Cronos

A compelling, complex and wonderfully atmospheric film from Mexican director Guillermo del Toro that is as much about religion and the nature of cinema as it is a horror story. Although thematically profound, stately in pace and largely devoid of the kind of blood-letting beloved of schlock fans, this is still a highly effective chiller, fuelled by one of the genre's most potent emotions, the fear of death. Federico Luppi gives a performance of great wit and dignity as the antiques dealer who becomes enslaved by the Cronos device, a mysterious mechanical insect that forces its victims into acts of vampirism. Winner of the Critics' Grand Prix at Cannes in 1993.