Customer Reviews

Cemetery Man [VHS]

5 star:		(112)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

Dellamorte Dellamore (Michele Soavi, 1994)

Soavi, who got his start as an assistant director to Italian horror god Dario Argento, spent his time making obscure B-movies until he stumbled upon Dellamorte Dellamore (Of Love and Death, but released in America under the title Cemetery Man), Giovanni Rimoli (Trauma)'s adaptation of Tiziano Sclavi's novel of the same name (one of the highly-praised and popular Dylan Dog novels that have made Sclavi a household name in most countries that are not on this side of the Atlantic).

Set in Dylan Dog's hometown of Buffalore, Dellamorte Dellamore is the story of Francesco Dellamorte (Rupert Everett, who should need no introduction), the caretaker at a cemetery infected by a plague that causes the dead to come back to life seven days after being interred. Dellamorte (whose name translates as "St. Francis of the Dead") takes it all in stride, keeping around a variety of inventive weapons with which to re-dispatch the dead. After all, all that gravedigging means a lot of overtime pay, right? Dellamorte's sole companion in life is his sidekick, the seemingly mentally challenged Gnaghi (Francois Hadji-Lazaro, recently in Brotherhood of the Wolf, but probably best remembered for his unforgettable role in City of the Lost Children). Until, that is, he spies the most beautiful woman (Italian supermodel Anna Falchi) he's ever seen at a funeral. Immediately, you know you're not watching your everyday horror film; Dellamorte becomes a bumbling romantic-comedy film star around her. And yes, that's what you've got here--a romantic comedy. With zombies.

The comedy/horror blend works extremely well, and in the process doesn't keep the viewer from seeing that there's a lot more underneath the hood than the surface would convey. (This is hinted at throughout, but becomes obvious in the final scene thanks to a startling trick Soavi hands us; watch closely, because you may not catch it unless you do. It's brilliant.) Dellamorte and Gnaghi are complex characters on the surface, but there are clues throughout the movie as to their deeper motivations and understandings of the things going on around them. To me, this is living proof that Rupert Everett is a better romantic comedy lead than Hugh Grant, but that's just me. (Hugh Grant hasn't worked with zombies!)

Dellamorte Dellamore is one of those movies you can't really believe was made in the nineties. Intelligent, beautifully-shot, low-budget horror/comedy that looks as if it came out of Dario Argento's salad days (or out of Japan; there's more than one aspect of this film that reminds me of the brilliant My Left Eye Sees Ghosts). I can't recommend this wonderful film highly enough. Go as far out of your way as you need to to catch this one. **** ½

If you're looking for geniuninely funny, creepy and beautiful horror film look no further.

Cemetery Man (aka Dellamorte Dellamore) tells the tale of unlucky in life cemetery watchman Francesco Dellamorte. Watching over the Buffalora cemetery is no easy task, particularly when the dead come back to life after seven days. And these are no ordinary zombies folks. The "Returners" truly embrace that at one with the earth bit that you hear some people saying they wish to be when they die. Perhaps if they see this movie first, they'll think twice about that.

Poor Dellamorte can't seem to get along with anyone, not his mentally slow assistant, Gnaghi, not the beautiful "She", nor anyone in town. He even seems at odds with the old Grim Reaper himself.

The humor is decidely black and hilarious. Of the many times I've seen this movie since 1994, it gets funnier all the time. Rupert Everett is marvellous as Francesco, as is the teenage actress who portrays the Re-Animator-like zombie Valentina.

The FX are great, the zombies awesome. The plot chaotic and very fun. This has got to be the best horror film of its type this decade. A note: Some people may find the tone of the film a bit harsh toward women, (I don't. Particularly when compared to most Italian/Spanish zombie/horror films).

This should have ushered in a new era of zombie films, but sadly did not.

Don't miss this...

and remember No Deposit, No Returner!

