To me, Cronos contains the essence of what I wanna do. I always was interested in the stories of familial relationships that are either decomposing or decomposed. The idea that the family either implodes and destroys itself or finds union in their imperfections is in every movie I’ve done.

Guillermo del Toro, Criterion Collection interview for Cronos, 2010

Bela Lugosi may have made it look easy, but being one of the undead, Cronos insists, is hardly a simple thing. It can be a lonely state, painful but also crazily comic in a charming if grotesque way. It’s all on view in this pleasant and spooky film that gives surprising new life, so to speak, to a genre that won’t die.
The first feature by 29-year-old Mexican writer-director Guillermo del Toro, Cronos exemplifies the good things that can happen when adventurous filmmakers choose to investigate traditional forms. Winner of both the Critics Week competition at Cannes and nine Ariels, Mexico’s Academy Awards, Cronos surprises with its sophisticated and spirited look at a tale straight from the crypt…
Director del Toro takes pleasure in turning the familiar horror story inside out, dispensing with the evil vampire of legend and concentrating on how an understandable desire for youth leads an average citizen into decidedly irregular paths. One of Cronos’s most characteristic features is its fondness for over-the-top Grand Guignol scenes that both graphically and comically illustrate the wear and tear of vampiredom, how bad it is for the complexion, for instance, how grueling and tiring it can be not to die even when circumstances make you wish for it. Though veteran Latin American star Luppi gives a poignant and amusing performance as a man trapped by his obsession, the real centerpiece of this film is writer-director del Toro, who’s made a droll film out of what is often exploitation material. Edgar Allan Poe with a sense of humor, Del Toro not only has fun mixing genres, he knows how to convey his enjoyment and make the result distinctly his own.

Kenneth Turan, “Cronos” Alive With Charms Eterna, “Los Angeles Times”, 22 April 1994