lot when he was a child at this orphanage. Somebody probably treated him wickedly: this is his heritage. And then there is the brutalizing effect of the War." Noriega further notes that "What Guillermo did was to write a biography of Jacinto (which went into Jacinto's parents, what they did in life, and more) and gave it to me." DDT Studios in Barcelona created the final version of the crying ghost (victim and avenger) Santi, with his temple that resembled cracked, aged porcelain. Reception The response was overwhelmingly positive, though it did not receive the critical success that Pan's Labyrinth would in 2006. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a 92% rating based on 119 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6 out of 10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Creepily atmospheric and haunting, The Devil's Backbone is both a potent ghost story and an intelligent political allegory." It also has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 30 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Roger Ebert awarded the film 3 stars out of 4 and compared it favorably to The Others, another ghost story released later in the same year. Christopher Varney, of Film Threat, claimed: "That 'The Devil's Backbone' makes any sense at all – with its many, swirling plotlines – seems like a little wonder." A. O. Scott, of The New York Times gave the film a positive review, and claimed that "The director, Guillermo del Toro, balances dread with tenderness, and refracts the terror and sadness of the time through the eyes of a young boy, who only half-understands what he is witnessing." Steve Biodrowski from Cinefantastique Online described the film as "rich in texture, characterization and themes. Besides being genuinely creepy, it is also surprisingly moving. It is, quite probably (and this is not a back-handed compliment) the saddest horror movie ever made." He also praised the performances as well as the special effects, which he declared as "some of the best ever seen, easily matching work from the best US facilities; in fact, in at least one way they are even better." The film was ranked at number 61 on Bravo's list 100 Scariest Movie Moments for its various scenes in which the ghost is seen. Bloody Disgusting ranked the film at number 18 in their list Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade, with the article calling