Dark Sky Bringing Home The Cremator

By Johnny Butane
December 11th, 2008

Dark Sky Films just announced the release of a movie I honestly never expected to see in the United States. Not because it’s overly violent or bizarre, but just because it’s so damn obscure.

The film is Juraj Herz’ 1969 film The Cremator, the story of a man named Karl whose profession is to cremate the bodies of the recently deceased in Prague. He believes wholeheartedly that the only true path to salvation is by releasing the soul through cremation; if you don’t your soul is stuck inside your body until it eventually turns to dust of its own accord.

As Nazi forces approach the Czech border, Karl descends into a madness that forces him to do some pretty horrible things to his friends and family for the sake of their salvation. I reviewed a Region 2 release of The Cremator a while back and liked it quite a bit, so I’m very glad it’s seeing release here in the States.

Dark Sky will have The Creamtor on DVD March 31st, 2009. I doubt it will have many, if any, extras, but the film itself is interesting enough on its own to be worth picking up.

- Johnny Butane