The Devil's Backbone(2001)
2001 · Guillermo del Toro · 108 min
Spain, 1939. In the last days of the Spanish Civil War, the young Carlos arrives at the Santa Lucía orphanage, where he will make friends and enemies as he follows the quiet footsteps of a mysterious presence eager for revenge.
Fantasy · Drama · Horror · Thriller
7.31.4k votes
TMDB score
3/5
Intensity
2/5
Gore
4/5
Stays with you
How The Devil's Backbone scares
There's a heavy sadness hanging over every scene, more mournful than jumpy, like walking through a house where something terrible already happened. The ghost story unfolds slowly, with long stretches of quiet tension and unease rather than shocks, though a few images will stick with you. Real-world cruelty from the living adults is just as frightening as anything supernatural, and the horror is tangled up with grief and history. This is for people who want a sad, beautiful, slow ghost story rather than a scare-machine.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, The Devil's Backbone rates psychological 4/5, visceral 2/5, gore 2/5, lingering effect 4/5, and overall intensity 3/5.
- Psychological: 4 of 5
- Visceral: 2 of 5
- Gore: 2 of 5
- Lingering: 4 of 5
- Intensity: 3 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 15 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 30 of 100 — leans Supernatural
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 68 of 100 — leans Disturbing
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
A slow, moody haunt that lingers quietly for most of its length before tightening hard into a tense, urgent finish.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5.
How scary is The Devil's Backbone?
On The Horror Database's 0–5 intensity scale, The Devil's Backbone rates 3/5 — solidly scary, building its fear through slow-burn dread rather than shocks. The fear is mostly in your head — it unsettles far more than it assaults. Expect it to be moderately gory and genuinely disturbing. Expect it to stay with you for days.
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