Debutante Corner: ‘Cronos’ and Guillermo del Toro
Best known for his unique visionary style and a sweet love for misunderstood monsters, Guillermo del Toro is undoubtedly one of the most celebrated and beloved film directors of our time. A man embraced by the horror community as much as he has embraced the genre itself, who treats horror, the most stigmatized of the major genres, like art. Watch any interview with him and I dare you not to love that man.
A born storyteller, since the moment del Toro stepped behind a camera and typed out his first script he has shared pieces of himself with audiences in a way that manages to reflect what many have felt since the first time they watched The Creature of the Black Lagoon or Frankenstein; what are monsters if not just lonely creatures searching for a connection? Every film del Toro creates follows this philosophy and it all started in 1993 with his very first film, Cronos.
Prior to Cronos, the only official projects del Toro had on his resume were two short films, Doña Lupe and Geometria, both of which can be found on Youtube, but it wasn’t until 1993 that he made his debut on the big screen. Starring Federico Luppi, Tamara Shanath, and Ron Perlman, the film follows an antiquer who unknowingly turns himself immortal after finding an ancient device hidden away inside an angel statue. Things pretty much turn awful for him after that. It’s a horror film not meant to horrify but to detail loss and love, the loss of innocence, humanity, and the sense of self, and the way people can love each other no matter the circumstance. This is–spoiler alert–a vampire tale that is not so much about being a vampire as it is about the sadness of becoming something of that nature. We as humans are not meant to be live forever so when we lose the very thing that defines our existence, our mortality, are we even us anymore?
Hardly anyone seems to know about this film and even if they do, there is a wide disinterest in it. A factor to consider was that it was made before del Toro’s name hit the ears of even the most disinterested of moviegoers. Many people didn’t even hear the name “Guillermo del Toro” until he exploded on the scene with Pan’s Labyrinth in 2006. Probably his first “original” film to get major attention from the festival circuit that was granted the widest release outside of Hellboy, Blade II and Mimic which were all big budget studio films with pre-existing source material. Another factor is just the tone, and how it feels much gloomier than his usual horror fairytale atmosphere.
Upon release, Cronos was a critical success that won many awards including several Ariel Awards and the Mercedes-Benz Award at Cannes. It was also selected as the Mexican entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards but was not nominated. Even though it didn’t give him much international attention it certainly caught the eye of those in the industry including the heads at Miramax who gave him his second film, the $30 million dollar monster flick Mimic to both direct and adapt for the screen during a time when “creature features” were hot.
Yes, Cronos is considered a masterful piece of cinema that would become a blueprint for the films that del Toro would later follow up with, however, despite all that, it not only remains largely unknown but was something of a disappointment for its creator.
If you know anything about Guillermo del Toro you’ll know that all his films are personal. Each film, even the commercial ones contains pieces of himself that he’s exploring. It’s why they feel so visceral, so emotional, so passionate and beautiful, and though not nearly as polished as his later stuff, it’s all there in Cronos.
This is the outline for del Toro’s filmography. A horror-based study on relationships with a touch of mythology. It’s probably the weakest of all his films (in my personal opinion) but there is something so incredibly memorable about it, an image that stays with you like a scar you didn’t feel but can see in the mirror after it’s already stopped bleeding. In a way, it feels almost too organic. The fact that it’s being made by a first time director is not lost on me, the story and every theme it includes are raw and wild in their eagerness. There is almost too much that he wants to say and do.
On one of the special feature interviews on the Criterion Collection DVD of The Devil’s Backbone, del Toro admits that he views The Devil’s Backbone to be his real debut film from which he gained “independence” because he’s never been 100% satisfied with Cronos. Not to say that he hates it, or even thinks it’s a bad film, but that it’s a creation he thinks could’ve been done better. Although significant to his life, a personal project dedicated to his grandmother, the film’s shortcomings are forever highlighted whenever he watches. As he explains it, Cronos features everything he wants to put in a movie, it’s the combined essence of his storytelling. To a certain degree, you can even argue that he’s forever remaking it, from The Devil’s Backbone to The Shape of Water a lot of his work can be seen as variations of Cronos, films that share one universal backbone.
“Cronos is a movie that if I ever had a chance to do something else to it, to make a better transfer, to make a better sound mix or to find a little extra. Every time I find something archival almost, I try to put out a DVD or put a new edition, why, because I think the most important movie in your life, there are two that are very important- the first one and the last one. The first movie articulates your universe. To me Cronos contains the essence of what I want to do[….]I think the worse thing that can happen to a filmmaker is to be given everything that he needs. I think it entirely destroys the basic hunger of the storyteller and it quenches the fire to tell a story against all odds.”Guillermo del Toro
As a film alone, Cronos deserves attention, and as the debut feature of Guillermo del Toro, it deserves much more than that. While looking at his career as a whole, too many people omit the film. For whatever reason, whether people think its not as good as his other stuff or not enough people know about it, it’s too often overlooked. Seek out Cronos people, and if you’ve already seen it, watch it again.
We have come now to the finale of season four of The Boys. And while it didn’t have the literal blood fireworks I wanted, someone did get ripped in half in the air. So, that’s pretty close.
As a note, I will try to avoid spoilers as much as possible. This ending was a hell of a gut punch that should be experienced as blindly as possible. That being said, I will not be able to avoid spoilers and still give a full legitimate review. Proceed at your own risk.
The story
The main storyline for this episode is the attempted assassination of President-Elect Robert Singer. The Boys join forces with the Secret Service to protect him. But, as we learned last episode, Annie has been replaced with a shapeshifter. A shapeshifter that was welcome not just into Hughie’s anus, but into the protective bunker in which the President-Elect is hiding.
What worked
The first thing I want to discuss about this episode is the ending. But we need to do this carefully.
The important thing here is that the ending breaks your heart on so many levels. So many terrible things are happening to characters that it’s almost hard to keep track. And each moment is significant to each character.
I cannot give a specific example. But no matter who your favorite character is, you’re going to weep for them.
Unless your favorite character is Sage. And this is the next thing that made this episode so fantastic.
I don’t think I’m spoiling anything to say that Sage’s plans worked out exactly as she wanted them to. And she got exactly what she wanted.
What she wanted wasn’t power. It wasn’t money or fame or vengeance. It wasn’t to win the love of anyone. She just wanted to see if she could do it.
That is a terrific, terrifying motivation! Because all she wants is to play a massive game of chess with people as pieces. She doesn’t care about anyone. She just wants to see how many people she can manipulate. She just wants to set things on fire to see if she can.
Fantastic. A plus villain work.
The next thing I want to discuss is a cornerstone of the whole series.
The morality of The Boys shifts through the series. While it’s very much a battle to save the world from overpowered super monsters, it’s also a battle for the souls of our real heroes. And in that battle, there are two warring factors. We have Hughie, always trying to bring everyone up to a better level. And we have Butcher, who has no problem at all hitting rock bottom with a shovel in hand to do some more digging.
In this episode, we saw almost every member of The Boys challenged. Will they rise to their higher angels, or sink with their demons?
On a similar note, I am so glad that the writers kind of addressed my issues with Annie. They did this by having the shapeshifter get right into her face and accuse her of thinking that she’s better than everyone.
While that was devastating for the character, it was a little cathartic for those of us who felt like Annie was a little too good of a good guy.
What didn’t work
This is a small matter, but it is an issue that I want to address. After Annie finds out that Hughie slept with her doppelganger, she is furious at him.
In addition to this being unfair, it’s also a very cliche element to add. In almost every instance of a lookalike in fiction, there’s a moment where the love interest of the victim is fooled. Or almost fooled. And it’s always the same fight. It’s just played out and predictable. I’m just glad that it didn’t last very long.
Now that we’ve come to the end of the season, I can officially say that it was amazing. The story was deep and rich. The special effects were a stomach-turning good time. The character development was spot-on and satisfying. And, of course, it left me just about gagging to see what happens next. Unfortunately, it looks like we’ll have a bit of a wait. Because as of right now, the fifth season isn’t expected until 2026.
(5 / 5)
We’ve reached the second to last episode of The Boys, season four. And, as is appropriate for the penultimate episode of any show, things have to get a lot worse before they can get better.
Let’s discuss.
The story
Christmas is coming, and the whole world is getting ready. Ryan, despite being very clear that he didn’t want to appear on any TV shows or movies, has been strong-armed into participating in a Vought puppet Christmas special. He draws the line, though, when asked to sing about turning one’s parents in if they start talking about woke things.
Meanwhile, The Boys are trying to keep each other together. Butcher decides to take Sameer to the rest of the team. He also gets Frenchie out of prison, hoping they can make the Sup virus necessary to finally take down Homelander. Instead, this decision means disaster for one member of the team.
What worked
I first want to talk about Ryan’s speech near the end of the episode. Because it was exactly the moral of this whole story.
Ryan’s dad is a monster. His stepdad is also kind of a monster. But Ryan is a good kid. He cares about people, about family. And while he loves Homelander and Butcher, he doesn’t want to be like them.
Even better, this speech sounded like something a kid would say. Ryan didn’t open his mouth and start sounding like a college student all of a sudden. He sounds like a kid who misses his mom and wants to live up to the good standards she set for him. And I think that’s terrific.
Speaking of Homelander, he shot himself in the foot in this episode. I said earlier in the season that his hubris was going to be his downfall, and I was right. Without Sage, he just has the same weaknesses he’s always had. He’s going to fail because he just isn’t clever enough or patient enough to succeed.
Without Sage, I think a win is in the bag for The Boys. This isn’t to say that Homelander by himself isn’t dangerous. It’s just that he’s more like a wildfire than a controlled burn. He’s going to cause a lot of damage, but not get anything he wants out of it.
More’s the pity for him and everyone else who has to share his world.
Finally, I am thrilled with A-Train’s redemption story. I love that he wants to be a good person not to save himself, but to be a good person. His honest, pure and warm reaction to that little kid smiling at him in the last episode was heartwarming. It changed him in a moment, bringing to light a goodness that he’s been keeping under wraps for a long time.
This, along with Ryan’s courageous speech, proves once again what The Boys does so well. Yes, it’s gruesome. Yes, there’s blood and balls and batshit events. Yes, someone occasionally gets ripped in half. But there is a true human goodness in the story. One that we catch glimpses of. There are good people among the monsters. There is hope for redemption.
What didn’t work
Of course, so few things in this life are perfect, and this episode was no exception. For instance, I was irritated by the insinuation that Butcher cheated on his wife.
That just doesn’t make any sense. We’ve seen flashbacks of Billy and Becca. They were happy. He was happy. He was head over heels for her. And I don’t think it’s realistic or necessary for the character to throw in that he cheated. It does nothing to add to the story, it’s just a weird and offputting moment.
Doesn’t Butcher have enough to hate about himself? Can’t we just give him that at least he was a good husband?
Finally, I kind of hate that we ended up with Annie being caught. It’s just cliche, which is something I don’t normally say about this show. It feels lazy unless they do something very clever with it in the last episode. Which, I suppose, they might.
Next up is the season finale. And with this season being as insane as it has been, I’m expecting nothing short of bloody fireworks. And I mean literal fireworks of blood. At this point, would it surprise anyone?
(4 / 5)
Episode six of The Boys was one of the most surprising episodes of the series so far. And that is certainly saying something. Because this season has so far been bonkers.
The story
Our episode today revolves around a party at Tek Knight’s lovely mansion. Yes, it does look just like Wayne Manor.
The Boys know that Tek Knight is working with Homelander on something, but they don’t know the details. So they decide to send Hughie in to bug the mansion.
Because that’s worked so well the other two times he’s tried to hide a bug!
It should surprise no one that this time goes no better. Hughie finds himself in Tek Knight’s basement. And by that I mean his BDSM dungeon.
Meanwhile, the party upstairs is no less disturbing. Homelander and Sage are trying to convince some well-off political donors to support a cue after the election. When pressed for details on his plan, Homelander freezes. He looks to Sage for help, but she wasn’t recently shot in the head and still in the junk food stage of her healing.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point of view, Neuman jumps in and saves the day.
What works
If I’m going to say one thing about this episode, it didn’t hold back at all. I didn’t expect them to show a character masturbating, sitting their bare behind on a cake, or spraying breastmilk into someone’s face. But every time I thought they’d cut the scene and let something be left to our imagination, they did not do that.
This is a dangerous move. Whenever you show the monster, you run the risk of them not being scary enough, or gross enough. As Stephen King says in Danse Macabre, to leave this sort of thing to the imagination if the reader makes things so much worse. So when they finally experience the monster, they might say that this isn’t so bad. It could have been so much worse.
But in this case, they managed to avoid that by making the scenes, especially the ones in Tek Knight’s dungeon, so much worse than I imagined it would be.
What doesn’t work
While this was a deeply disturbing episode in many ways, there was one really innocent and sweet moment.
And yes, I did have a problem with it.
Confronted by Firecracker, Annie decides to apologize for spreading rumors about her when they were kids. She tells her that she is genuinely sorry.
And I believe her. I don’t think Firecracker did, but I did.
So why is this an issue? Because I’m starting to think that Annie is maybe too nice. She is too good.
I know that Annie is our good guy. But every one of the other good guys has flaws. Hughie let his pride get in the way and took Temp V. MM hid himself from his daughter instead of teaching her to work through her emotions. Kimiko is far too closed off and has a hard time trusting others. Frenchie numbs himself with drugs. And well, what hasn’t Butcher done?
It is unrealistic that Annie is just so kind and so flawless. We all have shadows in our personalities. We all have weaknesses, we all mess up. We all do things we wish we could take back. The fact that Annie doesn’t seem to have anything like that is not just unrealistic. It’s infantilizing.
Give her some deep dark secrets. Give her something real to regret.
This was a shocking episode, even for someone fairly jaded like me. I wasn’t expecting the sort of weird sexual depravity, though I guess maybe I should have seen it coming. It was dark, upsetting, tense, and funny as hell. And with just two episodes left in the season, I can imagine the stakes are only going to get higher.
(4 / 5)
By the way, if you like my writing you can get my short story, Man In The Woods, on Smashwords and Amazon.
