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CRONOS |
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Director Guillermo del Toro is known to the mainstream public for his 1997 film Mimic, in which intelligent giant-sized mutant cockroaches were able to imitate a human being so well that the bugs could get cuddly close before ripping their victim to shreds. The film boasted class writing from John Sayles and Steven Soderbergh, great goo and gore effects by Rob Bottin (The Thing, An American Werewolf in London), and an all-stops-pulled last half hour that is almost too intense. The ending is way too typical of what Hollywood seems to demand from its pablum, but despite that, del Toro’s film is unique enough to place it a cut above most of that genre.
To really see (and feel) what del Toro can do, go to your local video store and demand to rent his classy Cronos (1994). Cronos was made in del Toro’s native Mexico and the finished product is a true labor of love. Though the film was released in 1993 when the director was 29, he had originally started work on the story when he was 21. Del Toro combined elements of classic horror with beautiful color cinematography very reminiscent of the best of the famed Hammer Studio releases from the late ’50s and early ’60s. His story completely revamps the vampire myth, removing the religious aspects of vampirism (no running scared from a cross or flesh seared by holy water), and concentrating on the bloodlust as the penalty for seeking eternal life. |
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| The film opens in the 16th century where an alchemist has created a mechanized-scarab broach, inside which dwells a living insect. When the jewelry sinks its claws into someone, the resident bug oozes a substance that grants immortality. Four hundred years later, the alchemist is killed during an earthquake when falling debris stakes him through the heart. Elderly antique dealer Jesus Gris obtains the broach, and after winding it up, is injected with the insect’s secretion. Almost immediately, Jesus begins to feel more vital and look younger, and finds himself unable to resist re-using the broach. Across town, a dying millionaire who came across the dead alchemist’s journal sends his thug-like nephew (Ron Perlman, whose multi-lingual acting abilities and mammoth brutelike presence has graced many art house films) to obtain the device by any means necessary. At the heart of the story is the tragedy that befalls the loving relationship between Jesus and his young granddaughter Aurora. Even as Jesus begins to change (including a little blood lapping and a rather traumatic embalming sequence), Aurora’s love for her grandfather never falters. Their bond seems to be the thing that is truly immortal, and unlike the promise of living forever, not loaded with dire consequences. |
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When one tries to think of a Mexican horror film, the first thing that usually comes to mind is maybe Santos (Sampson) Vs. the Vampire Women or one of the many others whose heroes are Mexican wrestlers. Even if the wrestlers aren’t around, as in the nightmarish The Braniac (1961), the end result is usually great fun but goofy as hell. Cronos changed those expectations with its intelligent and emotionally involving script. The film garnered nine Mexican Academy Awards and a prize at Cannes. Although filmed in Mexico (where its $2 million budget made it the most expensive Mexican film ever), half of the dialogue is in English and the rest of it in Spanish with English subtitles. The video is also available in an English-dubbed version. |
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