Cronos (The Criterion Collection) (1993)

For some reason I developed an early low opinion of Mexican horror films and have since avoided them. Fortunately I didn't realize Cronos was Mexican ans so got to see this truly unusual film directed by Guilliermo del Toro. While it will never win a place on the heights there's a surprising amount of inventiveness and imaginative film work in something that probably has one-tenth the budget of the average Hollywood failure.

Imagine, if you will that a European alchemist fled Europe to Mexico in the 16th Century. Gaining appointment as the Governor's clockmaker he set about making a machine that would prolong his life. He succeeds and lives until a building collapses on him in modern times. His estate is broken up and sold and the real story begins when an antique dealer, Jesus Gris (Federico Luppi), acquires a statue of an angel. In it he finds a golden scarab-like machine. One with horrific powers that Jesus inadvertently activates.

Seeking the scarab for his own purposes is Dieter de la Guardia (Claudio Brook) and his last remaining relative Angel (Ron Perlman). They will stop at nothing, but a repeatedly foiled by the scarab's power over Jesus. Another key player is Aurora Gris (Tamara Shanath) who has no lines but seems to preside over the life and death drama that plays out before her.

There are a few grim and violent moments, but, for the most part, Cronos gains its momentum from its atmospherics. Imagine a screenplay written by Poe and directed by Fellini with echoes of Don't Look Now and you will have a sense of the film's feeling. Colors are dark, sets are detailed, and the minimal special effects are telling. Especially the insides and operation of the clockwork scarab.

The film is as much about the value of life as it is a horror or suspense story. Clumsy at some times and subtle at others, the message gets through with an ending which leaves just enough in question to haunt the viewer. The approach is novel, a very different twist on the vampire genre, and I found myself liking it more the longer I watched it. Definitely worth viewing.

Guillermo Del Toro's modern Grimm's Fairy Tale "Cronos" focuses as much on character as it does horror. In many respects, it's a throw back to the horror comic books or movies he watched as a kid updated. Antiques dealer Jesus Gris (Federico Luppi) gets more than he bargains for when he covers a ornate gold "beetle" at the base of a decorative angel. He and his devoted granddaughter and wife discover the promise of immortality but also the horrible price one must pay when given a "gift" such as this.

Rich industrialist Dieter de la Guardia (Claudio Brook) has his brutish nephew Angel (Ron Perlman)searching for the device himself. Only Dieter knows about the history of the device, what it can do and the consquences of using it. When Jesus resists Dieter's offer for the device, it also puts his family in peril.

A rich, allegorical horror film that recalls the classic films of the 30's and 40's with its focus on character and the consquences of their actions at the expense of endless blood and gore, "Cronos" is a thoughtful, sad movie that demonstrated the considerable talents of Del Toro ("The Devil's Backbone", "Blade II", "Hellboy"). It's got its moments of gross out gore but Del Toro focuses his story on the delicate relationship between Jesus, his wife and granddaughter.

The film is presented with the original Spanish voiceover presented in English. After that, the film is a mix of Spanish and English as Dieter and Angel speak both sparingly throughout the film while Jesus and his family speak nothing but English. It would probably help to have on the subtitles if you don't speak English during the film as it switches back and forth pretty consistently.

The presentation and look of the DVD is very good capturing the nice textures and colors of the original film although it can't hold a candle to the high definition transfer of "The Devil's Backbone" that recently came out on DVD. Extras include an interview with Del Toro with clips from his very first short films made when he was a teenager up to and including his first 16mm production. There's also an interview with behind-the-scenes footage of Federico Luppi (a thoughtful and talented actor)from the production. There's also an Easter Egg included as well. Look for the Lion's Gate logo and click on it for a nice little surprise. We get a photo gallery and commentaries from both Del Toro and the film's producer. Del Toro's commentary is in English while the producer's commentary is in Spanish.

A haunting, atmospheric debut from Del Toro that deserves to be seen. It's not exactly a horror film (and why Del Toro is referred to as a horror film director is beyond me), it's more of a fantasy/suspense story with horror themes.

Buy Cronos (The Criterion Collection) (1993) Now

A new vision of the vampire myth involving an insect trapped in a device that grants immortality (with a price of course), an innocent grandfather, his all but silent granddaughter, a human monster and his victimized nephew.

An elderly antiques shop owner, Jesus Gris, and his granddaughter, Aurora, discover an unusually device in a four hundred year old Archangel statue. Gris inadvertently triggers the device which begins a change in him that not only slowly makes him more youthful in look and energy but infects him with an addict's consuming fixation for blood. Unfortunately for Gris, he is not the only one with knowledge of the device's existence and power, and he becomes the target of the dying businessman De La Guardia's desire for immortality at any cost and his violent nephew Angel.

Loved this film! Loved it! I've always had a thing for vampires and I really enjoyed this new view of the vampire mythology. This isn't just a new story of vampirism though, it is also a tale of family. The love, devotion, and acceptance of family is beautifully shown through the grandfather Jesus and granddaughter Aurora, as is the dark side of family, with it's violence, abuse and victimization, as shown through the obsessed De La Guardia and his nephew Angel.

Ron Perlman is absolutely superb as Angel. He takes what could have been the average brute/thug character and gives him humor, depth, and the ability to evoke sympathy and, almost, forgiveness, from the audience. If you want to introduce a friend to Ron Perlman's work, consider doing so with this performance.

Frederico Luppi and the late Claudio Brooks are also entrancing in their performances as Jesus Gris and De La Guardia, respectively.

