User reviews

I love many time-travel movies, and this one seems very clever and tightly plotted at first, especially while you are watching it and figuring out how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together very nicely. But there is one big problem that others have already pointed out:

The things that he does mostly make no sense, and most of the movie is spent having him repeat these things that make no sense the next time he goes around the time loop, just so that the events in the first time happen the way he remembers them. And that's not clever.

I can do this easily by making up a simple example: Joe is sitting in his living room and sees a dead bird thrown through his window, he goes out to investigate, falls into a time-machine into the past, then when he sees himself in the living room, he kills a bird and throws it through the window so that he will go out to investigate. The End.

Not very satisfying is it?

There are elements that make this movie entertaining, especially the dark way that he solves the final problem and the fact that there are three versions of himself running around trying to make or stop things from happening, but otherwise, it's just an extended version of my story.

It's very hard to review "Los cronocrímenes" without spoiling the fun of watching the movie and seeing how the different stories within the main plot outline keep unraveling ever so intelligently. Let's just say that it all starts out with a man watching through his binoculars and spotting something that catches his eye. He follows his curiosity, and that will be the start of some extremely unusual, mysterious, and intriguing events involving this man, a mysterious stalker with his head wrapped in a pink bandage, a naked girl in the woods, and a young scientist.

"Los cronocrímenes" is a terrific movie, one that was made with a low budget, a reduced cast, and very few settings. It combines sci-fi/fantasy, mystery, action, and also sprinkles of comedy -I found myself laughing out loud more than once while watching this. It's a twisted, tragic, cynical sense of humor that I find very fitted to the Spanish way of being and general look on life.

You may enjoy "Los cronocrímenes" for what it is, taking it at face value, and enjoying the twists and turns (and even if you think you've got it figured out, it keeps the ability to surprise you all along). You may also take a deeper look into it. Each viewer sees a different story and message in a movie; for me, personally, besides an extremely entertaining and thoughtful mystery and action movie, "Los cronocrímenes" offers good insight into the human soul, our deepest and darkest motivations for things, and how the line between good and evil is ever so blurry.

This movie proves what Hollywood does not practice. A great movie (like this one) does not need: famous name actors, good-looking/sexy protagonists, stupendous sets, expensive special effects, gratuitous violence, & violent shocks to be a successful, entertaining, and provocative movie, which this is in every respect. All it needs is good writing, capable direction, plausibility in terms of premises and plot turns, and decent acting. This has it all. And it's a great movie. The actors are all average looking. The sets look like a normal environment. The special effects are nothing special at all. And yet, there is not a dull moment in this extraordinarily good film. Saw it at the Cleveland International Film Festival this year. It stood out from the crowd as an exceptional film

It's essentially a rewrite of Robert A. Heinlein's 1941 short story "By His Bootstraps".

"Timecrimes" was a movie I almost didn't see. It seemed interesting, but since "Primer" I wasn't sure if I wanted to wrap my mind around another time travel movie. The director, Nacho Vigalondo told us this was his world premiere and he was very nervous giving his introduction. After about 90 minutes, I realized my second movie at Fantastic Fest 2007 may be the best one I see all week. "Timecrimes" was an engaging movie that is easy to follow, despite it's complex plot. I would hate to give away even the smallest of details, the title says everything you need to know. Even though I felt like I was in the driver's seat the whole movie, there were still surprises throughout that kept things interesting until the closing credits. The journey taken by Hector (Karra Elejalde) develops his character beautifully, and he is complimented by a small and effective cast. It would be a crime if this movie doesn't get the distribution it deserves. The Q&A afterward revealed some interesting behind the scenes stories and some info that made me want to see the movie again. Fortunately the buzz from our half full screening was enough to sell out the second screening at the festival. The film won Best Picture at Fantastic Fest 2007, was the Silver Medal winner for Audience Favorite, and was the highest rated film at the festival. If you get a chance to see this movie, DO IT!!

***UPDATE*** "Timecrimes" has been picked up by Magnolia Pictures.

Original and ingeniously basic Sci-Fi premise full of suspense and intrigue .This freaky and clever film chronicles fear, suspicion,desperation, paranoia of a person named Hector ( Karra Elejalde) , he is a middle-aged ordinary man who has just moved to a lonely house with his wife Clara (Candela Fernández). Hector watches that he believes to be a naked girl in the forest . He decides to go there just to find that same girl (Bárbara Goenaga) laying on a rock. Later on , he finds a stranger (Nacho Vigalondo) in a Kafkaesque room presided by a mysterious machine . Hector accidentally gets into a time machine and travels back in time nearly an hour. Finding himself will be the first of a series of disasters of unforeseeable consequences . He attempts to survive the deadly trap which guard the room and takes place several twisted situations .

