Guillermo del Toro Returning to Sundance for 4K Screening of Horror Masterpiece

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Guillermo del Toro, the director who won an Academy Award, will pause his promotion of his new film, Frankenstein, to show his first feature film again. Cronos, a vampire movie from the early 1990s that helped launch his career, will be screened at the Sundance Film Festival as part of a special legacy series. Del Toro will be there for the January 27th screening of a newly restored 4K version of the film, and will answer questions from the audience afterward.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Guillermo del Toro’s first film, Cronos, will be shown again at the Sundance Film Festival as part of a retrospective. Cronos originally premiered at Sundance in 1994, a memorable year that also saw the debuts of films like Clerks, Reality Bites, Hoop Dreams, and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

The Park City Legacy program features favorite films from past festivals. In 2026, it will take place from January 27th to 30th and include screenings of films like Guillermo del Toro’s vampire movie, Little Miss Sunshine, Half Nelson, Mysterious Skin, and Saw, along with other titles. All films will be shown in newly restored digital versions.

‘Cronos’ Is One of Guillermo del Toro’s Finest Movies


October Films

While Cronos fits the mold of a vampire movie, it’s far from a typical one. Instead of focusing on seductive vampires and helpless victims, Guillermo del Toro takes a deeper approach, adding complex themes and drawing on mythology to enrich the familiar tropes of the genre.

The movie centers around an antique dealer who accidentally becomes a vampire after handling a powerful artifact. While enjoying the gift of eternal youth, he develops a thirst for human blood. Now, Jesús must find a way to control his new cravings while also protecting the ancient object from those who want it for themselves.

As a film buff, I was immediately hooked by the premise of Cronos. It centers around Jesús Gris, an antique dealer played brilliantly by Federico Luppi, who discovers this incredible, ancient scarab beetle. This isn’t just any artifact, though – it gives him youth and effectively, eternal life. There’s a catch, of course: it also awakens a terrifying need for blood. While he’s reveling in feeling young again, he doesn’t realize a desperate, dying man, Dieter de La Guardia, has dispatched his nephew, Angel, to retrieve the scarab at any cost. It quickly becomes a dangerous game, and Jesús is determined to hold onto his newfound immortality, even if it means putting his beloved granddaughter’s life on the line.

I remember when I first saw Guillermo del Toro’s Cronos, and it blew me away! It was such a strong first film for him, and it immediately showed how good he was at horror. Even now, over 30 years later, it still feels so original – a really different take on vampires that actually makes you sympathize with the creatures of the night. It was a big departure from the typical horror movies of the ’90s, and what I loved most was that it focused on the characters. I found myself genuinely rooting for the ‘villain,’ which is something special!

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2026-01-11 14:48