Cronos [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Overview

Mexican writer/director Guillermo Del Toro's stylish and scary tale of an antique-shop owner who discovers a 16th-century device which gives him eternal life -- and turns him into a vampire.

Product Details

Release Date:	12/07/2010
UPC:	0715515048712
Original Release:	1993
Rating:	R
Source:	Criterion
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:32:00
Sales rank:	8,688

Special Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Guillermo Del Toro and cinematographer guillermo navarro, with dts-hd master audio soundtrack; Two audio commentaries, one featuring Del Toro, the other producers Arthur H. Gorson and Bertha Navarro and coproducer Alejandro Springall; Geometria, an unreleased 1987 short horror film by Del Toro, finished in 2010, with a new video interview with director; Welcome to bleak house, a video tour by Del Toro of his home office, featuring his personal collections; New video interview with actor Frederico Luppi; Stills gallery captioned by Del Toro; Trailer; New and improved english subtitle translation, approved by the director; Plus: a booklet featuring an essay by film critic Maitland McDonagh and excerpts from Del Toro's notes for the film

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Federico Luppi	Jes?s Gris,Actor
Ron Perlman	Angel
Claudio Brook	Dieter de la Guardia
Margarita Isabel	Mercedes Gris
Tamara Shanath	Aurora
Mario Ivan Martinez	Alchemist
Juan Carlos Colombo	Funerary Administrator
Farnesio DeBernal	Manuelito
Jorge Martinez de Hoyos	Narrator (Spanish)
Namir El Kadi	Narrator (English)
Luis Rodriguez	Buyer
Gerardo Moscoso	Drunk
Eugenio Lobo	Hanging Man
Daniel Gim?nez Cacho	Tito
Javier ?lvarez	Bleeding Man
Adriana Olivera	Actor
Daniel Jim?nez Cacho	Tito
M. Martinez	Alchemist
Luis de Icaza	Tango Student
Francisco S?nchez	Mimo
Laurencio Cordero	Watchman
Jorge Mart?nez de Hoyos	Narrator

Technical Credits

Guillermo del Toro

Arthur Gorson	Producer
Bertha Navarro	Producer
Guillermo del Toro	Screenwriter
Laurencio Cordero	Special Effects

Editorial Reviews

The simple, straightforward plot of director Guillermo Del Toro's Cronos is given resonance by a rich, intriguing mythology which emphasizes the grotesque, parasitic aspects of vampirism, stripping away the romantic aspects of the myth to define the vampire as essentially a highly-evolved form of parasitic insect, which the Cronos device itself clearly resembles. Del Toro too often resorts to rather heavy-handed allegory -- the saintly Jesus Gris dies, descends into a "hell" of indignity and base desires (exemplified by a nasty scene where he resorts to lapping blood from a bathroom floor) and rises again to protect his granddaughter from evil -- this wild fantasy is still anchored at a very sensitive, human level, thanks to excellent performances and a low-key, non-exploitative approach.