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CRONOS review
It feels like this film was made a long long
looooooong time ago, but what with everything that
has happened to me... well, I’m running on Dog
Years.
When CRONOS came out I didn’t go see it.
Why? Well at the time the local newspaper that I
read (THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE) was on my shit
list because they claimed that Dario Argento’s
SUSPIRIA was the scariest film every made. I hadn’t
seen it, so I went and rented it and... I was not scared.
In fact, I hated the film because it was soooo unscary.
(Years later I saw it and liked it because I saw it as an
atmospheric piece)
Anyway, the same people were hailing CRONOS
as a great horror film. Yeah... Right I thought.
Suuuuree... My grandfather had always told me not
to get kicked twice by the same mule, and dammit, I
wasn’t falling for their damn tricks.
So I didn’t go see it.
Years flash by. Around September of last year I
began getting email from a fella named Guillermo
Del Toro. He had liked my review of MIMIC and
told me to go see it under better conditions (Go Read
MIMIC review) I had liked the film, but I didn’t see
it on a big big screen and I didn’t hear it with THX or
Digital Sound.
Around this time I began writing and talking with
Guillermo. He seemed like a fairly real fella. As
much as you could tell via electronic
communications. He sent me a laser disc of
CRONOS.
I put it on thinking it would probably be... ok.
Oh sure it won that award at Cannes, but that place
can be a bit weird sometimes. I gathered up a buncha
friends and we went to Glen’s house to watch it... you
see I didn’t have a laserdisc player at the time. (I do
now)
Wow. The film was a wonderful take on the
vampire legend. It was a Grimm’s Fairy Tale. It had
atmosphere, it told a story and it was fleshed out. It
created an entire mythic universe that the events
could happen within.
All of a sudden I understood the person in my
emails. He was someone that loved old movies, that
wasn’t regurgitating the last 15 years of film. I liked
this guy.
Time passed and Guillermo moved to Austin. I
openly campaigned him with tales of the Alamo
Drafthouse, food places, etc. He’s friends with
Robert Rodriguez, and when he wanted a community
to move to... well Austin was just right.
When I first met Guillermo it was absolutely
uncanny. He is me. We look like brothers. It’s
scary. Guillermo is the Mexican Harry and I am the
american Guillermo. We speak in the same
pentameter, we both have a penchant to bullshit for
hours at a time, we both are twisted sick fucks. Well,
this sort of sets you up for the review. This gives you
a look into who I am, and my perspective in looking
at this film and event. Guillermo is my friend,
actually quite a close friend.
CRONOS at the Dobie Egyptian Room with
Guillermo...
I arrive with the whole gang. Sister Satan, Tom
Joad, Johnny Wad, Copernicus, RoRo, Quint,
Hooper, Father Geek and maybe a couple of others.
We were standing around because allegedly
Guillermo had some sort of arrangements for us.
Boiling oil no doubt.
The area around the Dobie had balloon arches
and festive decorations. This was the world of
Austin’s Hispanic Community. The world of
Mexi-Arte. The celebratory nature of this group is far
more tangible than most of the other groups in Austin.
You don’t feel the political maneuvering, instead you
just feel welcomed.
Soon we see Guillermo heading our way.
“Heeeeeeeey my FRIEnd,” he bellows out,
slapping Quint on the back, giving me a bear hug,
kissing my sister, shaking everyone’s hands and with
a fiery look in his eyes.
I introduce Guillermo to Tom Joad and then we
begin talking about strange porno titles. You see
Tom Joad had recently rented “UP YOU ASS WITH
NO LUBE IV” Everyone chimes in with the rudest
and crudest porn titles they’ve heard in their lives.
Guillermo tells a story of a cabbie in Mexico City that
redefined the word TABOO. Ahhhhh.... regular
shooting of the shit. At no points were the words,
“What are you doing next?” “So how’s the project
going?” That is unimportant. Instead what we had
coming up was this screening.
We get in, I grab my favorite secret hiding place
seats with recliners. I ask Guillermo if he wants to
join me. But it turns out that Guillermo... well he’s
not comfortable watching his movie with an audience.
He gets extremely nervous. You’ve got to be kidding
me. I was shocked. I’ve known Guillermo for over a
year now, and I NEVER EVER got the idea that this
would be the case.