Favorite line (narration describing the death of the cronos device creator): "His skin was the color of marble in moonlight."

The DVD extras and commentary are wonderfully enjoyable in and of themselves (how they shot the interior of the cronos device and what happened to it later...eeeewwww, that the thirteen cronos devices used in the film were stolen on the last day of the shoot, that Ron Perlman did accidentally connect, fist to face, at one point with Frederico Luppi, etc). Guillermo Del Toro's commentaries are as spellbinding as his films.

Read Best Reviews of Cronos (The Criterion Collection) (1993) Here

Before Guillermo del Toro came to Hollywood to make big budget thrillers such as Mimic and Blade II, he was in Mexico making movies that are truly unique and filled with tension. His directorial debut, Cronos, is a hugely original movie and take on the vampire theme. Guillermo also wrote the screenplay.

The movie opens up with a narrator telling the story of an alchemist who made a metallic, beetle like device (the Cronos) that when placed against skin, has a scorpion like stinger that stabs the person and injects a tiny amount of bloody fluid. The injections cause the alchemist to live for centuries and only dies when he is in line at a bank in Vera Cruz during an earthquake and is crushed by falling debris.

Some time later, an antique dealer, Jesus Gris (Federico Luppi), discovers the Cronos device in the base of an old statue he has acquired. After wondering what the device might be for, he inadvertently sets it off and is pricked by it's stinger. The whole process of watching this happen is fascinating, and you are never quite sure if there is some sort of living insect inside the enclosure, thanks to Guillermo's David Lynch like photography and editing of the scene.

Jesus soon discovers that he has more energy and feels more youthful than he has in ages. But unbeknownst to him, there is an evil and rich old man, Dieter de la Guardia (Claudio Brook) who has been searching for years for the device. He has tracked it down to Jesus' shop and sends his simple minded nephew, Angel de la Guardia (brilliantly portrayed by Ron Perlman), to get the statue that has stored in it, the Cronos device. When the statue turns up empty, Dieter instructs Angel to get the device at any cost.

In the meantime, Jesus has become addicted to using the device. His young granddaughter has noticed him using it and decides for his own good to hide it from him. After spending time with her he realizes that maybe the sacrifices of the device, such as his wife not feeling as youthful as him, or his greedy and manic need to posses and have control of the device, are not worth the benefits.

The story is not fast paced by any means, but the development of the characters is superb. There are also slow moving scenes with huge amounts of tension, in particular a scene where Jesus is at a party where someone had cut himself and cleaned up in the bathroom. Jesus finds himself drawn to the blood that had dripped on the floor and after slowly considering it and getting his face closer to it, he has his cheek against the floor and extends his tongue and licks up the drops!

I have seen the video a couple times, but it is on DVD in region 2 PAL format only. The video is available in both subtitled and dubbed versions. I highly recalled the subtitles, because much of the dialogue is already in English. Ron Perlmans' character for example does not speak almost any Spanish.

Perhaps now that Guillrmo del Toro is more well known in the US, we will get a region 1 NTSC release on dvd.

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Currently everybody thinks of him as directing Pan's Labyrinth or the Hellboy movies. But at the very beginning of his career, Guillermo del Toro honed his directorial skills with a truly brilliant, unique movie called "Cronos," which expertly blended alchemy, vampirism and creeping psychological horror.

Antique dealer Jesús Gris (Federico Luppi) is handling an angel statue when he finds an insectile metal object in the bottom. And it bites him, injecting him with a strange fluid. Soon Jesús finds himself addicted to the device, and he finds that it's slowly restoring his youth and strength. And during a party, he also finds that it's giving him a hunger for blood.

Unfortunately, a wealthy but dying businessman is determined to find the device, and he sends out his brutal nephew Angel (Ron Perlman) to find it -and Angel even kills Jesús when the old man doesn't tell him what he wants to know. Jesús rises again as an undead creature who is still determined to get the device back, but now his young granddaughter is in danger as well.

"Cronos" was the very first movie that Guillermo ever directed, and it's not surprising that it feels a little rough compared to his later work. But expect lots of del Toro trademarks -mysterious golden items, insects, weird and grotesque vampirism, religious symbolism, and favored actors Luppi and Perlman.

The entire movie is beautifully directed, and del Toro paints every scene with shadows, gold and blood. And rather than going for over-the-top spookery, del Toro mingles vampiric horror (Jesus staring hungrily at his granddaughter) with more visceral psychological horror (Jesús returns to life with his mouth stitched shut). Even the gross-outs are subtle, like when we see that even Jesús' flesh is turning white and larvalike.

Federico Luppi is absolutely brilliant as Jesús -he starts off as a genial, kindly old man with a love of antiques, but slowly he's eaten away by his lust for blood and addiction to the device. By the end of the movie, you only see a tiny flicker of what he was. Perlman gives a similarly awesome performance as a devious thug, and Claudio Brook is great as the dying businessman.

It took a long time, but this movie is FINALLY coming out in the Criterion catalog -it will have a restored high-def digital transfer; del Toro's early short film "Geometria"; a tour of de Toro's house; audio commentaries by del Toro and the producers; video interviews with del Toro, Luppi, Navarro and Perlman, a stills gallery; trailer; new English subtitles; and a booklet with not only a Maitland McDonagh essay but del Toro's notes.

"Cronos" is a little more toned-down than Guillermo del Toro's later work, but it's still a powerful, haunting horror movie. An absolute must-see!

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