Here's another one of those films which doesn't get the notice it deserves. I have only seen the Dellamorte Dellamore uncut version so I can only comment on what I've seen. This film is one of my favorite horror films. It has so much to offer and it is offered with quite a bit of style. Not to mention Anna Falchi is in the film. She is a beautiful Italian model who, by the way, acts much better than most of her American counterparts. There is almost a romantic feel to this film. I hate to use the word romantic at all, but since this is a horror/zombie flick I guess I can. This cemetary seems to exist on a plane level with the Twilight Zone. It is a very strange cemetary where the dead come back to life and are again put back to rest by the "Cemetary Man". He longs for a better life, but accepts his condition until one day... I recommend this film to those of you who like dark comedy, horror, romance etc...I personally hate romance movies, but it worked well in this film...Frightening!

Some say that goths have no sense of humor...this is not so if you loved Cemetery Man (Delamorte, Delamore) the way I do. It is a predominantly light hearted story of a cemetery watchman (played by then unknown Brit actor Rupert Everett...and the movie in which I first noticed him) and his slow but sweet assistant Gnagi who must fight the undead who seem to pop up in greater frequency every night in the Buffalora cemetery. In it Gnagi falls for the mayors daughter, Everett's character Delamorte tries to get the town doctor to chop off his...problem, Delamorte falls in love with three women who look identical, becomes the chief suspect in a murder case (a murder he committed), and realizes that no matter what he does, his life is almost completely futile. This movie obviously has darker elements in it and a definite overall existential theme. But it always remembers not to take it self TOO seriously. The cemetery is one of the most beautiful in all of history (for those of us who love cemeteries) and the filming of this movie is incredible. Enjoy this movie, because there is no movie even remotely like it...and probably never will be. "Without beginning, without end, evermore. Amen."

A movie with zombies, that's not about zombies. Go figure. It's more focused on the nature of love and the nature of death, as evidenced in the original Italian title Dellamorte Dellamore (the title "Cemetery Man" is a bit of a travesty).
The zombies fail to be horrific, since Francesco sees them as commonplace things. Which is probably the element that makes me say it's not horror. One of the few main elements in a [zombie] horror film is that the zombies must be scary! And sure they seem to unnerve Gnaghi a bit, but Francesco disposes of them as if he was stepping on cockroaches. They don't scare him, they're merely a nuisance.

And horror movies are mostly based on the conflict between the humans/good guys/whatever and the zombies/axe murderers/monsters/whetever. Cemetery Man is based on Francesco's experiences with and feelings about people and the world around him. In the beginning it seems like horror, with the zombies rising on the seventh day and all that. But once you see the way Francesco reacts to the zombies (as just part of his job, etc.) you know that they aren't the focus of the film.

The main things I like about this movie are the claustrophic atmosphere, and the fact that it can be interpreted in an endless number of ways. Was the first woman a zombie or just unconscious when Francesco shot her? If she was only unconscious, were the other women just his mind's way of punishing him? Why was it that no one could concieve of blaming him for his own crimes? Was he insane? Why did the dead come back? And so on.

My favorite scenes in the movie: When Gnaghi unearths the mayor's daughter and her head floats along the ground. Somehow, I just loved the impact this scene had. The way the head can really get around on its own lends a very surreal quality to the movie. Second, the scene with Francesco in the hospital. When he talks to his "friend," it's a real turning point in the movie. It really changes the atmosphere and the pace. An adjacent scene, where someone says to the fleeing Francesco "You have a gun? Good." is particulary great. The next would be the ending, but I won't give that away

This is the Citizen Kane of zombie flix.
It plays heavily into a sprawling maze of jungian and freudian pathology, politics, the militarization of youth, clique culture, impotence, volkwagens and the fear of death, and when you exit he maze, you find that you are either still there, or never were still not there at all.
I believe that if you watch this movie while intoxicated and reading a copy of Louis Carroll's, "The Hunting of the Snark," you may be able to discern the meaning of life.

