Cronos

Last night I was watching the 1991 film Cronos, directed by Guillermo Del Toro. The story opens in the 16th Century where an alchemist creates the Cronos Device, which looks like an ornate golden insect, and supposedly has the power to grant eternal life. In present day Mexico City, elderly antiques dealer Jesus Gris (played Federico Luppi) finds the Cronos Device in a hollow statue and accidentally activates it. The next day he discovers that he feels rejuvenated and has a new lease of life, to the delight of his dance teacher wife (Margarita Isabel) and the concern of his young grand-daughter (Tamara Shanath). However he soon discovers a strange addiction to using the Cronos Device and finds himself undergoing a horrific transformation. To add to Jesus' problems, a dying billionaire (Claudio Brook) who owns the alchemists' instructions for the device and his brutal nephew (Ron Perlman) will do anything to get their hands on the Cronos Device. It's a really good horror movie that is very stylishly made but surprisingly low on gore, although there are plenty of chilling moments (notably the numerous close-ups of glittering golden needles). The acting is really good and the antiques dealer and his family are genuinely engaging characters. The movie marked the debut of Guillermo Del Toro who has since gone on to do the Hellboy films and Pan's Labyrinth among others.

It was a really quiet and dull day at work, and the office was really empty, even for a Friday. It was still relatively sunny, although not nearly as warm as it was yesterday.