The Cremator
needs to be in the top 20.... This is not only one of the best movies of the 60's but one of the better horror movies ever made. Not only does it epitomise the era its one of the finest portrayals of a serial killer ever given.
Rudolf Hrunsinsky puts in an amazing performance as
The Cremator he has this perfect disarming and unassuming look that will remind veiwers of a young Peter Lorre and a voice that is almost soothing to listen to, but from the start you are made aware that there is something so wrong and insidious about this guy.
The movie, while set against the backdrop of the second world war, is purely about the complusive mind of
The Cremator. Totally obsessed with his work or what he sees as his duty, every action he takes is about furthering his work and realising his ambitions. What makes
The Cremator such a perfect villian is the purety of his thoughts and mind, this is a guy so self obsessed and so single minded that he is prepared to use the Nazi party as a tool to realise his ambition while seeming totally ambivalent to their cause. For
The Cremator they are just a tool to further his ambition.
The cinematography from Stanislav Milota is some of the finest work you will ever see, freeze frame at any point in this movie and you will have a beautiful still. Every shot, every scene is beautifully planned and executed. Scenes flow into each other with ease and the story plays out like a waking nightmare. Some of the scenes are amongst the best the genre has to offer.
Dark, atmospheric, viseral portrait of a disturbed mind, categorised as a horror comedy by IMDB, this is horror with a gentle hint of disturb humor, but certainly no comedy. Juraj Herz wrote and directed a masterpiece. There is no doubt in my mind that if this movie had the exposure other movies get or you simply switched the name Juraj Herz for David Lynch on the cover of the movie, this movie would be rightly considered a masterpiece of our genre.
I know its probably not going to make the final twenty or even get seconded by anyone on here so all I can really say is that I recommend to all of you that if you ever get the chance to watch this movie (can be found on youtube and now avaliable on DvD after being lost for some 40 years) then take the time to give it a watch. It really is an amazing movie and in an era of great movies it easily stands along side the best of the era.
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