Cronos (1993)

A mysterious device designed to provide its owner with eternal life resurfaces after four hundred years, leaving a trail of destruction in its path.

Director:

Guillermo del Toro

Writer:

Guillermo del Toro (screenplay)

Stars:

Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Claudio Brook

21 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Federico Luppi	...	Jesus Gris
Ron Perlman	...	Angel de la Guardia
Claudio Brook	...	De la Guardia
Margarita Isabel	...	Mercedes
Tamara Shanath	...	Aurora
Daniel Giménez Cacho	...	Tito
Mario Iván Martínez	...	Alchemist
Farnesio de Bernal	...	Manuelito
Juan Carlos Colombo	...	Funeral Director
Jorge Martínez de Hoyos	...	Narrator (voice)
Luis Rodríguez	...	Buyer
Javier Álvarez	...	Bleeding Man
Gerardo Moscoso	...	Drunk
Eugenio Lobo	...	Stoned Man
Adriana Olivera	...	Tango Student

Storyline

In 1535, an alchemist builds an extraordinary mechanism encapsulated into a small golden device. The invention, designed to convey eternal life to its owner, survives its maker until 1997, when it shows up with an antiques dealer. Fascinated with the strange device, Gris (Luppi) doesn't note that there's more than one person looking for it. The promise of eternal life has become an obsession for old and sick Mr. De la Guardia (Brook). He and his nephew (Perlman) will do anything to get the Chronos Invention.

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Plot Keywords:

eternal life | antique dealer | invention | tycoon | aging | 

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for horror violence and for language

Details

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish English

Release Date:

May 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Chronos

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$621,392 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

CNCAIMC, Fondo de Fomento a la Calidad Cinematográfica, Grupo Del Toro

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A person with a clock costume is seen in the New Year's Party. Yet the clock is stopped in the same time, even though it is functional. A metaphor for movie.

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Goofs

When Jesús searches for Aurora after she has taken the Cronos, as he walks through two doors, he stops. Behind him, reflected in the glass of the door, is crew and equipment.

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Quotes

[to Jesus, who is about to take the blood from her fingers]
Aurora Gris: Grandfather.

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Crazy Credits

Dedicated to the memory of Josefina Camberos

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Connections

Referenced in A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Prisionero del Mar"
Luis Alcaraz y Ernesto Cortizar
(C) 1941, PHAM Mexico

User Reviews

Arid,hackneyed and distasteful.

Guillermo del Toro being one of my favorite directors and having watched most of his movies felt bad to leave Cronos unwatched.As Cronos is regarded as Guillermo del Toro's first motion picture i was very much excited to watch this movie ,but my excitement quickly turned into dismay as Cronos was nothing like his other films,films which have rich characters of profound depth and background.

Having said that,the story and actors were promising but they ended up disappointing too by the end of film.

But its good to see that the writer/director quickly learned from his mistakes and gave some of my favorite hits.