Regardless of what user "Cursesfoiledagain" says he didn't do his homework. This U.S. release IS THE FULL UNCUT VERSION.

for further proof go to:

dvdcompare.net

R1 America - (Anchor Bay) - No cuts
R2 Italy - (Medusa) - No Cuts. Packaging states a runtime of 108 mins. It is actually 99 mins.

Although I adore this film I can understand why so many people find it disappointing and bad. It's just that "Cemetery Man" looks rather strange for an unprepared viewer. Those who crave to see another zombie-flick would be frustrated because it's not your average horror movie. And it's also not a comedy. By many descriptions and reviews you could get a feeling it's something like Peter Jackson's "Braindead", but it's not. Surely there're some comic moments in "Cemetery Man", certainly it has a substantial part of it dedicated to zombies. But even if you wanted to find something similar to previous works of Michele Soavi, you won't find them here because this one is so different from "Stagefright", "The Sect" and "The Church". I guess it'll be easier to get this film if you're quite familiar with traditions of Italian horror cinema.
I'd call "Cemetery Man" (originally titled "Dellamorte Dellamore") a philosophical exercise by Soavi for it has a lot of things to think about and in general it is a metaphysical feature. The original name "Of Death and Love" is of course closer to the meaning of the film and I'd say it's essential for its understanding.
Two main concepts of mankind are being considered here by the creators of the film, and the results, I think, are very offbeat, ingenious and sometimes controversial which is necessary for any good movie. And as with many good movies you'd want to watch it more than once to catch all the hidden meanings. And pay more attention to what characters are saying rather than to action itself.
"Cemetery Man" is very smart, innovative, intelligent and tacit. And forget about zombies, if you want them - just watch Fulci's "Zombi". There are plenty of them in "Cemetery Man" of course including a dead girl's head falling in love with cemetery attendant's mentally handicapped help-mate (!), but ultimately it's not what this film is about.

I first saw this movie early one morning, unable to sleep due to the fact that I worked the graveyard shift and this was my night off. I didn't have high expectations being that the movie starred Rupert Everett (just having seen "My Best Friends Wedding"), but nothing else was on. The first 5 minutes of the film made me believer that horror film was not dead. It had a strange, original story that kept me watching. There are some excellent "death" scenes.

Rupert Everett plays Francesco Dellamorte, a cemetery caretaker, charged with the task of watching over a cemetery where the dead rise after being put into the ground. His only companion is Gnaghi. Gnaghi only speaks in grunts and his girlfriend is the severed head of the daughter of a public official. Combine these elements with Francesco trying to have relations with a girl that keeps being reincarnated with an exact physical replica and you have a pretty good movie.

At the time of this review in '05, this movie had not been released. It has now been. It's far more entertaining than the carbon-copy "horror" films pumped out by the major motion picture companies. If you get a chance, WATCH IT. It'll be worth your time

i found out about this film as i purchased dario argento's "the church" and completely fell in love with the beauty and surrealism..as i watched that film, i saw that a man named michael soavi had helped craft that amazing film....soon after, i found out about the anchor bay release of a film called "cemetary man" and all of the good reviews the region 2 dvd had...so along comes june and i order this baby off of here.

as i watched this film, i had seen many creative sceneries and beautiful backgrounds. for instance, the scene where anghie and the girl's head are in love is just so inocent and beautiful...almost made me think tim burton..other parts made me feel peter jackson's dead alive..still, i felt a great stanley kubrick sense from other scenes...and fracesco dellamorte reminds me so much of evil dead's ash in some ways...but to me, this film is much better than dead alive and a much needed fresh breath of air from bruce campbell and evil dead....the undisputed champion of the slapstick horror film.

i would describe the entirity of the film as a cross between tim burton, stanley kubrick, and a pinch of evil dead 2.



so i say get it...buy a copy..buy 2 copies if you have enough!...when you watch this, you will want to over and over again.