DEATH AND CREMATION (2010)

Directed by Justin Steele.
Written by Justin Steele, Alecc Bracero.

Starring Brad Dourif, Jeremy Sumpter, Scott Elrod, Debbon Ayer, Sam Ingraffia, Daniel Baldwin, Staci Keanan.

There are elements from a lot of other dark horror-teen angsters such as HEATHERS, CRIME & PUNISHMENT IN SUBURBIA, BULLY, and even DONNIE DARKO in DEATH AND CREMATION in which death is not really taken seriously by the Twitter generation grown up on first person shooter games and the contradiction of no music videos on MTV. But most horrorphiles like myself will want to seek out DEATH AND CREMATION for two reasons: 1) Brad Dourif’s in it, and 2) he’s fucking crazy-town in this one.

Yes, it doesn’t get much better than Dourif when it comes to playing crazies. Making his film debut as the stuttering man-child in ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST, Dourif has made a name for himself as the go-to guy when psychosis is required. Memorable roles in EXORCIST III and as the voice of the killer doll Chucky in all of the CHILD’S PLAY films no matter how bad they were, Dourif took some non-horror roles recently such as BAD LEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS, MY SON, MY SON WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?, and as the curmudgeony Doc on DEADWOOD. It’s good to see Dourif slip on the psycho shoes again for this role.

Here he plays Stan, the owner of a crematorium. Troubled by neglect and abuse as a child, he now seeks out people to cremate and keep on a shelf with his collection in the basement of his business. Things are going well for Stan; though there’s not much business, his hobby of abducting and murdering folks has kept the crematorium’s home fires burning—that is, until Jarod (THE SASQUATCH GANG’s Jeremy Sumpter) shows up looking for a part time job. Jarod is an outcast, constantly ridiculed by his classmates and mocked for painting his nails and wearing eye liner and black clothing. When one of his classmates goes missing, of course it’s the emo kid who raises eyebrows. When Jarod’s bully goes missing as well, he becomes a full-blown suspect. As a police detective zeroes in on Jarod, Jarod himself is leading the authorities to Stan’s murderous hobby by wanting to become his apprentice.

The story plays out as this clueless youth in search of a father figure finds just that in a homicidal maniac. Dourif is the highlight here. Sumpter has a nice presence and has definitely developed his acting chops from cardboard kiddie role as the lead Sasquatch Hunter in the off the wall and charming THE SASQUATCH GANG, but still, he pales in comparison with Dourif, who steals the show every second he’s on the screen. Seeing Dourif shaking and twitching, constipating out his words through a clenched jaw, made me smile every time and appreciate him for the cinematic treasure of a character actor he is. The addition of scar make-up all over his face where he nervously picks at his skin adds creep and psychological depth to his role.

The story is not the strongest. There are plenty of times as Dourif and his new apprentice must hide a body which becomes more like sitcom antics than cinematic drama, but for a memorable psychotic performance, DEATH AND CREMATION serves to highlight the talents of Mr. Dourif, one of cinema’s best psychos–and does so in spades.