2. Los Cronocrímenes (2007)
Los Cronocrímenes which translates to Time Crimes is a courageous and minimalistic attempt of recreating Hitchcockian tropes through the lens of a science fiction fanatic. The film is about a middle-aged man who witnesses abnormalities through his binoculars from the comfort of his new residence in rural, yet modern, area in Spain. His curiosity takes the best of him when he notices a young lady that appears to be under threat and removing her clothes within a bushy terrain. He investigates the situation, and a seismic roller-coaster ride ensues. A mysterious man equipped with a long pair of scissors and with bandages wrapped around his face kick-starts an electrifying cat and mouse chase that culminates with the protagonist, Hector, taking refuge in a solitary mansion from around the neighborhood. At this point, the audience questions what kind of film they have picked to watch. Is this a horror film? We have the blood; we have the mummy; we have the mansion. Could it be? As soon as the sun begins to set, the chase restarts when Hector finds a walkie-talkie in what looks like a scientific research facility. The man at the other end of the conversation is his Hectors only hope of protecting himself in an impenetrable chamber from the scissor-wielding psychopath. Little did Hector know that this chamber turns out to be a time machine one that transports him a single hour to the past. Keep in mind that this happens after 15 minutes of screen time, so no, this happens nowhere near any climax. Plot twists, car crashes, severe bumps on Hectors head, and even more chases follow through to the films actual denouement, but the biggest surprise takes place seconds after stepping out of the time machine but we only find out about this later. It then unfolds that he, himself, was the bandaged man, and he was his own self from the future trying to frighten the Hector that we know who is now labeled for the audience as Hector 2 into retracing the steps that we had just witnessed in order to be the only Hector remaining in
that time frame. Evidently, Hector 1 tries to recreate the exact same scenario in
this present, so he can be the only Hector remaining in this timeline. An interesting factor that differentiates this from other time traveling films is that everything does not happen due to mere chance. Whenever Hector intervenes in the three time frames, the reactions fit together like a jigsaw puzzle because they are meant to happen, even if it is unbeknownst to Hector 2 himself. For example, Hector does not wrap his face with bandages due to his understanding of what had recently occurred; he wraps his face due to a cut on his forehead, and this is how he deduces the why from an hour earlier. He must therefore remember and mimic everything that has happened to the up-most detail to be capable of obtaining the same reactions from Hector 1 ending in the time machine. If that tongue twister of a plot-explanation is not enough, other Hitchcockian allusions shine throughout the film. Whether the iconic binocular vision from Rear Window, chases like the ones in North and Northwest, or the synchronized zooming in whenever Hector tries to steamroll a locked door open, the film borrows Hitchcockian characteristics that successfully train your pulse into becoming a beat-boxing prodigy.