Steve Sessions’ first feature film is an anthology of twisted tales revolving around a mortician who has been conducting multiple cremations. This is when more than one body is cremated at the same time to save on costs. The mortician is interrogated about his methods, and some of the strange occurrences he encountered whilst performing said multiples.
The first tale is short and sweet and revolves around a woman who has been assaulted in her own home, It’s disturbing and has a sick twist.
The next story involves a woman who has come back to her parents hometown to visit her sick mother. Her mother informs her not to drive through the town of Wyndham, and would you believe it that’s exactly where she ends up when she takes a wrong turn.
After that Jeff Dylan Graham stars as a young man with issues in a simplistic yet creepy tale with a shocking ending that you’ll be hard pushed to guess in advance, which is followed by a tale which sees Kimberly Lynn Cole hunt down an author for help with a vampire problem that plagues her every dream and waking moment.
The final tale starring Lilith Stabs ties directly into the wraparound story, and is made creepy thanks to a number of clever filmmaking tricks.
Steve Sessions crafted a fine debut with Cremains, managing to attract a cast full of horror genre stars (including Debbie Rochon) for the morbid tales which are all competently shot and edited.
The high point of Sessions’ first feature however are the tricks that he employs to achieve the most from his cast and budget. He comes across as an intelligent and resourceful filmmaker who doesn’t let a silly little thing like money or time constraints stand in the way of storytelling.
OVERALL SUMMARY
A fine debut that had me hooked on his work straight away thanks to the philisophical nature and well researched stories. Cremains has become something of a cult hit in the years since it was made and I’m pleased to report that Sessions is no one trick pony, having since made a number of well crafted low budget chillers.
