Vampires. Ron Perlman and Federico Luppi. Clockwork automatons brimming with occult magic. A visual palate heavily hued in amber.
Despite being the feature film directorial debut of filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, the 1993 Mexican horror film Cronos plays like a greatest hits collection for the director. The film, recently released on DVD and Blu-ray as part of the Criterion Collection, offers the best glimpse possible at the mind of the man who has brought audiences films such as Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy and The Devil’s Backbone. The revisionist take on the vampire legend serves as a topographical map of the filmmaker’s visual cues and thematic interests and offers an early peek at the creativity that, at the time, was just bubbling up in the writer/director’s brain — waiting to be unleashed in a big, bad way.
Frequent del Toro collaborator Federico Luppi stars as Jesús Gris, an aging antique dealer who lives a quiet, unassuming life with his distracted wife and adoring young granddaughter. Gris is content to let his peaceful life play out until he discovers an ancient mechanical insect in the base of a statue. The automaton, a mix of arcane magic and expert craftsmanship, injects Gris with a fluid that causes him to experience a resurgence in health and energy. As his wrinkles disappear and his libido starts to show its head again, Gris becomes horrified to learn that his newfound gift comes with a side effect — an unquenchable thirst for blood.
If the fact that Gris is turning into a vampire wasn’t enough to make him regret ever finding the mechanical device, Gris also finds himself on the wrong side of a dying businessman’s obsession.
Dieter de la Guardia (Claudio Brook) has been searching for the Cronos device for a very long time. As his health took a turn for the worse, de la Guardia enlisted the unwilling help of his nephew Angel, a vain brute of a man played by Ron Perlman.
While Gris comes into grip with the fact that he is addicted to the device — causing his humanity to slip from his fingers more and more every day, he also must deal with the violent attempts of Angel to try and wrest the device from Gris’s hands.
Del Toro’s film is a brisk fantasy that neatly mixes a touching look at two men’s desperate attempts to prolong the inevitable with a highly original take on a story that even 20 years ago had been done to death.
Cronos looks fantastic in its 1.78.1 widescreen presentation. Remastered in high definition, the DVD version of the movie doesn’t quite hold the crisp detail available in the film’s Blu-ray presentation but it comes pretty darn close. You can go ahead and throw away the previous DVD release of the film — this director-approved transfer is the clear winner with special attention given to restoring the film’s image without eradicating the grain and texture that gives it its character.
Keeping faithful to the film’s original theatrical release, the soundtrack is available in a Spanish 2.0 Stereo track. As an added option, audiences can choose between an English-spoken prologue or a Spanish one. The sound is clear and the vocals distinct. The overall presentation is nothing remarkable, though.
Commentaries — The DVD contains two audio commentaries. The first track was recorded in 2002 and features del Toro talking about the film’s production — from inspiration to production. Del Toro is talkative and has no problem filling the track’s running time with plenty of great information. There’s a second track with producers Arthur H. Gorson, Bertha Navarro and Alejandro Springall. The track covers a lot of ground in the film’s post-production stage.
Interviews — There is a series of interviews with the cast and crew including a nearly 18-minute interview with Guillermo del Toro, a 13-minute interview with frequent del Toro collaborator Guillermo Navarro, who served as the film’s cinematographer, an 8-minute interview with Ron Perlman and a 6-minute interview with Federico Luppi.
Geometria — Began in 1987 and finished in 2010, Geometria is one of de Toro’s first short films, a hugely entertaining story about a boy who summons a demon looking for help to pass a geometry test. The short film is nearly seven minutes long and is clearly inspired by Italian horror directors from the ’70s.
Welcome to Bleak House — Essentially a geek version of Cribs, this special feature follows del Toro around as he gives a tour of an extra home he bought just to store all the awesome crap he’s accumulated during his life. From original art to toys to one-of-a-kind automatons, del Toro’s man cave is a thing to be awed.
Theatrical trailer and more — Besides the film’s theatrical trailer, there is a stills gallery and a 42-page booklet included in the disc’s linear notes. The booklet includes an essay from Maitland McDonagh and selections from del Toro’s notebooks.
All of the magic of a del Toro film is in clear display in Cronos — from the amazing visual touches del Toro gives the film, including glimpses of design choices that would eventually become the director’s trademark, to the hefty bag-strong script that forms the skeleton of the film — combining disturbing concepts, often funny exchanges and deep and un-ironic warmth to form one of the closest things audiences have been given to a modern day fairy tale in recent years.
It’s the little touches that help to sell Cronos — such as a horrifying scene in which Gris wakes up from a horrific car accident caused by de la Guardia’s machinations to find that he is on the mortuary slab and his mouth has been sewn shut or the sub-plot of Perlman’s character involving his own obsession with plastic surgery and rhinoplasty.
Cronos may not be del Toro’s best film but it’s a strong representation of the filmmaker’s talents on display. The film deftly showcases his abilities to weave the fantastic with the mundane. If you are a horror fan or just a lover of quality cinema, there’s really no excuse to have not seen Cronos. Get on it quickly, man! It’s not like you’re going to have forever.
Criterion Collection presents Cronos. Directed by: Guillermo del Toro. Starring: Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Claudio Brook. Written by: Guillermo del Toro. Running time: 92 minutes. Rating: R. Released on DVD: December 7, 2010.
