An elderly antiques shop owner, Jesus Gris, and his granddaughter, Aurora, discover an unusual device in a four hundred year old Archangel statue. Gris inadvertently triggers the device, which begins a change in him that not only slowly makes him more youthful in look and energy but infects him with an addict's consuming fixation for blood. Unfortunately for Gris, he is not the only one with knowledge of the device's existence and power, and he becomes the target of the dying businessman De La Guardia's desire for immortality at any cost and his violent nephew Angel. Loved this film! Loved it! I've always had a thing for vampires and I really enjoyed this new view of the vampire mythology. This isn't just a new story of vampirism though, it is also a tale of family. The love, devotion, and acceptance of family is beautifully shown through the grandfather Jesus and granddaughter Aurora, as is the dark side of family, with it's violence, abuse and victimization, as shown through the obsessed De La Guardia and his nephew Angel. Frederico Luppi is excellent as Gris. He brings a depth and "every-man" diginity to Jesus not often seen. A subtle, detailed performance. Claudio Brooks is terrifying as the obsessed De La Guardia. A "Dorian Gray" portrait of a monster whose humanity lays in a tank with his surgically removed diseased organs. Ron Perlman is absolutely superb as Angel. He takes what could have been the average brute/thug character and gives him humor, depth, and the ability to evoke sympathy and, almost, forgiveness, from the audience. His "victim flinch" was right on the money and how it got bigger when the character of the Uncle got louder was great. I would have loved to have read the character profiles that director Guillermo Del Toro wrote but he mentions on the commentary that they are packed in storage (perhaps for the 15th anniversary DVD edition?). My guess is that Angel was raised by his Uncle. That victim flinch was just too ingrained. It had to have begun when Angel was younger and smaller than his Uncle otherwise someone Ron Perlman's size would've just stepped on him. That's one of the things that makes Angel a more well rounded character, more human. You really get the feeling that this is a "beater begets a beater" situation and Angel's actions aren't entirely of his own making. Angel also has a sweet moment with the granddaughter and an on-going nose job gag that also help to round out the character's humanity. If you want to introduce a friend to Ron Perlman's work, consider doing so with this performance. (Spoiler: I found it ironic that in the end Angel does indeed step on his Uncle, in a manner of speaking, but not until he is down and defenseless.) Favorite line (narration describing the death of the cronos device creator): "His skin was the color of marble in moonlight." Availability: VHS (original theatrical release, Spanish/English, Spanish subtitled in English, also available dubbed), DVD (10th anniversary edition, Spanish/English, Spanish subtitled in English), suggest: Amazon.com. I've ordered from Amazon for years, both new and used, and have had no problems. Please remember to make sure that the VHS/DVD is compatible with your country/region. This film is worth buying. I recommend getting the DVD as the extras and commentaries are wonderfully enjoyable in and of themselves (how they shot the interior of the cronos device and what happened to it later...eeeewwww, that the thirteen cronos devices used in the film were stolen on the last day of the shoot, that Ron Perlman did accidentally connect, fist to face, at one point with Frederico Luppi, etc). Guillermo Del Toro's commentaries are as spellbinding as his films. The first audio commentary on the Region 1 DVD is with director Guillermo Del Toro and this is what he had to say about Ron Perlman: "When I met first with Ron Perlman, when I was hiring him for the movie, he said, 'I have one question to you: what do they make in that factory, the De La Guardia factory?' and I said, 'Well, it's a factory that has no purpose, it actually, it's been going for so long and the employees have been going at it for so long that they just do their job but no one knows what they're fabricating; they have forgotten, they just make the pieces and no one really knows what they are making,' and he laughed and he said that he was now interested in working in the movie. Ron and I became good friends and he came to appear on Blade II and he also is appearing on the movie I am doing next which is Hellboy. I think of him as a great comedic actor but a very sardonic dry comedy." The second audio commentary on the Region 1 DVD is with three producers, two of whom spoke only Spanish and since I speak only English I am unfortunately unable to repeat anything they contributed, the third is Arthur Gorson, who had this to say about Ron Perlman: "Ron Perlman was always Del Toro's first choice for this role. He loved him. He had seen Perlman in a lot of his favorite films and Ron came to Mexico on February 24th and played the next day. We put him in a -- we all stayed at the Maria Christina Hotel in Mexico City and we got Ron a master suite so he could have an exercise machine and work out. His films were awesome. Remember he was in 'Quest For Fire' and 'The Name Of The Rose,' 'Beauty And The Beast' and he and Del Toro just got along amazingly well. I think Ron contributed a tremendous amount to the spirit and intellect of this film. He just understood the role." On a totally non professional note: whoever did costumes and make up for Ron Perlman on this film must have loved him because his suit was perfectly cut for his V shape and he was perfectly groomed. My first thought when I saw him was "Wow! How much for the not so little boy?" by Tressa Lee Breen.
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