Cronos

Cronos (1992) Limited edition UHD (BFIB0009) and BluRay (2 disk set) (BFIB1506), ITunes and Amazon Prime. Rated: 15

Guillermo del Toro’s highly individual take on the vampire film is out now on UHD, BluRay and platforms for you to enjoy. 

At the time of it cinematic release, the vampire film seemed to have reached an impasse; the over-literal faithfulness of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ or the teen humour of ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’. Just when it seemed that there was nowhere new to go, ‘Cronos’ turned up like an old heirloom, filled with mystery and promise and maybe even a family curse. 

Our preamble explains the history of the Cronos device, a 16th Century invention from a brilliant Veracruz alchemist, basically a mechanical blood detoxifying machine which goes beyond any modern kidney machine. The operation is carried out by an insect trapped within the device, its payment, a little blood from the user. 

An elderly antique seller Jesus Gris (Federico Luppi) is living out his golden years tending his business, when he comes into the possession of a small statue of Cronos, the god of time, depicted as a young warrior boy. Accidentally breaking the statue, Jesus finds inside a metal object resembling, appropriately enough, an ornate pocket watch. Jesus quickly learns that far from marking the passage of time, the device can reverse the effects of time. In the highly original early key scene, Jesus turns the jewel ‘winder’, the object flicks out metal legs which hold his palm firmly, and a prong uncurls itself, embedding the sharp point into his wrist. His blood courses through the device and the insect goes to work removing impurities from his bloodstream. All the time, Jesus is terrified of what is happening but notices the beneficial, rejuvenating effects over a period of days. 

He isn’t the only one who knows about the Cronos device, however. A wealthy but sick businessman, Dieter de la Guardia (Claudio Brook) has been hunting the device for years, helped by his avaricious nephew and heir, the brutish Angel (Ron Perlman). Claudio lives in a large, sparsely decorated apartment, his various excised, diseased body parts preserved in bottles on display and the empty plaster statues once thought to contain the Cronos device hung up in plastic bags like second placetrophies. Dieter is suitably desperate and reproachful toward his nephew, who endures his endless abuse at the thought of the fortune that will surely one day be his.  Angel and his thugs try to obtain the real Cronos statue from Jesus, to no avail.

A New Year’s Eve party gives Jesus the opportunity to enjoy his regained vigour and he begins to notice his craving for blood. A party guest suffers a nosebleed in the men’s room and in a very queasy scene, Jesus tries to lick up the blood, firstly from the sink, then from the floor. He is treated to a beating for his behaviour by an unknown man.

There is much in ‘Cronos’ to give the jaded horror fan comfort and renewed enthusiasm for a genre which was then and has since arguably been overdone to the point of pain. The Mexican setting and cast is a welcome change to the Americo-European dominance of the story, the ingenious Cronos device seems unique, at least in this form, and the family dynamics hold together well, particularly between Jesus and his young granddaughter Aurora (Tamara Xanath) who accepts her grandfather’s return from the dead and vampirism with surprising equanimity. 

The release comes with a second disk, containing a wealth of extras, including interviews, discussion and image gallery and a short film. A critical success on release but with disappointing box office, Cronos’ time may have come.

Scenester

23/2/25

Buy; 

UHD: https://shop.bfi.org.uk/cronos-limited-edition-4k-ultra-hd.htm

BluRay: https://shop.bfi.org.uk/cronos-limited-edition-blu-ray.html