Mirza
Soulful story of the love and war between a queer woman and her mother, spanning across decades and continents.
Safe Safe
Drama 1995 119 mins Director: Todd Haynes
Julianne Moore stars as a suburban housewife who suffers from a mysterious illness in Todd Haynes’ inspired blend of horror and existential Americana.
Red Rooms Red Rooms
Horror 2023 118 mins Director: Pascal Plante
The allure of the serial killer is explored in this deeply unsettling and unforgettable exploration of the impact of extreme violence.
The Last Detail The Last Detail
Comedy 1973 104 mins Director: Hal Ashby
Jack Nicholson is at his very best in this highly-acclaimed dramatic comedy from Hal Ashby about three sailors on the loose.
Taxi Zum Klo Taxi Zum Klo
Comedy 1981 90 mins Director: Frank Ripploh
Taxi zum Klo is a refreshingly guilt-free gay movie from West Germany about a promiscuous teacher, played by director Frank Ripploh.
Hyena Hyena
Crime 2015 112 mins Director: Gerard Johnson
In this stylish, dark crime thriller, a policeman’s complex web of underworld relationships is threatened by an internal affairs investigator.