Starring: Anton Alexander, Katja Anton, Elio Cesari, Barbara Cupisti, Renato Donis Average Rating: Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: VHS Tape Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC Number of Items: 1 Release Date: September 23, 1996 Running Time: 105 minutes Studio: Fox Home Entertainment Theatrical Release Date: April 26, 1996
Amazon.com: If you think you hate your job, think again. Francesco Dellamorte (Rupert Everett), the titular Cemetery Man, lives a lonely life with a dead-end career. He works and resides in a cemetery that holds a dark, hidden secret. You see, those who are buried in Dellamorte's cemetery have the tendency to rise from the dead. Francesco's job is to make sure the dead remain dead. When they rise, he must hunt them down and ensure they get their eternal rest. Since his strange career takes up most of his time, there is no room in his life for romance or friendship. His sole companion is his mute, Igor-like assistant Gnaghi (François Hadji-Lazaro). Not surprisingly, Francesco has grown weary of the dull drum and repetitive routine his job and life have become. It is not until he meets the girl of his dreams (Anna Falchi), who happens to be a widow attending her husband's funeral, that Francesco realizes that there may be more to life than this. Sound a bit odd? Well, it is. But fans of the zombie and the "twentysomething disgruntled worker" genres will feel right at home with this Michele Soavi cult favorite. At its center, Cemetery Man is a black comedy/existential mediation on loneliness and career disappointment. But where Fight Club is entrenched in an action/buddy-flick setting and Office Space is a strict black comedy, Cemetery Man is staged deep in the Italian zombie genre, giving it extra points for originality. --Rob Bracco
A very good film. ^ This is one heck of a trippy film, from the dark atmosphere to the even more surprising twist ending this has to be one of my favorites. Just before my VCR crashed and went to the Great Beyond (the landfill), I had a chance to watch my VHS tape and was stunned by how original it was.
Nothing short of amazing, as the film was quite top-notch despite it's incredibly low budget look, even more amazing were the zombies. A must for every zombie genre fan.
Love in a Cemetary ^ After years of hearing good things about Dellamorte Dellamorte (known in America as Cemetery Man) I had to check it out when I noticed it on-demand. This being my first artistic Euro zombie flick had me not knowing what to expect. Luckily the tongue and cheek comedy/zombie horror had just enough of the goods to provide a lot of laughs and enjoyment. The film was directed by Michele Soavi who worked with famed Italian horror Dario Argento for several years. The influence has obviously had an effect on Soavi as he was credited with keeping the Italian Horror traditions alive throughout the 90's.
The film begins with cemetery caretaker Francesco Dellamorte (Rupert Everett) and his sidekick Gnaghi(who looks like curley from the 3 Stooges). Francesco works in the small Italian town of Buffaloras' cemetery, and just can't seem to keep the dead in their graves. For some reason those that have passed away rise within 7 days of their burial and can only be fully stopped by a fatal blow to the head. Thankfully for the town, Francesco is very dedicated and views the constant zombie killings as part of his job description. