Do you want to see ‘Cronos’?

Cronos (1993)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 43
Fresh: 39 | Rotten: 4

Guillermo del Toro's unique feature debut is not only gory and stylish, but also charming and intelligent.

Average Rating: 7.8/10
Critic Reviews: 7
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 1

Guillermo del Toro's unique feature debut is not only gory and stylish, but also charming and intelligent.

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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 10,232

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Movie Info

This surreal variant on the classic vampire tale is the directorial debut of Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, who garnered international acclaim and several awards. The film tells the story of elderly antique dealer Jesus Gris (Federico Luppi, in a role originally written for Max Von Sydow) who, with his eight-year-old granddaughter Aurora (Tamara Shanath), discovers an ancient artifact secreted within a statue obtained from the estate of a 16th-century alchemist. Unbeknownst to Gris, the

R, 1 hr. 36 min.

Drama, Horror, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense

Directed By: Guillermo del Toro , Guillermo del Torro

Written By: Guillermo del Toro

In Theaters: Jun 1, 1994 Wide

On DVD: Oct 26, 1994

Trimark

Cronos Trailer & Photos

Cast

Federico Luppi
Jesus Gris
Ron Perlman
Angel de la Guardia
Claudio Brook
Dieter de la Guardia
Margarita Isabel
Mercedes Gris
Tamara Shanath
Aurora Gris
Daniel Jim�nez Cacho
Tito
Robert M. Martinez
Alchemist
Juan Carlos Colombo
Funeral Director
Farnesio DeBernal
Manuelito
Luis de Icaza
Tango Student
Jorge Martinez De Hoyos
Narrator
Laurencio Cordero
Watchman
Francisco Sanchez
Mimo
Farnesio de Bernal
Mario Ivan Martinez
Daniel Gimenez Cacho

Critic Reviews for Cronos

All Critics (43) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (41) | Rotten (4) | DVD (19)

This is a wonderfully baroque, gleeful subversion of the days of Hammer. A unique, terrifying mini-masterpiece.

September 24, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Variety

Top Critic

You have to admire the style, sincerity, and overall sense of craft even if you don't fancy the comic-book gore.

September 24, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

A very stylish and sophisticated Mexican variation on some age-old themes.

August 30, 2004 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Janet Maslin

New York Times

Top Critic

Cronos is not really about plot. It is about character.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

| Comment

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

It's also an amazingly assured feature debut for the 29-year-old del Toro, who is both its writer and director.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment

Richard Harrington

Washington Post

Top Critic

An enormously enjoyable gothic yarn from Mexico.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment

Desson Thomson

Washington Post

Top Critic

A charming horror movie, if such a thing is possible.

October 17, 2011 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Film4

A low-budget horror/fantasy with some rough edges, Cronos reveals the dark genius of Guillermo del Toro's fecund mind.

August 29, 2011 Full Review Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune

| Comment

Christopher Lloyd

Sarasota Herald-Tribune Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune

... part melodrama, part morality play and part thriller, more Dorian Gray than Bram Stoker...

March 25, 2011 Full Review Source: Turner Classic Movies Online

| Comment

Sean Axmaker

Turner Classic Movies Online

Many of the aesthetic qualities and thematic devices that Mexican director Guillermo del Toro would employ in later movies are already on the boil in his debut feature, Cronos.

January 31, 2011 Full Review Source: sbs.com.au

| Comment

Simon Foster

sbs.com.au

Del Toro conjures up a delightfully potent atmosphere and motion for it, born no doubt of a real appreciation for such things.

January 21, 2011 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid

| Comment

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

Guillermo del Toro says, "Cronos is an exploded view of my brain."

December 10, 2010 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

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Glenn Heath Jr.

Slant Magazine

The truly child-bound perspectives of The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth are still to come, though Aurora has flights of del Torian wonder.

December 7, 2010 Full Review Source: Bright Lights Film Journal

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Matthew Sorrento

Bright Lights Film Journal

... a weird, heady alchemic brew of antiquated clockwork mechanism, mutant organisms, demented villains driven by a greed for youth...

December 7, 2010 Full Review Source: Parallax View

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Sean Axmaker

Parallax View

A beautifully creepy, hypnotic horror-thriller that paints a vivid picture of why del Toro is such a beloved, wonderfully haunting filmmaker today.

December 4, 2010 Full Review Source: IGN DVD

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R. L. Shaffer

IGN DVD

This is a wonderfully baroque, gleeful subversion of the days of Hammer. A unique, terrifying mini-masterpiece.

October 20, 2009 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine

| Comment

Steve Beard

Empire Magazine

He also makes the refreshing choice of having the monster be all too human and fragile... Cronos is a stylish and innovative take on the familiar vampire movie.

July 10, 2008 Full Review Source: KPBS.org

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Beth Accomando

KPBS.org

Cronos, at $2 million, was one of Mexico's most expensive motion pictures ever, the cost reflected not so much by epic scope and visuals as in polished production values and careful design.

September 24, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

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TV Guide's Movie Guide

With this stylish horor film, Mexican director Guillermo del Toro makes a splashy feature debut that impresses narratively as well as technically.

June 4, 2007 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

A most startling genre piece: tender, imaginative and wholly its own.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Time Out

Del Toro's first mini-masterpiece.

April 2, 2005 Comment

Scott Weinberg

eFilmCritic.com

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Cronos

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A strange debut horror story for Guillermo del Toro. It has a certain charm to it, bringing a new idea to a vampire tale. Character driven rather than over the top shock and gore. Still it looks rather dated now due to the low budget.

March 25, 2012

Dean !

Super Reviewer

Guillermo Del Toro's first feature film Cronos was one that I'd been meaning to get my hands on when a Criterion Blu-ray was first announced way back when. I finally managed to snag myself a copy, and I feel like I was rewarded quite well. I'm always pleased when I find a genre turned on its head and told in a

December 24, 2011

Tim Salmons

Super Reviewer

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November 14, 2008:

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