Sommerleigh Pollonais, Horror Head Writer
Day 23/31: Cronos (1993)
Who made it?
Directed by: Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy, Crimson Peak, The Devil’s Backbone)
What’s it About?
While all Guillermo Del Toro fans probably know of his filmography front to back, his feature film debut tends to be overlooked. Cronos on its surface is set in early 19th century Spain and tells the story of an alchemist who creates a device — a small machine that looks like a gold scarab — that can imbue anyone bitten by it with immortality. Centuries later after an earthquake, the body of the alchemist is found (with a broken piece of wood through his chest) along with the Cronos Device and it ends up in the hands of an antique dealer named Jesus (Federico Lippi). He accidentally activates it, and as it bites him and attaches itself, he discovers he has become immortal.
Like almost all of his movies Del Toro crafts Cronos as a dark and twisted (but beautiful to behold) fairytale. In this case, a tale of greed courtesy of a rich industrialist who learns of the Cronos Device and wants it for himself. It is an allegory for the wealthy and powerful of this world who always seem to want more of both. Nothing is ever enough so what would it be like if those types of people also had the ability to live indefinitely? All of the actors are in top form and while I wasn’t familiar with the award-winning Spanish actors in it, I was surprised and delighted to see a young Ron Perlman of Hellboy fame as the American nephew of the antagonist. Perlman even took a pay cut so Del Toro could afford to complete the film and the two have been great friends ever since (that’s just an extra bit of fun trivia for you).
If the alchemist death didn’t give it away, Cronos is Del Toro’s version of a vampire story with his singular dark fairytale twist added to it, creating a uniquely original film that creeps under your skin in the best ways.
Fun Trivia
All of the original props for the Cronos Device were stolen after the movie had wrapped. The ones Del Toro has are replicas made from the original moulds which art designer Maria Figueroa still had.
And you can sink your teeth into more horror content below:
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge-Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes. Double Tap Baby! Read More