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In the climax of Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone (2001), the main character, Carlos, along with the other orphans, goes to the basement/cellar of the orphanage, specifically to the area containing the large concrete cistern (water reservoir).
The "why" behind this move involves both a tactical plan and a narrative resolution for the film's ghost story:
1. To Lure Jacinto into a Trap
After the villainous caretaker Jacinto has killed the doctors (Casares and Carmen) and blown up part of the school to find hidden gold, the children realize they cannot outrun him. Carlos and the older boy, Jaime, organize the orphans into a small "militia." They go to the basement to lure Jacinto into a confined space where they can use their numbers against him.
2. To Use Their "Spears"
Carlos and the boys have prepared makeshift weapons—long poles or pieces of wood sharpened into stakes. By retreating to the basement, they force Jacinto to enter a dark, cramped environment where his physical strength and firearm are less effective against a coordinated group attacking from the shadows.
3. To Deliver Jacinto to Santi (The Ghost)
Thematically and plot-wise, Carlos leads Jacinto to the cistern because it is the site of Jacinto's original crime. The basement is where Jacinto murdered the young boy, Santi, and dumped his body into the water. Carlos knows that Santi's spirit haunts that water.
The Specific Outcome:
As Carlos and the boys confront Jacinto in the basement, they surround him and stab him repeatedly with their sharpened stakes. They successfully push him into the deep water of the cistern. Weighted down by the gold bars he has stuffed into his pockets and his own injuries, Jacinto sinks to the bottom. There, the ghost of Santi finally confronts him, pulling him down into the depths to drown, which provides Carlos and the other children the opportunity to finally leave the orphanage and walk out into the desert.
Multiple sources explicitly state that after Dr. Casares dies, his ghost appears and unlocks the door to free the imprisoned orphans, leaving behind a monogrammed handkerchief as evidence. This supernatural assistance is a significant plot point in the climax that the AI summary omitted entirely.
The AI summary states Jacinto 'killed the doctors' but omits that he actually stabbed and killed Conchita (his fiancée, a teacher) when she tried to walk to town for help. This is a significant character death that occurs between the explosion and Jacinto's return.
Sources specify that Jacinto found the gold hidden in a secret compartment in Carmen's prosthetic/wooden leg. This is a memorable plot detail showing Carmen's cleverness in hiding the treasure, but is a minor omission.
One source notes that Jaime, who had witnessed Santi's murder and been terrorized by Jacinto, symbolically strikes the first blow with the sharpened stick, representing his coming of age and overcoming his fear. This character arc detail was not mentioned.
In the climax of The Devil's Backbone (2001), Carlos and the other orphans go to the basement/cellar of the orphanage, specifically to the area containing the cistern (water reservoir).
The 'why' involves fulfilling a promise to Santi's ghost and tactical survival: After Jacinto sets an explosion that kills Carmen and mortally wounds Dr. Casares (who dies days later), then returns to claim the gold he found hidden in Carmen's prosthetic leg, the orphans know they must act. Carlos had earlier promised Santi's ghost to bring Jacinto to him at the cistern—the site where Jacinto murdered Santi and dumped his body.
The children fashion makeshift weapons from sharpened sticks and broken glass. After being freed from their locked room by the ghost of Dr. Casares (who unlocks the door and leaves his monogrammed handkerchief), they lure Jacinto into the basement. Using their numerical advantage in the confined space, they attack him—with Jaime striking the first blow, symbolizing his overcoming of fear. They push the wounded Jacinto into the cistern, where he is weighed down by the gold bars tied to his belt and held underwater by Santi's ghost until he drowns. The surviving children then leave the orphanage and head toward town, watched over by the ghost of Dr. Casares.