Death and Cremation (2010)

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.

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."

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.

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")