Full of Latin spirit

Mexican marvel Guillermo Del Toro's ghost story set in an orphanage during the Spanish Civil War scored heavily at the box office - for a 'foreign' (ie not American) film - the title alone promising to induce trouser accidents.

What you actually get is something closer in spirit to a Spaghetti Western starring kids, where fate unfolds inexorably, with just a hint of Pedro Almod?var (he produces) in the shape of orphanage principal Marisa Paredes - a woman of a certain age with a wooden leg who likes sex hot and young - while the old man who fancies her bolsters his libido on a drink made from a foetus soaked in grog. Oh those Latins.

Verdict: Olé.