Cronos ***½ (1993, Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Claudio Brook) – Classic Movie Review 2005

Guillermo del Toro’s eerie, imaginative and atmospheric 1993 Mexican horror movie centres on an extraordinary, mysterious mechanism encapsulated into a small, bug-like golden device, designed and built by an alchemist in 1535 to provide its owner with eternal life.

It survives its maker and, after more than four centuries, it resurfaces when old antiques dealer Jesus Gris (Federico Luppi) opens the base of an ancient statue and a golden object in the shape of a large beetle drops out. The mechanically activated object can clutch a human arm and inject a magical fluid that prolongs life, but it can also leave a trail of destruction in its wake.

Jesus is fascinated by the strange device, but he isn’t the only one who wants to have it. The cruel, old and sick Dieter de la Guardia (Claudio Brook) is obsessed with the idea of eternal life and he, along with his nephew Angel (Ron Perlman), will do anything to get the Cronos invention.

With the help of good set pieces and the fine performances, Del Toro conjures up a sweet chiller and manages to breathe fresh life and conviction into the age-old theme of the search for the secret to eternal life.

When Del Toro was in talks with Universal in 1993 about the buying the rights for a Hollywood remake, he said, rather uncharitably: ‘Who wants to see Jack Lemmon lick blood off a bathroom floor?’

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 2005

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com/