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''Cronos'' is a 1992 Mexican
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
horror
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
written and directed by
Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...
and starring
Federico Luppi Federico Luppi (; February 23, 1936 – October 20, 2017) was an Argentine film, television, radio and theatre actor. He won numerous awards throughout his acting career. Biography Luppi worked mostly in Argentine cinema, but also worked in Ch ...
and
Ron Perlman Ronald N. Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in ''Quest for Fire (film), Quest for Fire'' (1981), Salvatore in ''The Name of the Rose (film), The Name of the Rose'' (1986), Vincent in th ...
. ''Cronos'' is del Toro's first feature film, and the first of several films on which he worked with Luppi and Perlman. Critical reviews were overwhelmingly positive, praising the inventive direction and creative storytelling, and over time ''Cronos'' has been regarded as a classic. The film was selected as the Mexican entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. A
stand-alone sequel Standalone or Stand-alone may refer to: *Stand-alone DSL, a digital subscriber line without analog telephone service; also known as ''naked DSL'' *Stand-alone expansion pack, an expansion pack which does not require the original game in order to us ...
, ''We Are What We Are'', was released in 2010, its only connection to the original being Daniel Giménez Cacho reprising the role of Tito the Coroner.


Plot

In the year 1536, an alchemist in
Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
develops a mechanism that can give eternal life. In 1937, an old building collapses and the alchemist, who has marble-white skin, is killed when his heart is pierced by the debris. Investigators go to search the home of the alchemist, but they never reveal what else was discovered in the home: basins filled with blood from a corpse. In 1996, an elderly antique dealer, Jesús Gris, notices that the base of an archangel statue is hollow. He opens it and finds the 460-year-old mechanism. After he winds the ornate, scarab-shaped device, it unfurls spider-like legs which grip him tightly and inserts a needle into his skin. An insect — entombed within the device and meshed with the internal clockwork — filters the blood. Gris eventually discovers his health and vigor are returning, as is his youth. His skin loses its wrinkles, his hair thickens and his sexual appetite increases. He also develops a thirst for blood. This initially disgusts him, but he eventually succumbs to the temptation. He uses the device later that night but says his nightly prayer as he does. His granddaughter Aurora notices this and begins to worry about Gris. Meanwhile, a rich, dying businessman, Dieter de la Guardia, who has been amassing information about the mechanism for many years, has been searching for the statue with the device. He sends his thuggish American nephew Angel, who suffers his uncle's abuse on a daily basis for an inheritance, to purchase the statue at the antique shop. During a
New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...
party, Gris sees a man bleeding from the nose and follows him into the men's room in order to reap his blood from the sink countertop. Another man comes out of one of the stalls, sees the blood and cleans it up. Gris notices blood on the floor and decides to lick it up, until an unknown man walks up and kicks him in the face, knocking him unconscious. He is found by Angel, who gives him some alcohol and tries to beat him into giving up the mechanism. When Gris faints, Angel places his body inside a car and pushes it off a cliff. Gris briefly awakens and prays for survival, but seemingly dies. He later revives in an undertaker's establishment and escapes before he can be cremated. He returns home, and Aurora lets him in. Dieter beats Angel for not ensuring Gris's heart was destroyed and sends him to check on the body. Gris works on a letter to his wife in which he comments on the changes to his body and tells her that after completing some 'unfinished business' he will return to her. He notices that his skin burns in the presence of sunlight and sleeps in a box to avoid it. Eventually, Gris and Aurora bring the mechanism to Dieter's headquarters, where the businessman offers him a "way out" in exchange for the device. Gris comments on his damaged skin and the businessman tells him to peel it off because he has new skin underneath, which is marble-white like the dead alchemist. Gris threatens to destroy the mechanism but is told that he will die should that happen. Gris agrees to hand it over in exchange for knowing the "way out", whereupon Dieter stabs him. Before being able to strike the killing blow to the chest, Dieter is incapacitated by Aurora and Gris feeds on Dieter. Angel finds the dying Dieter and crushes his throat with his foot, tired of his abuse and waiting for his inheritance. Angel confronts Gris on the rooftop of the building and beats him severely. Gris throws them both off the roof, killing Angel. Aurora finds Gris unconscious and uses the mechanism to wake him. Noticing that her hand is bleeding, Gris is tempted to feed off his granddaughter but he eventually controls himself. He then painfully destroys the mechanism, despite previous warnings. He returns to his home and is shown lying in bed, with Aurora and his wife in attendance, as the film ends.


