Holy Shit - A Criterion Release for The Devil's Backbone

 Coming from Criterion July 30th. It's also scheduled to be entering my collection that same day.

This is my favorite Del Toro (Guillermo, not Benecio) film by about a mile. I've liked all of his stuff so far (though I don't like the Hellboys nearly as much as I thought I would), but I think The Devil's Backbone is the most consistently great film in his arsenal. Starts great, ends great, stays great in the middle. If you haven't seen it yet, this Criterion Blu-ray will surely be a great way to see it for the first time.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION:

• New 2K digital film restoration, approved by director Guillermo del Toro and cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
• Audio commentary featuring Del Toro
• Video introduction by Del Toro from 2010
• New interviews with Del Toro about the process of creating the ghost Santi and the drawings and designs made in preparation for the film
• ¿Que es un fantasma?, a 2004 making-of documentary
• Spanish Gothic, a 2010 interview with Del Toro about the genre and its influence on his work
• Interactive director’s notebook, with Del Toro’s drawings and handwritten notes, along with interviews with the filmmaker
• Four deleted scenes, with optional commentary
• New featurette about the Spanish Civil War as evoked in the film
• Program comparing Del Toro’s thumbnail sketches and Carlos Giménez’s storyboards with the final film
• Selected on-screen presentation of Del Toro’s thumbnail sketches alongside the sections of the final film they represent (Blu-ray edition only)
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Mark Kermode