DVD
Review | Cronos (Special Edition)
Written by: Kage
Alan
If books shouldn’t be judged by their covers, the
same can be said about films and their posters or VHS and DVD cover
art. It’s a pretty safe bet most of the time that a great cover on a
film that’s rarely been heard of is going to mean that the studio paid
more money for the art than they did the film. Hey, it happens and
how many of us have been suckered into renting a turkey in this way?
Fortunately, “Cronos” may not have any nubile naked women in it like
the cover suggests, but the film itself is damn watchable!
Jesús Gris (Federico Luppi, “The Devil’s Backbone”)
is an elderly antiques dealer who spends the days in his shop and
spending time with his young granddaughter, Aurora (Tamara Shanath).
When an accident kills a 400 year old alchemist rumored to have figured
out how to cheat death and live forever, a statue from the vault finds
its way to Jesús’ shop. It’s shortly after that he discovers an ancient
artifact inside the statue that, when fiddled with, attaches itself to
him in a most painful way. Then again, despite the initial pain, he
begins to grow younger over the next 24 hours.
As Jesús finds himself becoming addicted to the
Cronos object, he also finds trouble in the dying form of Dieter del la
Guardia (Claudio Brook), a man who has the alchemist’s diary and wants
desperately to live forever. Unable to pursue Jesús himself, Dieter has
his nephew, Angel (Ron Perlman), do it for him. Through life, death and
then life again, Jesús must dodge Angel and Dieter while coming to terms
with his new undead situation, especially his sudden craving for human
blood.
While “Cronos” is essentially a genre film, this is
by far not a standard horror movie by any means. Jesús is becoming a
vampire of sorts, but retains much of his humanity and the film ends up
becoming more about the relationship he has with his granddaughter than
anything else. No matter how bad Jesús begins to look, what he does or
what his mission becomes, Aurora never leaves his side and accepts him
unconditionally. It’s actually extremely touching. While also a very
serious film, Ron Perlman is an absolute scream in his role! There’s
just enough comic relief at times to keep the film from being too
dramatic or horrific.
Lions Gate has released “Cronos” in a fairly solid
widescreen transfer. Video quality has a bit of grain as well as some
flecks and specs, but nothing that takes away too much at all. Audio
quality is nice and consistent and the subtitles (yes, you’ll need
subtitles for much of the film) are very easy to read. Since this is
the 10th Anniversary Special Edition of “Cronos”, we can
expect extras and it’s extras we get. First up is the 15-min
“Director’s Perspective” about Guillermo Del Toro and his films, a 5 ½
min “Making of Cronos with Federicao Luppi”, a photo gallery, an art
gallery and two audio commentaries; the first with a very animated and
wonderfully informative Del Toro and the second with the Producers both
in Spanish and English (but with subtitles) and also very informative.
“Cronos” is a film I’d seen in video stores and
places like Best Buy and Media Play and even picked it up a few times to
look at, only never took home with me. The cover made it look too much
like a cheap piece of schlock when it is by far not even close to that.
Fans of the vampire genre will enjoy the fresh perspective offered here
while fans of a decent drama/thriller will find something to like as
well. There’s just enough here to appeal to a number of audiences while
retaining a sense of story and integrity. Very enjoyable.
Film Rating:
B
DVD Special Features: B+
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