Cast

*
Federico Luppi Federico Luppi (; February 23, 1936 – October 20, 2017) was an Argentine film, television, radio and theatre actor. He won numerous awards throughout his acting career. Biography Luppi worked mostly in Argentine cinema, but also worked in Ch ...
as Jesús Gris *
Ron Perlman Ronald N. Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in ''Quest for Fire (film), Quest for Fire'' (1981), Salvatore in ''The Name of the Rose (film), The Name of the Rose'' (1986), Vincent in th ...
as Angel de la Guardia * Claudio Brook as Dieter de la Guardia * Tamara Shanath as Aurora Gris * Margarita Isabel as Mercedes Gris * Daniel Giménez Cacho as Tito the Coroner, a character that also appears in the 2010 horror film '' We Are What We Are''. * Mario Iván Martínez as Alchemist * Farnesio de Bernal as Manuelito * Jorge Martínez de Hoyos as Narrator


Reception


Critical response

The film received acclaim by critics for its
acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad range of sk ...
, originality,
mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
, religious references, and its balance of horror & drama. When the film got the attention of international film critics including those from
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, it has since been recognized as one of the greatest horror films and Spanish language films of all-time.
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
reports a 90% approval rating based on 60 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The critical consensus reads: "Guillermo del Toro's unique feature debut is not only gory and stylish, but also charming and intelligent."
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
assigned the film a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". It was also entered into the
18th Moscow International Film Festival The 18th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 1 to 12 July 1993. The Golden St. George was awarded to the French-Belarusian film '' Me Ivan, You Abraham'' directed by Yolande Zauberman. Jury * Claude Lelouch (France – President o ...
. In the early 2010s, '' Time Out'' conducted a poll with several authors, directors, actors and critics who have worked within the horror genre to vote for their top horror films. ''Cronos'' was placed at number 96 on their top 100 list. The film has become part of
The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of art film, arth ...
. The film's Blu-ray disc includes the film with both the introduction in English, and a version in its original Spanish language. In the website's plot synopsis of the film, it's described as "A dark, visually rich, & emotionally captivating fantasy". The film is sold both individually and as part of the box set ''Trilogía de Guillermo del Toro'', which includes del Toro's other Spanish language horror films '' The Devil's Backbone'' & '' Pan's Labyrinth''.


Box office

In the United States, the film was given
limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
to only 2 theaters where it grossed $17,538 its opening weekend and grossed a total of $621,392 playing at a total of 28 screens. After many critics viewed the film, they felt it deserved a wider release.


Year-end lists

* Honorable mention – David Elliott, ''
The San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...
''


Home media

''Cronos'' was first released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
by Lionsgate Home Entertainment on 14 October 2003 as a "10th Anniversary Edition", which includes two commentaries, one by del Toro, and the other by three of the four producers, two behind-the-scenes featurettes, two galleries for production photos and concept art, and an easter egg which plays the theatrical trailers of four films, including ''Cronos''. On 7 December 2010,
The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of art film, arth ...
released ''Cronos'' on both DVD and
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
with a new cover by Mike Mignola. The disc contains two audio commentaries by cast and crew, a video tour of del Toro's home office, several interviews, and '' Geometria'', a 1987
short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...
(although finished in 2010) written and directed by del Toro. The Criterion Collection also released the film as a part of the boxset ''Trilogía de Guillermo del Toro,'' which includes three of Guillermo del Toro's Spanish films, the other two being '' Pan's Labyrinth'' and '' The Devil's Backbone''.


See also

*
Vampire film Vampire films have been a staple in world cinema since the era of silent films, so much so that the depiction of vampires in popular culture is strongly based upon their depiction in films throughout the years. The most popular cinematic adaptat ...
* List of submissions to the 66th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film * List of Mexican submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film


References


External links

* * * * *
''Cronos: Beautiful Dark Things''
an essay by Maitland McDonagh at the
Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of arthouse film distributo ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cronos 1992 films 1992 horror films 1990s Spanish-language films 1990s English-language films Films directed by Guillermo del Toro Films with screenplays by Guillermo del Toro Films shot in Mexico Mexican independent films Mexican vampire films 1990s Christmas horror films Gothic horror films Films set in Mexico Films set in Mexico City Films set around New Year 1992 directorial debut films Mexican supernatural horror films 1990s Mexican films 1993 films Films about immortality English-language horror films Saturn Award–winning films