The Devil's Backbone

The Devil's Backbone, by Guillermo Del Toro, is a fascinating film that could be categorized into many different genres. I have seen speculation that it is Horror, Gothic Horror, Drama, Fable, and even more. It is a film of many different feelings and styles, a film that could only have been made by Guillermo Del Toro. Del Toro is popular for his dark fantasy type movies such as his highly popular Pan's Labyrinth which follows a girl that is connecting the real world with a fantasy world. This is a dark movie, and like The Devil's Backbone, it could be thought of as many genres.

I do think that one could make a strong case for any of these genres for his film. I think that most people would argue that this film is a Horror film because of its dark attitude, bleak storyline, and jumpy scenes, but there are so many elements that make this movie seem like something more than just a horror film. It has an element of adventure, something of an epic tale of revenge. And although not made abundantly clear in the movie, I think this film is based on the very book that Carlos is reading, "The Count of Monte Cristo".

"The Count of Monte Cristo" is based on a man who is wrongfully imprisoned (Carlos?) and escapes the jail they put him in. He comes back to exact his revenge (Carlos and Santi?) and in doing so makes bad things happen, not only to the bad people, but to some good people as well (the blowing up of the kitchen?). So I actually believe this is a fable, a legend of sorts of the boy who got his revenge on the man who kept him imprisioned, and the boy who got his revenge on the man who killed him. And just as the bomb in the town is dead, but it's heart is still beating, the dead people in this town live as ghosts, haunting the town forever.