In a movie titled "Death and Cremation", you might rightfully expect to see quite a few roaring fires. Alas, this low budget attempt at horror has barely a flicker. A couple puffs of smoke is about all you get. You also get a story that is woefully underdeveloped. Nothing is explained beyond the obviously deranged funeral director (Brad Dourif), seeking to barbecue anyone who has wronged him. Dourif could play this part in his sleep. Unfortunately the rest of the cast is not quite so polished. Another weakness is the constant closeups, which become nothing more than a damn annoyance. Other than Dourif's performance, the film is completely forgettable. - MERK

After watching "The Bucket List" (starring Will Smith and De Niro) last week, one particular phrase from the movie really stood out to me. "Witness something truly majestic" was the main characters fateful ambition, an idea which I, myself, took an immediate interest in.Little did I know that two days later I would achieve this feat, when watching Justin Steele's Death and Cremation (2010). This amazing story sees Stanley (Brad Dourif), a lonely psychopath and serial killer working at a small town's crematorium, hire equally troubled teenager Jarod (Jeremy Sumpter) after the latter's stubborn persistence. What ensues is a riveting tale of unparalleled cinematic brilliance and character development not seen since the likes of Citizen Kane (1941).The father-son dynamic which the viewer sees slowly unfold between the two main characters is one of the most powerful moments you will ever bare witness to in a film, and the intelligently written story will see you completely absorbed from start to finish. A particularly spectacular scene of note sees the two protagonists attempt to hide a body from the teenager's unsuspecting mother. This scene is possibly the funniest scene to ever grace the big screen in living memory, and alone easily merits a score of 10 for the movie.I will close by simply saying, watch this movie. Watch it not because it is so damn great (it really is) but because you long to discover the genius of imagination brought to life. Watch it because it will prove to you that movies can be more than just movies. But most of all, watch it because is it better than The Woman.

From Peter Pan to a bullied outcast, Jeremy Sumpter continues to show his tremendous versatility as an actor in Death & Cremation. This cast was the whole reason I wanted to see this movie, but unfortunately it falls well short of my expectations. Stanley (Brad Dourif) is a loner and a serial killer who runs the perfect business for getting rid of evidence, a crematorium. He's a lonely man and nothing exciting happens to him until a loner named Jared (Sumpter) starts working for him. This film tries very hard to be something it's not and that's creepy. Death & Cremation isn't about blood and gore, but rather moves very slowly and methodically in order to try and freak us out, but sadly it doesn't. Stanley and Jared aren't guys you're going to be scared of, more like two guys you'd like to hang out with and that's the problem. The audience can relate to them and isn't scared of them at all. That being the case this film should have gone the other way and been extremely bloody and disturbing, but it's not that either. The story is bland and the movie is slow, but the cast is amazing. Brad Dourif plays a psychopath better than anyone and it really wouldn't surprise me if he is in fact a serial killer. Here he's teamed with one of my absolute favorite actors, who is also superb, but they're giving their all in a slow, sloppy film, that just doesn't cut it.

Brad Dourif plays Stan, an unkempt, spotty-faced 59 year old loner with a bizarre pastime. He kills people he doesn't like. Just like that and doesn't think any more about it.Someone says something to him and he doesn't like what they've said, it's over their head with a baseball bat, then straight with the body in the furnace at the Crematorium where he works. It's comical in a way, but also grizzly.Step forward Scott Elrod who plays Matt, another loner and high school outcast, who strikes up a curious friendship with Stan. Matt starts work at the Crematorium and well things gather pace. I will say no more, so not to spoil the film. But be prepared for some twists and turns.* I really liked this film. The friendship between Stan and Matt is intriguing, for as strange as it may seem Stan is the father figure Matt doesn't have.There's blood. There's gore, but the movie should have lasted longer. The end is a slight disappointment in my view. But I expect you'll come to your own conclusions.I gave this film 8 out of 10. Its current IMDb rating is far too low in my view. Maybe not enough people have seen it.