The Devils Backbone (2001)

After surviving the behind-the-scenes horrors that plagued his second film ‘Mimic,' Guillermo del Toro maintained full creative control over his third — and arguably best — feature. A spine-tingling period ghost story set at an orphanage haunted by the fallout of the Spanish Civil War, ‘Backbone' is an early step into territory that the director would later revisit in 'Pan’s Labrynth.' The movie’s unnerving creepiness is matched only by its extraordinary tenderness for the young hero at its center. (Available on iTunes, Amazon Instant, and Google Play) — Ethan Alter