A TRADITIONAL child ghost story designed to heighten the senses, The Devil's Backbone (15) is a simmering chiller worthy of critical acclaim.

Crazy blood-obsessed Latin-American director Guillermo Del Toro uses a slow-burning effect to scare film-goers witless in his latest horror offering, which follows on from the success of his 1997 bug infested flick Mimic.

Set in a Mexican children's home during the horror of the Spanish Civil War, Del Toro uses young orphan Carlos as the centrepiece of his chilling murder masterpiece.

Contrasted against a grim and unforgiving backdrop, a young and emotionally scarred Carlos (Fernando Tielve) is dropped off at the bleak orphanage by his tutor.

Supposed to offer him a caring, supportive home, Carlos is thrust into a world of supernatural fear and chaos as a resident ghost begins haunting the orphanage's corridors.

As the film simmers with tension, an unexploded bomb in the courtyard creates greater fear for the distressed children, and a threatening janitor completes a rather macabre scene.

But the ghost is by far the spookiest aspect, trying to point the orphans toward a terrifying secret.

The secret success to Del Toro's film centres around his use of tension, always hinting at the past and implying it will have a devastating effect on the present.

But instead of telling a doom and gloom traditional tale, Del Toro succeeds in creating a truly mystifying drama with shocking consequences for the young children.

The Devil's Backbone also heavily relies on a dark, Gothic theme featured in groundbreaking films like Interview With A Vampire and The Others.

Tielve is a child-star for the future, easily eclipsing many members of the self-ordained Hollywood brat pack.

Similarly Del Toro is a soon-to-be master of horror capable of taking the genre to new and more terrifying boundaries.

The Devil's Backbone is on general release now.