But it is. Then it dawned on me. Guillermo
cares. He’s not a hack, he literally still cares how
each audience sees his films. Even though CRONOS
won awards all over the world, he’s worried about
how THIS audience will think of it. He still cares
about a movie he did 5 years ago. I love that. I’m
seeing a new side of him, that I have never seen
before.
So he goes up and does a quick introduction
where he talks about putting everything he was and
had up to the altar to make this film. He mortgaged
his house, he campaigned for money, he went into
serious debt all because he wanted this movie to turn
out right.
He formed an effects company in Mexico 6 years
prior to the film with the express purpose of having
an effects company to make CRONOS with. Then he
leaves the room to go pace outside.
So the film begins.
If you haven’t seen this film and you love the
world of horror films. Not slasher films, but horror.
Movies like the UNIVERSAL films or the world of
VAL LEWTON. If you like movies with atmosphere
and characters... well then this is a movie you should
enjoy.
CRONOS is a strange wonderful creature in the
modern horror genre. It seems when most people
conjure images of Horror in the last twenty years, it
has been gore, serial killers and slashers. But for the
prior 80 years of horror... well it was a different beast.
It wasn’t about teenagers. It was about horrific
situations. They were films based on simple
horrors... like that of growing old and dying. Of
watching your grandparents, parents and loved ones
dying.
In this film, you get the idea that it isn’t so much
a vampire film, as much as it is someone dealing with
the issues of watching and wishing for anyway to
keep a loved one alive. And well, vampires live
forever...
I remember I was living at my house here in
Austin in 1978. My mother was screaming in tears
and my father was on the floor gagging, turning blue,
unable to take a breath. I was there staring at him.
Slowly realizing the reality of the situation. My
father was dying. He couldn’t breathe. I went into
my room and looked around. My childish brain
trying to think of anything to make him live. I saw
my nerf rocket launcher. My kid brain thought, “It
pushes air. Dad needs air. Rocket save Dad”
So I picked up the little device and I pushed mom
out of the way. I shoved the tube down my Father’s
throat and I began squeezing the thing that make the
rocket launch. Dad began coughing. I removed the
tube and Dad started breathing. That little nerf rocket
thing was my Cronos device. Blue tube with a yellow
rubber squeezee thing. No little bug, no gold gears,
but it put life back into my father.
Ultimately this film is that simple. But it’s much
deeper than that. I found myself lost in the film.
Watching Jesus Gris discover that which makes him
feel younger. A bit like watching your Grandparents
with little kids. It’s addictive, it’s exhilarating. It
feeds life into them like a drug, like a device. Sure it
isn’t pure vampirism, but in a way.
Another aspect of this film is the attention to
detail. The alchemist’s book. Look at it in the film.
Aged paper, detailed drawings, strange fold out
pages. I’ve held that book. I’ve looked at it. It is an
amazing treasure, and you really do get the idea that
the secrets of life and death lay within.
BUT I’VE GOTTEN FAR AWAY FROM THE
POINT.
This movie is wonderful because it isn’t about
cheap thrills with the latest pop artists shitting on the
score. It’s not about fresh faces. It’s not about a
twist at the end. It’s not about a score sounding like
HALLOWEEN or SCREAM or I KNOW WHAT
YOU DID LAST SUMMER. The film is about
CRONOS. It’s about it’s own story. That’s really
quite remarkable when you get right down to it.
It is about creating a place and a time that this
story could be told that will heighten the audiences
ability to fall into it. Ya know, alot of people don’t
get that in Hollywood.
People will look at a genre script and then pull up
a list of the previous years successes and say, “Which
of these is it like?” “How can we get it to be more
like this?” “Will the people that saw that want to see
this?”
Those are the wrong questions. It’s not about the
last successful genre film. It’s about the script sitting
in your hands. It’s about the film you are watching.
It’s about marketing a new vision, a different story.
I could write for days about what’s wrong and
how a film like this is right. But when you get right
down to it. This film works because it does. The
planets were aligned. The bones said so.
When the film was over, Guillermo came back in.
On the dot. He knows how long the film is. And he
went up and did a fantastic Q and A. He chatted
about everything concerning the film. And a sign the
movie was wonderful was... Nobody asked “What’s
next?” Because they were sated.
