Sahara - 1943 **** 1/2

I have a very wide love for black and white films, but I haven't quite come to terms with some of the 1940s war films of the time. I did however watch and enjoy 'Ice Cold in Alex' which I thought was one of the best movies I've ever seen. Here however we have a film where Humphrey Bogart, normally known for playing gangsters, lawyers and general killers, is stuck in the desert with his men after being separated from their unit. They are forced to make a detour of the desert to find water after the well they turn up at is dry. The story revolves around these men and their relationships while they try and come to terms with where they are and how they are supposed to survive. One of the last scenes is incredibly poignant with Bogart acting his socks off as usual. In fact most of the film shows Bogart's acting off to a pinacle of perfection. He really is superb.

The Devil's Backbone - 2001 ***

Guillermo del Toro is one of those interesting directors, because he can bring out either a masterpiece (Pan's Labyrinth) or a pretty dire effort (Cronos), as well as a load in between that don't sway you much either way.

The Devil's backbone was bizarre. And I won't deny that it had some very frightening parts, and one of the cutest little boys I've ever seen in a Spanish film, but the story didn't flow right for me, it didn't connect, and I think that is what let it down.

The young boy Carlos, is sent to an orphanage towards the end of the Civil War, and is given the bed of a boy named Santi who died due to a mysterious explosion in the orphanage years ago. Carlos begins to see him as a ghost, but no one else does, and he realises that this is Santi's way of trying to get Carlos to avenge his death, and in the process of doing so, he uncovers some rather terrifying facts about his new home, and the people who live in it.

Del Toro has obviously stolen quite a bit from this for his later work 'The Orphanage' which features several similar ghostly scenes which send shivers down your spine. The war going on around them is significant, but it doesn't quite overpower the story like it did in 'Pan's Labyrinth' and I feel too much time is taken up with pointless scenes that don't add much to the storyline.

Worth a watch for a die hard Del Toro fan however.