2013 Countdown to Hallowe’en 1:

And so it begins. Here’s Randy’s first post in our traditional countdown to Hallowe’en. Feel free to agree, disagree or just comment in the Forums or in the comments below.

CRONOS, directed by Guillermo del Toro (Criterion Collection, 1993)

A heart-warming tale of familial love and loyalty, alchemy, immortality and bloodshed.

Honest.

An alchemist in Europe creates the Cronos Device to cheat time and gain immortality. In 1938 a bomb kills the alchemist and reveals his underground lair, the contents of which, including a body drained of blood, the authorities keep secret. But the authorities never find a hint of the Cronos device.

In the early 1990s Jesus Gris, an elderly antiques dealer, and his eight-year-old granddaughter Aurora stumble onto and accidentally start the device after a fumbled attempt to purchase it by the nephew of a dying businessman, De la Guardia, reveals its existence to them. De la Guardia owns the alchemist’s diary and has learned of the device and the cost of using it, a price De la Guardia would not hesitate to pay. While the device restores Gris’ energy and youth, he only comes to understand its cost slowly, and only fully understands it when both his life and his granddaughter’s are at stake.

And that, in essence, is the story.

Before Pan’s Labyrinth, before Hellboy, before Blade 2 or Mimic, there was Cronos, del Toro’s first full-length feature movie, winner of the International Critics’ Award at Cannes and acclaimed around the world, though not so widely in the U.S. where foreign films get relatively little attention. Still, this movie generated a great deal of chatter among horror and fantasy fans at the time and helped generate interest in del Toro’s early American films.

Cronos begins with the alchemist’s story, then quickly establishes the relationship between Gris and Aurora. As Gris, Frederico Luppi brings a basic decency to the movie, taking Aurora to work and playing with her until customers come into his shop, treating her with respect which in turn is shown in her bearing and in her resourcefulness. Tamara Shanath is adorable, but neither cloying nor saccharine as Aurora, who proceeds through the film with equanimity in the face of horrific events because of her love for and trust in Gris. Only once does Aurora speak, and only one word at a pivotal moment, and del Toro has laid a foundation so solid by then that the result of the word is heart-breaking and inspiring.

Contrasted to that relationship, De la Guardia played by Claudio Brook and his nephew Angel, played by Ron Perlman (Ron Beauty and the Beast, Sons of Anarchy, Hellboy Perlman; I suspect an interesting story behind how he and del Toro met) are at each other’s throats, Angel vicious and self-serving and his uncle obsessed and unforgiving. Brooks is fine as De la Guardia, cunning and ruthless without over-playing it, and the movie gets a burst of raw, crude, frequently comic energy every time Perlman appears.

To be up-front, at one-level this is a vampire movie. But it’s not like any American or British vampire movie I’ve seen as del Toro integrates the fantastic into his tale and uses it like a fine instrument to reveal character. I recommend this movie highly and if you happen to see the Criterion DVD, be sure to watch Geometria, an early horror short film by del Toro based on a Fredric Brown short story, and the tour of del Toro’s office space, known as Bleak House, with its extensive libraries – yes, plural – and movie memorabilia.

Other fine film vampires:
Nosferatu – directed by F. W. Murnau, 1922
Nosferatu – directed by Werner Herzog, 1979
Dracula – directed by Tod Browning, 1931
Horror of Dracula – directed by Terence Fisher, 1958
Shadow of the Vampire—directed by E. Elias Merhige, 2000

Friday: NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

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