Don’t see a ‘dubbed’ version, rent a subtitled
version. It’s real important. The mixing of English
and Spanish is significant to the feel of the film.
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You've got some great stories, Harry, as intrusive as they are, they are often more memorable than your reviews. You should script out your life. I mean - jeezus you fucking saved your dad's life with a nerf rocket ship? How cool and strange is that?!
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Well I think we all have great stories, and a lot of times films are a way of reminding us of our own stories. That's the way I see it. Watching CRONOS on the big screen with my father's head in the foreground about two rows in front of me. Well, the connection was made when the little girl places the device on her grandfather's chest. It was an electrical arc causing shivers and memories to flood back. Although I have to admit, I got some pretty good stories in me. Guess I'm lucky in that respect. Thanks a lot. Harry
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Just tell Guillermo Del Toro we all hold him in Mexico as a national pride. Way To go Guillermo! we are waiting for your next movie!!
Actually Guillermo once came to our city Monterrey to promote precisely Cronos, he's very well focused and strides for excellence in his movies.
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I saw Cronos a few years ago on video.This was in the wake of the Cannes Hype, as Del Torro's film was featured on a CNN entertainment report. I remember his interview as passionate and somewhat spiritual. "When you see a film, your seeing the soul of the filmmaker", He said. That stuck with me. One year later,I see the film on tape and recall those words. I rented it on the aformentioned merrits. Didn't care for it much. However, based on Harry's review, I will see the film again. I hope to discover the qualities he pointed out.
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Harry,
Here, Here my man. I loved Cronos for many of the same reasons you did. I saw some kind of premier of the flick in 1993 right around Halloween at Drexel North Theatre in Columbus for the 24 Hour Horror Movie Marathon (those were the days!) I loved the movie so much, I bought it on tape, and I'm proud to say, I've watched it probably five times, spreading the magic of Cronos to all my true horror movie fans. If you are wondering what a true horror movie fan is, ask yourself "Did I like I know what you did last summer as a horror movie?" If you answer "yes" then you don't know what horror is. -
Horror films depend largely on atmosphere. That is a simple principle, largely forgotten in these voyeuristic times. The framing, pacing and editing of good atmospheric scene is very difficult and rare. Usually atmospheric horror films have very little happening OBJECTIVLY, but the tension build inside the spectator through empathy and a few well studied classic principles "ala" Whale, Browning, Fisher, Bava, Hitchcock. Fear is both a physical and intellectual process -at least for our species-
and although triggered by something outside of us, always surges from inside. Those are the movies in the genre that really count, the one that dig deeper than guts and gore and hook and yank out our very sould. There, just opening a nice talkback line of discussion. Looking forward to see if this posts correctly, Yours
Charlie "Shadow" Oakley -
I don't know why Guillermo del Toro has so many projects and... no films in production.
I remember these titles: MEPHISTO'S BRIDGE, THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE, MONTECRISTO, HELLBOY and LIST OF SEVEN.
What happens with this director? Any problem in Hollywood?
I prefer more mexican movies in spanish by Del Toro and less Hollywood projects.
What do you think about his future, Harry?
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Mephisto's Bridge is based on Christopher Fowler's novel "Spanky" and its a really creepy-funny adaptation, full of strange moments and really unnerving images. It is apparently for that reason that Hollywood has been shying away from the script. List of seven is based on the novel by Mark Frost. Go get it!! it's really fun!!
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I saw Cronos at the USA Film Fest in Dallas, I guess when it first came out. We were lucky enough to have Del Toro in attendance. I was just begining to dream that I could possibly make a film some day and Del Toro speaking to us about the things that inspired him, the hurdles he cleared with determination, and his love of the genre inspire me to this day. I always wait in humble anticipation with regards to his next project.
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Scariest horror film I've seen would probably be The Beyond. Cronos isn't.
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Absolutely everything Harry said about this script is true... this is a story that actually matters. Its not about the amount of blood you can spill, nor is it about drawing in the punters with your big name stars. Pure and simple this is a film that cares about staying true to itself, its characters and its story. I was drawn in from the moment I watched the opening credits, uncertain what to expect, and found myself increalsingly drawn in to the world that was created.
This is the kind of film I would die to write... A perfect little-known (Over here in Scotland anyway) little gem... Just thought I'd share that...
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