The picture succeeds because the thriller ,tension , plot twists , suspense, as well as a superbly written script delving into the starring paranoia in such extreme situation and his instinctive urge for survival . Despite low budget the movie manages to be intelligent, intriguing and thrilling . The good thing about this film is that the director made it on a shoestring budget only having to do a few sets , yet the movie works on many levels but is constantly reconfigured . Casting is frankly well giving fine performances , though little known with exception of the veteran Karra Elejalde . Good cinematography by Flabio Martinez Labiano , excellent cameraman of ¨Unknown , Day of Beast , Perlita Durango , 800 bullets¨ , among others ; he's Alex De La Iglesia's usual photographer. It was filmed in Solares , Cabezon De La Sal , Cantabria, Nacho Vigalondo's birthplace . This motion picture relatively cheap is tautly written and directed by Nacho Gabilondo in his first movie because he is usually writer for television and shorts filmmaker , has has only directed another film titled ¨Extraterrestre¨. This is without a doubt a thought-provoking and mysterious film to be liked for Science-Fictiona and suspense fans, turning out to be one of the most original Spanish movies of the last years .

One of the common issues with time-travel movies is that they are filled with holes in the story, things that you never get to know how happened or why they did happened in the first place.

This movie is perfect in that sense, the plot is squared and every small detail has a meaningful reason to exist so in a way is mathematically perfect.. Which leaves you with a rewarding feeling but on the other hand if you understand the plot you can solve the mystery 3/4 down the movie and the last minutes are just obvious.

But this is a great movie.. Thats why it leaves you wondering what would it had been if the plot were more ambitious and more factors had been involved in the equation. Perhaps more characters and more interaction between them.. Who knows! You just want more!

While introducing the movie, director Nacho Vigalondo said that he thought this was the first ever Spanish time-travel movie. More accurately, this was the first Spanish bigger-budget variation of Sundance 2005's Primer.

Hector appears to be living a happy and contented life in their new house with his pretty and affectionate wife Clara, when one day he spies through his binoculars a woman in the woods in the act of undressing. When Clara leaves, Hector goes off to investigate. And there the fun begins, as Hector's quest thrusts him into an adventure that includes the discovery of a time machine, and a dogged quest to unravel its effects.

If you like mind game movies like Memento, Proof or the even harder to follow Primer, then Time Crimes will have some appeal. And while the movie does have some time-twisting inconsistencies, it generally ties the loose ends into a knotty, if not absurd conclusion. The story moves along briskly, requiring intellectual energy to keep up and a forgiving attitude to a few ridiculous devices. Fortunately, there is an occasional and welcome infusion of humor that makes some of the cheesier elements a little easier to swallow. But somehow, the whole thing felt more like a Twilight Zone episode stretched into a feature-length film. Fortunately, like most Twilight Zone episodes, this one had a great ending. I just loved the final shot, which is quaintly ironic, although it will leave some viewers unsatisfied, I am sure.

Sundance Moment: In the post-movie Q&A, Vigalondo said that after shooting his film, he realized what it really was—a love triangle story. My reaction was "Huh? Did I watch the right movie?"

"Time is a storm in which we are all lost." William Carlos Williams

"Time flies around here," says Hector's (Karra Elejalde) girl friend before time gets warped maliciously when he goes back in a time machine for about an hour. The ironic statement could as well apply to this intelligent sci fi, Time Crimes, that actually tries to show what confusion will reign if we ever do time travel.

While this Spanish thriller is reminiscent of Memento's playing with time and memory and various other time travel fictions, it lacks psycho-philosophical depth (notwithstanding the Hitchcock relevance of the hero using binoculars to see a fetching lass). Even more, character exploration is secondary to the puzzle of time traveling. The film, concerned with the tricky interplay of cause and effect in the travel, could have given more to the ethical-humanistic implications of voyeurism and bending nature to our will.

Its atmosphere is creepy enough, a black and white effect from muted color, a semi-real world where appearance and reality collide, not unlike this time-bound life itself without the machine. Its heroine, a beautiful nude played by Barbara Goenaga, suggests those Freudian chambers of our hearts where desire and violence seem only a door opening or time change away.

In an age of "system restore," where we can set our computers back in time, altering the continuum to expunge viruses and such makes the premise of Timecrimes seem almost possible. The ramifications from our computer restore are usually saving time and money; from a time machine may come a chance to upset the balance of nature, to throw ourselves into a primitive state of lawlessness. At least that's how writer director Nacho Vigalondo sees it, and his film theorizes.

Nice to have a thoughtful movie these days.

When it comes to time-travel movies there is a fine line between being too complex and not complex enough. The first half of 'Timecrimes' seems far too simplistic in nature, but then the second half becomes extremely complicated and hard to follow. When it's simpler it can be a little bit easier to sit back and just enjoy the ride (and I almost certainly did enjoy the first half of the movie more), but it can also feel a little cheap. Yet when things get too complicated - even though you know the film is very smart and that it just all make sense - it can just be quite overwhelming and take all the fun out of it. I don't envy filmmakers who take on the time-travel genre. It's a tough task to get right.

