“Dead Janitors Club” Review: Dirty Work, Dark Laughs, and Twisted Charm.

Crime-scene cleanup sounds like the kind of job Hollywood would either turn into cheap shock value or a one-joke gross-out comedy. "Dead Janitors Club" is smarter than that, even when it does not always clean up every mess it creates. Based on Jeff Klima’s memoir The Dead Janitors Club: Pathetically True Tales of a Crime Scene Cleanup King, the film finds dark humor, desperation, and a strange little romance inside a world most people would rather never think about.

Directed by Kenny Gage and Devon Downs, the film follows crooked cop Dirk, played by Jake Busey, and his broke partner Jeff, played by Felix Merback, as they stumble into an illegal crime-scene cleaning hustle. That setup gives the movie a pulpy hook right away. These are not noble men answering a calling. They are desperate, morally flexible, and convinced that somebody else’s tragedy can become their payday. That ugliness is part of the point.

Busey brings the right kind of wild-eyed energy to Dirk. He has always been effective when a role needs danger with a smirk, and here he gives the story a nasty little spark. Merback has the tougher job as Jeff because the film needs him to be shady enough to participate, but human enough for us to stay invested. His scenes with Brianna Gage’s Kerry, a sharp-witted tattoo artist with her own guarded edges, give the film its most unexpected warmth.

That relationship helps keep "Dead Janitors Club" from becoming only a parade of bad decisions and bloody cleanup jobs. Kerry gives Jeff something to want beyond quick cash, and Gage plays her with enough bite that the sparks do not feel forced. The romance does not soften the movie completely, but it gives the chaos a needed emotional counterweight.

The film’s weakness is that the tonal balance can wobble. Crime, comedy, romance, and grime are not always easy roommates, and some stretches feel like they are fighting for the same square footage. Still, the rough edges match the material more often than they hurt it.

Dead Janitors Club works best when it embraces its oddness. It is dirty, darkly funny, and built around people making choices they probably should have walked away from five minutes earlier.

It may not be spotless, but it has personality, momentum, and enough twisted charm to make the cleanup worth watching, especially when it leans into its Los Angeles sleaze.

Final Grade: B-

"DEAD JANITORS CLUB" - In select theaters and on VOD August 28th