Reviews of Cronos

Cronos

Posted : 2 weeks, 6 days ago on 21 October 2009 12:30 (A review of Cronos)

Guillermo del Toro’s first film is less a vampire story, of which it is, and more of a love story between a grandfather and his granddaughter. It is filled with del Toro’s wildly inventive imagination – you’ve got to see the inside of the golden egg/mechanical spider to believe it – and love for humanity amongst all of the gore, it is a great debut film. It should come as no shock that he’s only made a handful of films and I have either loved or respected them all.

Cronos is half in Spanish and half in English, but it’s merged together in a realistic and believable way. There’s no tourists played for laughs or awkward moments with border patrol here. These groups of people occupy the same part of town and interact routinely. Well, mostly Frederico Luppi as the grandfather and Ron Perlman as the anatagonist’s nose job obsessed nephew interact. Our main villain and heroine are confined to one room or mute throughout much of the film.

And while later films like Mimic or Pan’s Labyrinth would be brutal and vivid in their violence and gore, but never without a certain amount of taste and always necessary to the story, the gore and brutality is relatively limited in this film. But our main character still removes his blue skin to reveal a shiny white new layer, and gets his mouth shown shut while being embalmed. Del Toro understands that unnecessary gore and bloodshed actually distract from and takeaway from a good film. And this is a very good one. Mimic and Blade II would be creative dips, but not without a certain amount of charm and respectability, he would go on to great things with The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth. Here’s the beginnings of one of our greatest young directors currently working.

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Cronos

Posted : 1 year, 10 months ago on 13 January 2008 01:57 (A review of Cronos)

Cronos is an enchanting and beautiful film to watch, but it left me constantly longing to be allowed to submerge myself deeper into the magical world that its characters stumbled into. As a result i was left never feeling quite satisfied.
I didn't receive a single fright, but that was ok, because its dark comedy and odd quirks took center stage instead.
A lovely storyline and beautiful brooding gothic imagery from the early work of Guillermo del Toro has left me eager to see the work he has produced as his career has progressed.



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Cronos review

Posted : 1 year, 10 months ago on 29 December 2007 09:17 (A review of Cronos)

An enjoyable film from Guillermo del Toro
that, while billed as a horror film, is really not that horrific at all. It is more of a black comedy in fact.

An antiques dealer stumbles upon a much coveted item that can grant its user eternal life - at a cost! In return, apart from looking a little worse for wear, the user will acquire an uncontrollable thirst for blood. I enjoyed the film and think it's well worth a watch. The antiques dealer's grand daughter was my favourite character. It's not often a little girl can steal the show! I did think Ron Perlman was a little out of place though.

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