I loved the costume design for the "killer" in this film. Very unique, menacing and actually made sense and had a reason behind it. The film is very clever with little details like that. The slightly gratuitous nudity on the other hand did feel a little forced. I respect their effort to make it seem genuine, but when you take a step back and think about it, it didn't really need to be there. No one's complaining that it was, just that it wasn't exactly imperative to the script.

I see Hollywood has been wanting to do a remake of this film for a long time now. Typically Hollywood remakes are highly inferior, however this is the type of film that Hollywood often does quite well. They often strike a good balance on the complexity level and with the right actor in the lead role this could be quite fun. Not sure if it will ever happen or not, but I'd certainly watch it if they do.

The plot of recent Spanish hit "Time Crimes" is fairly simple:Hector accidentally gets into a time machine and travels back in time nearly an hour.Finding himself will be the first of a series of disasters of unforeseeable consequences.The feature length debut of Nacho Vigalondo is a pretty good science-fiction thriller with a sprinkle of horror thrown in.The time machine looks similarly to the contraptions used in 60's time travel sci-fi flicks.The central performance of Karra Elejalde is excellent and his character is sympathetic and believable.Although many of the twists and turns of the story can be guessed quite early on,they are in some ways all the more enjoyable for that and Vigalondo impressively combines thriller,horror,dark comedy and even slapstick elements without making things feel forced.A little bit of nudity provided by beautiful Barbara Goenaga certainly helps!

Wow, this one took me by surprise. As a matter of fact I had no idea how this film would develop even when I was half-way done watching it, but then the real story kicks off and its exciting and hilarious thereafter. The premise is fairly simple about a guy who keeps landing in exponentially ridiculous situations. You'll know what I mean when you watch it. And each situation has a sense of deja vu to it and is great fun to watch. Can't say much about the acting and direction, which were very, very good nevertheless. However the script is supremely intelligent and ensures that every loose thread is perfectly, and I mean, perfectly tied up.

Time travel can be real head bender. Frequency and The Butterfly Effect are good examples of comparable movies of this genre (and the Back To The Future sequels are terrible ones) and Timecrimes sits comfortably in that group.

I'll be glad to recommend it to all my friends who have the patience to read subtitles.

I liked the story, even if it had obvious production flaws, but not everybody can do Hollywood like films. The problem is that it is just a gimmick, with a few characters which don't really evolve in any way. The hallmark of a good story is that something changes, becomes more. In Timecrimes everybody stays the same, even when faced with time travel and multiple versions of themselves. That was disappointing.

Also, since there are basically four people in the entire movie, if feels like a play, with the revelatory twists that someone expects from an episode of Outer Limits, not from a full feature film.

Bottom line: interesting, low budget, way too long for its content. Maybe worth a watch, but I wouldn't recommend it.

This is a fun movie. It explores time travel in an interesting way, making one big consistent whole. While movies like Primer have more convoluted plots, this one is simpler. It explores the events within timeline in a way that menages to reinterpret them and is an interesting conceptual work. Though somewhat predictable, it still menages to be fun and thought provoking. There are not really any plot holes except that main character acts somewhat in fear of not ruining what he knows happens, at least at first, which is somewhat dubious, but the consistency is preserved. What would happen if he tried to subvert it is not explored, but still, a solid work and an unexplored angle. Less ambitious than Predestination, and at a lower budget, but delivers similar experience if in more low key way, which is sometimes sweeter, in a way small but clever films can be.

Nacho Vigalondo's 'Timecrimes' lacks all the splashy special effects and fantastical settings you'd expect from a time travel movie. But the movie works as a thriller and it packs several creepy surprises. It also challenges perceptions and assumptions as it replays scenes from a different perspective. Too bad none of the characters are compelling or engaging and so the movie often falls flat.

I saw Time Crimes at Montreals fantasia film festival. I was expecting something interesting but nothing to this extend. This film was original, complex yet simple. Beautifully shot, well thought out and entertaining the entire way through. I've was extremely inspired by the film which shows that all you need is a good script, and not necessarily a whole lot of cash to create something really great. IF you get a chance to check it out definitely do so. This is the kind of film that makes film festivals.

I know you all wondering about the violence. In terms of violence it doesn't get graphic at all, minor acts of violence but nothing to worry about not brining the women too.

check out time crimes you wont regret it

Starting half hour really caught my attention, but as the story progresses it does become rather stale. Don't get me wrong I liked the film! The idea alone (although been done before) did keep me entertained but around half way through you can literally reel off everything that is going to happen for the rest of the film (apart from the slight twist at the end)

But there were too many unanswered questions for my liking, leaving slight holes in the story so your imagination can fill in the blanks is a great way to keep you thinking about the film afterwards! But some things were just blatantly forgotten about. What relevance was the pendent? Why did the guy turn it on in the first place? just shear curiosity? Why did he decide to stay the weekend?

These are a few bland complaints on a relatively solid film & well worth a watch! But not something you'll be keeping on your 'go to DVD' shelf!