Cronos is Guillermo del Toro's first feature film. Released in 1993, It set him off as one the freshest directors to watch for as critically the film was praised, though it did not receive a wide American distribution (only 28 theaters). It was Mexico's nominee for be Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards but was not chosen as a nominee. The film would mark del Toro's initial collaborations with Ron Perlman and Frederico Luppi who he has gone on to collaborate with multiple times.
The film had a $2 million budget and made $621,392 at the American box office. It went on to win 8 Ariel Awards including Best Direction for del Toro and the Golden Ariel. It also won the Mercedes-Benz Award and del Torro was nominated for the Golden Camera at Cannes. It has become a cult classic, and is considered one of the greatest horror films of all-time.