IMDb says this about the film:
The outstanding director Guillermo del Toro take us to his own universe of childhood fears where no one is really who's supposed, and nothing really seems to be as it should. Centered in an orphan in the middle of the Spanish Civil War, the movie focuses in the life of the people (teachers and children) who have to keep hidden there from a war they've lost and from the people who'd like to kill them. But inside this orphan a mistery father more interesting than all this is about to being unvailed... Someone else, out of this world, lives there, and he wont let them go on living there without really paying for what they've done. Gothic, horror, drama and terrific performances is what you find in this pic. Federico Luppi (Cronos) is superb in his performance, aswell as Marisa Paredes (Life is beautiful) or Eduardo Noriega (Open your eyes). The three of them gives us the performances of their lives in a movie you must die to see it. Honestly, this is one of the movies of the decade. In the line of "The Silence of the lambs" or any of the best from David Fincher or Tim Burton.

official site:
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The site is in Spanish.  There are lots of pics and they are excellent quality but are huge in size..

Rotten Tomatoes has a high quality Trailer (you will need to have Quicktime 5 installed) which focuses on the ten year old Carlos (Fernando Tielve)...

..or if you prefer you can download some excellent images (26 of them).

Rotten Tomatoes:
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..and and official ENGLISH language site has been set up here (you will need flash):

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..btw..the reviews of the movie are excellent.

I went to see 'Devil's Backbone' tonight!  Are ya jealous?  hehe

There are some beautiful boys in it (no skin, sorry, except a few halfway-barechest shots), and it's an interesting story.  Reading the subtitles, I got the impression that I was getting a simplified version of what was really being said, so we'll have to get Wanderer to comment on that after he sees it.  I think I'll have to see this one again, when I know what's happening and don't have to do so much reading.  It's good, but I didn't come away from it thinking that it's one of the best movies I've seen (foreign or otherwise), or that it's even great.  I guess that's because I didn't really connect on an emotional level with any of the characters, like I often do with foreign movies where it's almost like reading a book for me.  Oh, I shouldn't say that.  I did 'connect' with a couple of the characters, especially the boy who was the main character, and a couple of his little friends, but there were others that seemed to need a little more fleshing out before we could really feel what they were feeling, even some of the boys who were central to the story.  The horror aspects of it weren't really all that much of a horror to me, either, and in fact seemed a little hokey as they happened.  This is very much a war movie from the perspective of those who were removed from the war in an isolated place, but whose every action had overtones of the war.  I suggest a brief overview of the Civil War in Spain before seeing it, so you'll understand the varying political leanings of the characters.

Okay, I'm not panning it, really.  It's a good movie that I think everyone here will enjoy, simply because there are some beautiful boys in it, and some of them are very good actors.  

Love,
Sir Jacob

This is quite an old thread, but I'm bringing it back to the top instead of doing another review of it.

I saw this one in the theatre this weekend (I think it's already out on DVD in North America, but it took a really long time for it to make its way to my local arthouse theatre).

I have to disagree with Sir Jacob's review, though. I thought this film was simply brilliant. I will probably get it on DVD and watch it again. While it's true that you always lose some of the subtleties in the dialogue of any foreign-language film, the subtitles here didn't seem all that bad. I don't know much Spanish, but it's so close to French that I can usually some of what is being said and it seemed to me that the subtitles were about as good as they get.

Also, I thought the story was original, compelling and moving. The ghost story seems to be there more as a metaphore for memory and trauma than as an actual plot element. Some may find that kind of dramatic device tiresome, but I thought it worked well. I though the film was very well situated historically and did a great job of giving us a sense of the tension of the era.

The adult cast is also worth mentioning, as they are all excellent actors. I've seen the older woman in a few of Pedro Almodovar's films and she is as remarkable as always in this one.

Finally, I guess there is one aspect of the film on which I have to agree with Sir Jacob - the boys are beautiful. The protagonist is absolutely stunning! Not only that, but he also acts very well. Visually, the film is wonderful from the very first images to the end, partly because there are so many beautiful boys in it, but also because of the overall cinematography, etc.

Intense, compelling and beautiful. I wasn't disappointed and recommend it to everyone.

Glad to see Espinazo del Diablo here considering this is the first movie I saw that made me realize how much a handful of beautiful boys can grab my attention haha.

Very good movie  with very boys actors !

Good movie, Spanish made w English  captions
I thought the young lead actor was a mighty handsome kid
But the boy who played Jamie was the cutest for me
Certainly worth viewing and always recommend to others