‘Cronos’

This 1993 first feature by Mexican writer-director Guillermo del Toro exemplifies the good things that can happen when adventurous filmmakers choose to investigate traditional forms. A 14th-century alchemist invents a machine called the Cronos Device that grants eternal life. Lost for 500 years, the mysterious device is discovered by an antiques dealer in today’s Veracruz. Enter an evil industrialist (Claudio Brook, pictured) who will stop at nothing to acquire it. Director Del Toro, an Edgar Allan Poe with a sense of humor, takes pleasure in turning a familiar horror story inside out (Cinemax early Friday at 4:30 a.m.).