Cronos (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

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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!

I've heard a lot about Cronos through friends, and it's been on my Amazon Wishlist for sometime. I never got around to buying it, and when I saw the Criterion Collection version available, I knew it was time.Cronos is a fantastic grim fairytale (not grimms) with all the dark realism true to the fable genre. Del Toro's style, though not as obvious as in his later movies, is still prevelant. He blends alchemy, vampirism and modern horror seamlessly. The makeup effects aren't anywhere as good as you see in today's Del Toro film's, but the imagery is there. I think Cronos fits right in with movies like 'City of Lost Children' and 'Brazil'. Not so much for the content, but for the dark yet rich visuals and the unique strangeness and brilliance of it that makes the movie a gem. Like Pan's Labyrinth, the strength and courage only a child is capable of is perfectly portrayed through a young girl who watches her grandfather unveil almost all of man's weaknesses as he is seduced by immortality and ultimately blood lust. Without the young girl, Aurora, I'm not sure the film would of had so much emotional resonance. Her acting isn't as great as the young lady in Pan's Labyrinth, but Aurora's silence is enough to make you empathize with her character and see that she has a deep personal connection with her grandpa. She endures and absorbs so much throughout the story, and her undying love and affection for him proves the power and resilence of a child's spirit. She always believed in him, even when she knew their was something deeply flawed about him.I'm not sure all that was the point of the film, but I was so touched by the relationship between Aurora and Jesus Gris her grandfather. Ron Pearlman is always great; he's such an underrated actor. I love his character in Cronos, and his relationship with his uncle is a powerfully dark contrast to Aurora's and Jesus's. I think if you want to watch Pearlman's magic without the Hellboy costume, you need to see him as the quirky loose-cannon Angel La Guardia. Great acting all around.It's not a gorey or graphic film. It's a touching and thoughtful movie that strangely enough uses alchemy and vampirism without neccesarily fitting into the horror genre. I think this is where I mention it's in english and spanish with subtitles. It includes voice-over options for those opposed to reading.The special features are extensive and worth it:Two audio-commentaries, Geometria~ an unrealesd short film by Del Toro, interviews and a video tour of Del Toro's home office and personal collections. Trailers included for all you completists.

I can't add much more than what has been said, but I'am adding my rating to a good film.It says english, spanish speaking, what it means is there is both used in the film, mostly spanish with english used the odd time or a mixture of both.

Im Jahr 1535 entwickelte ein Alchimist in Vera Cruz einen Mechanismus, der dem Besitzer das ewige Leben bringen könnte.Über 400 Jahre später stürzt ein altes Gebäude ein, in dem ein Mann ums Leben kommt. Sein Herz wird durch die Trümmer durchstochen - es ist der Alchimist.Szenenwechsel: Jesus Gris (Federico Luppi) ist ein Antiquitätenhändler, der mit seiner Frau Mercedes(Margarita Isabel) die kleine Enkelin Aurore (Tamara Shanath) aufzieht. Das Mädchen spricht kein Wort. Meistens ist das Geschäft leer, doch immerhin sucht ein Kunde nach einer bestimmten Statue. Aus einer von diesem Mann untersuchten Engelsstatue kriechen kurze Zeit später Kakerlaken hervor. Als Gris die Statue untersucht entdeckt er im Innern einen geheimnisvollen, sonderbaren käferartigen Apparat in goldener Farbe. Er zieht die Feder des Apparats auf, als sich das Gerät an ihm festkrallt und etwas im Innern dieses kleinen Apparates sticht zu.Sehr schnell erkennt der Mann das Suchtpotential, das von diesem Apparat und seiner Funktion ausgeht. Immer wieder lässt er sich stechen - er wird dadurch jünger und fühlt sich plötzlich viel dynamischer.Doch ein weiterer unerwünschter Nebeneffekt stellt sich ein: Er verlangt ein gewisse Sucht nach Blut.Auch der todkranke Industriellen De la Guardia (Claudio Brook) hat ein Interesse an Cronos, dem lebensverlängernden Apparat. Mit Hilfe seines bruatlen Neffen Angel (Ron Perlman) versucht er - ohne Rücksicht auf Verluste - an das Objekt der Begierde zu kommen. Denn ihm ist vor geraumer Zeit das Notizbuch eines Alchemisten aus dem 16. Jahrhundert in die Hände gefallen...."Cronos" ist der erste, 1993 entstandene Horrorfilm des mexikanischen Regisseurs Guillermo del Toro, der später so herausragende Werke wie "The Devils Backbone" oder "Pans Labyrinth" inszenieren sollte.Bereits "Cronos" zeigt eine hohe Originalität, die im Zombie- und Vampirgenre äusserst selten zu finden ist.Der Film setzt durchgehend auf eine geheimnisvolle, morbide Atmosphäre und man ist gespannt wie sich die Geschichte entwickelt. Dabei dominiert eindeutig das Mysterium, Schockelemente gibts keine.Auch die Kamera von Guillermo Navarro macht keine schlechte Figur, der Mexikaner ist auch für die Bilder in "From Dusk til Dawn" oder "Devils Backbone" verantwortlich.

Hola,He subido unas cuantas imágenes de esta magnifica edición. Arriba podéis verlas. Algunas incorporan notas aclaratorias o complementarias.A ver si poco a poco nos animamos a ir subiendo fotos de los artículos que no tengan imágenes, porque se agradecen bastante!Dos DVDs, uno con la película, y otro con extras.Saludos!

Excelente la colección Criterion, la calidad de sonido e imagen es excelente, muy bien cuidada, además incluye algunos extras como entrevistas con el director que te encantarán si te fascina la película o su trabajo. Llegó bien empaquetada y a tiempo.

this movie was absolutely brilliant!one thing you have to keep in mind, in the end, this movie is essentially a love story, but since Del Toro is directing it, it has it's Macabre side.one thing more to keep in mind: the 1st half of this movie is somewhat slow, and is primarily used for setting the stage for the 2nd half of the movie, so if you are the type of person who watches a movie and if there's no real suspense or action in the first 15 minutes, you need to wait, apart from that, the rest of the movie is Very good, i loved it, one thing you should know, the movie is ONLY in SPANISH, with english subtitles, there is NO other language for for the movie other than spanish, but if you read on with the subtitles, you'll love it.this movie is acctually beutifully put together, an early masterpeice for del Toro.my rating for this movie is a 5/5 personally, but it is not for everyone... so read the back cover before buying it, if you rent it, talk to the clerk and ask if they've seen it, but most people would find this movie fasinating.Also in the core of the plot there is something that now is in investigation, live/technological interphases are quite new, so perhaps a good vision mind on del Toro side.Good movie, will see it again.