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Cronos

post #1 of 20
3/18/07 at 11:56am
Thread Starter 
I find it hard to believe there isn't already a thread about this film, but the search function seems to be drawing up blanks.

I just recently purchased the new Guillermo Del Toro set which contains Cronos, The Devil's Backbone, and Pan's Labyrinth. Having already seen The Devil's Backbone and Pan's I opted to go chronologically and watch Cronos first.

It's truly an amazing little film, beautifully told and with the kind of cinematic vigour which is startling for a first time director. The film just drips with confidence and the only really indication that it may be someone's debut work is the compartively small scope of the story itself. Cronos feels more like a character study than a full vampire film, the horror elements downplayed to focus on the effect the Cronos device is having on the protagonist and his granddaughter.

In fact I love the fact the film essentially makes the viewer use their existing knowledge of vampiric lore to ascertain just what is going on, as there is never really any exposition put towards Jesus's sudden transformation. The only weak link I thought was Ron Pearlman who while being fantastic seemed to be overplaying the role way too much in what was a largely restrained movie.
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post #2 of 20
3/18/07 at 12:40pm
I will have to agree with you about Perlman. His performance almost feels like out of a totally different film. But otherwise it's a very strong debut even if I prefer most of his later movies.
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post #3 of 20
3/18/07 at 4:40pm
This is definitely a favorite vampire flick of mine. And I have to agree with you two about Perlman's performance, as fun as it is to watch.
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post #4 of 20
3/18/07 at 7:35pm
Surprisingly moving film too. The grandfather-granddaughter relationship is the glue that holds the story together, Del Toro does children very well (but not in the Victor Salva way).
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post #5 of 20
3/18/07 at 7:38pm
My favorite vampire movie of all time, my favorite Guillermo Del Toro film, and one of my all time favorite flicks ever. Just beautiful, haunting, sad.
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post #6 of 20
3/21/07 at 10:38pm
Ron Perlman's performance is there for contrast. He emotes a whole history with his uncle that directly contrasts with the relationship the granddaughter and grandfather have. Remove that and you lose whole layers to the film. He is a very important part of that ensemble.

You also have to give it to him for performing in a language he doesn't speak.
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post #7 of 20
3/22/07 at 12:23am
I was under the impression that Ron was multi-lingual, with him being in this and City of Lost Children (where, admittedly, his dialouge was minimal).
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post #8 of 20
3/22/07 at 11:55am
Perlman only speaks English. When he was in City of Lost Children, he had to learn his French dialogue phonetically and they had him memorize it with a Russian accent.
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post #9 of 20
3/22/07 at 11:59am
Where can I find this set?
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post #10 of 20
3/22/07 at 12:04pm
I'll have to rewatch this again, because I remember not liking it the first (and only) time I saw it. I just remember it being slow and mundane, so who knows.

A friend of mine showed me Devil's a while ago and I just fell in love with that movie. Shortly thereafter, I won a 5 pack of horror movies from good ol' CHUD and one of them was Cronos. After watching it, I just didn't get the same feeling I got from DB.

Thankfully, this thread has inspired me to watch again. Hopefully this time is better.
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post #11 of 20
3/22/07 at 5:26pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BobClark
Where can I find this set?
It's a UK Boxset

http://play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/3274822/G...t/Product.html

It comes with a really nice 16 page book giving a brief biography of Del Toro and a look at recurrent themes in his films.
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post #12 of 20
3/23/07 at 12:45pm
Cronos is indeed easily among the best 2 or 3 vampire films out there.
I liked Perlman's performance, too.
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post #13 of 20
7/27/09 at 1:43pm
There's a certain smallness, a quaintness (?) that I love in Del Toro's early films. Whereas something like Pan's Labyrinth or Hellboy have a big budget, high polished feel to them*, Devil's Backbone and Cronos have a certain down-home feel. In Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy Del Toro is allowed to build sets, capture the right red, blue, and yellow colors in the photography, and fully realize his ideas. In Cronos, for example, he obviously filmed in an abandoned warehouse, in an actual crematorium, in an actual antique shop, etc. The makeup and props are obviously practical effects, etc. It's very charming.

Also related to the down-home (no other term comes to mind) feel: Cronos and Devil's Backbone feel like stories set in a mostly-real world, with camp fire/folktale/horror elements creeping in. Pan's Labyrinth is pure fairy-tale. Hellboy is pure comic book.

Anyways, great, great film. The story, the vibe, the acting, the characters, the photography, the SPFX... all great. And all for a first time director! Del Toro really does have style, vision, and talent to spare.

* Obviously I'm not criticizing Hellboy or Pan's Labyrinth. I'm using these two films to contrast with Cronos to describe specifically what I enjoy so much about Cronos. I'm not debating the quality of Hellboy or Pan's Labyrinth. Wow, I actually felt I had to write a disclaimer.
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post #14 of 20
7/27/09 at 1:52pm
I also love that this film uses vampirism as a metaphor for drug addiction.
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post #15 of 20
7/27/09 at 2:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll View Post
I also love that this film uses vampirism as a metaphor for drug addiction.
Beating both THE ADDICTION and HABIT by a couple years.
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post #16 of 20
7/27/09 at 2:39pm
For those that didn't know, Criterion is releasing a special edition of Cronos on DVD and Blu-Ray later this year.
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post #17 of 20
7/27/09 at 5:37pm
Whenever I think of this movie I mostly just think of Ron Perlman, what a bizarre role.
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post #18 of 20
7/27/09 at 6:58pm
For the record, I think Perlman is wonderful in the role, especially when he privately swears a mile a minute at his uncle... and most of all when he befriends the little girl and asks for nose job advice. Just about any other actor woulda crashed and burned attempting making such large and clownish choices. He's even better when you know how del Toro is using this buffoon character as a little FUCK YOU to Hollywood cliche Mexican characters.
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post #19 of 20
7/28/09 at 6:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc Phibes View Post
For those that didn't know, Criterion is releasing a special edition of Cronos on DVD and Blu-Ray later this year.
I wonder if the old release is still fetching decent prices. I might have to unload mine before everyone knows about this, even though they probably already do.
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post #20 of 20
7/28/09 at 7:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spike Marshall View Post
It's a UK Boxset

http://play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/3274822/G...t/Product.html

It comes with a really nice 16 page book giving a brief biography of Del Toro and a look at recurrent themes in his films.
Spike are there any extras on the discs?
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