Cronos

Guillermo del Toro, writer-director of Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth, made a startling first impression with Cronos, his debut feature, a vampire film which won earned acclaim for injecting fresh blood (obvious pun!) into an old genre. In 1536, an alchemist fleeing the Spanish Inquisition arrives in Veracruz with a fantastic invention: the “cronos device,” able to provide eternal life — but only at a great price. In modern-day Mexico City, a kindly antique dealer discovers a strange contraption hidden within an old statue, activates it by accident, and develops a ferocious craving for blood — to the horror of his young granddaughter. Meanwhile, a terminally-ill millionaire comes into possession of the alchemist’s journal, learns of the existence of the device, and resolves to stop at nothing to obtain it. Such is the wild premise of del Toro’s intriguing film, a judicious balance of deadpan seriousness and delicious humour offered up in a well-acted, well-observed, post-modern mélange of suspenseful sci-fi/horror and affecting family melodrama that will remind some of Cronenberg. Cronos won nine Mexican Oscars. “A fantastic film. . . vivid, exciting, and of great plastic and visual beauty" (Tomás Pérez Turrent). “A vampire movie with a very Latin American twist. . . This intelligent film is one hell of a debut" (Toronto I.F.F.). Colour, 35mm, in Spanish with English subtitles. 91 mins.