Review of Cronos (1993) by Cancelled U — 28 Jun 2008

''In 1536, fleeing from the Inquisition, the alchemist Uberto Fulcanelli disembarked in Veracruz, Mexico. Appointed official watchmaker to the Viceroy, Fulcanelli was determined to perfect an invention which would provide him with the key to eternal life. He was to name it... the Cronos device. 400 years later, one night in 1937, part of the vault in a building collapsed. Among the victims was a man of strange skin, the color of marble in moonlight. His chest mortally pierced, his last words... Suo tempore. This was the alchemist.''.

In 1535, an alchemist builds an extraordinary mechanism encapsulated into a small golden device. The invention...

Federico Luppi: Jesus Gris.

Ron Perlman: Angel de la Guardia.

Guillermo Del Toro's Cronos is a surreal and stylish take on the vampire legends of old and remians one of the most strangely underrated films of the 90's.

Del Toro was little more than a rookie director at the time this came into being but in that regard he's more than given the pro's a drove of competition.

Every scene in Cronos is skillfully filmed, and the way that Del Toro makes contrasts between locations and the two central families is a grand achievement.

The way that Cronos alternates language from English to Spanish and back again is very clever.

Many subjects are explored, from obvious ones like addiction, to more concealed ones such as a thought on family, tracing the way to the roles of child and parent or even Nephew and Uncle.

For the story of Cronos Del Toro has taken the timeless vampire theme and blended it with mechanics and the human lust of being able to sustain life indefinitely.

The story follows Jesús Gris, an antique dealer that lives with his granddaughter Aurora and wife Mercedes. One day our hero chances upon a mechanical beetle that latches itself onto his palm, causing him to shed blood.

Jesús slowly gets addicted to the mystical object, but there's someone else that desires it and will stop at nothing to get hold of this wondrous device.

The mythology of the beetle is told in a great opening prologue that sets the viewer up for an intriguing original story.

Del Toro ensures that his audience is always left guessing and two steps behind.

Cronos works and clicks due to interesting characters that the audience is able to feel for, a story to be compelled by and a mystery tastily wanting to be uncovered.