Death and Cremation

Sullen Emo boy meets odd-ball father figure and team up for righteous, bloody justice. Could have been a great movie, right? Or at least a very creepy character study? Unfortunately, the glacial pacing and undeveloped story lines leave a great cast with the task of making a movie out of thin gruel. While there is very little in the dialogue to justify the friendship that develops between the two leads, the actors pull it off. It's a shame that such talent is wasted on mood moments, rather than extra-judicial villainy. This pair could have been a trailer park Batman and Robin; or a twisted Daniel Larusso and Mr. Miyagi; or even a homo-erotic and homicidal Harold and Maude. Worse, the ending is the sort of thing that screams "we ran out of money - that's a wrap."

I like movies that make you become more aware of how we treat strangers. However! I felt that this movie got a bit silly and cliché as far as it's portrayal of "popularity" or the actions that popular people take. Also, The main kid that is supposed to represent a misfit social outcast pretty much looks like the kid that is suppose to represent a frat boy popular guy at his high school. Same physique pretty much, just black nail polish and a "Disturbed" T-shirt (a mainstream band that would make you look "cool" according to most high school students). It would have been more believable had the main misfit kid looked more like an overweight, shy introvert. I know Brad Dourif calls himself a "movie whore" and he will be in pretty much anything if he feels like it. I've fallen for him so many times (i.e. The Fading of the Cries movie, way more boring than this believe it or not) because I will watch anything he is in. This movie is worth it just because of his acting. I love the ending. Someone put in a previous review said that they felt it ended rather abruptly due to the movie makers having no more money...I really feel that that reviewer totally missed the point of this movie and is a good example of a "victim".

Stan (Brad Dourif) is a serial killer. He's kept very busy between murdering people and working at his crematorium.

Enter local high school outcast, Jarod (Jeremy Sumpter) who needs a job. Stan reluctantly hires the kid, since he's eager to learn about the business. It turns out that these two have more in common than their love of the funereal arts.

DEATH AND CREMATION is a wickedly bleak, suspenseful horror film. Both Dourif and Sumpter are convincing in their symbiotic roles. Dourif especially, once again showing his knack for pure, seething insanity.

Highly recommended for fans of dark movies in general and Mr. Dourif in particular...

Then seem to be rushed from middle to end.

I still give it 7/10 for Brad Dourif....

In Smith County, the lonely owner of the Stanley Crematory is a deranged psychopath that kills bullies and cremates their bodies. The also lonely outcast teenager Jarod Leary (Jeremy Sumpter) misses his father Robert Leary and lives with his mother Martha Leary (Debbon Ayer) in a trailer. He is daily bullied at the Banyon High School by David Valentine (Blake Hood) and his gang.

When the brother-in-law of Bill Weaver (Daniel Baldwin) dies of AIDS, he goes to the funeral home with his wife Becky (Staci Keanan) and their daughter Lindsey (Kate Maher) to research the costs, but Stan (Brad Dourif) does not give much attention to the family. Lindsey curses him and then she plays a prank on Jarod at school. Sooner Stan kidnaps and cremates Lindsey and Detective Matt Fairchild (Scott Elrod) from the Police Department is assigned to investigate the case of missing person. Meanwhile, Jarod asks for a job to Stan and they get close to each other.

When Jarod gets beaten up by David, Stan decides to protect Jarod and abducts David and cremates him. Jarod learns Stan's secret and decides to get rid off the arrogant lawyer Rick Waters (Sam Ingraffia) that is dating his mother. But the neophyte Jarod panics and commits mistakes and Stan decides to fix the problem of his protégé.

"Death and Cremation" is a slash-movie about bullying and cremation that is not as bad as the IMDb User Rating indicates. The story is flawed; the one dimension characters are poorly developed with the exception of Jared. The motives of Stan has become a psychopath should be better explained. However, this genre usually is more interested in the deaths than in well-developed characters. In the end, I liked this underrated film. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Crematório" ("The Crematory")