Dir. Guillermo del Toro Spain 2001
Guillermo del Toro (Cronos) offers this stylish, supernatural
tale set during the dying days of the Spanish Civil War. Filmed
in clammy green tones, the story is told from the perspective of
12 year old Carlos, who has been dumped at a lonely orphanage in the
middle of nowhere. This is definitely not Hogwart's, though it does have
eerie passageways, dark secrets and its own ghost. The young wards are cared
for by Carmen (Marisa Paredes), and Professor Cesares (Frederico Luppi),
loyalists with personal and political secrets. The big problem is hunky
groundskeeper Jacinto (Eduardo Noriega), a former student who takes out his
bitterness on them in sadistic ways. Carlos chases the ghost through the
crumbling old orphanage to discover the secret that lies at the bottom of a
murky cistern. (106m; In Spanish with English subtitles)
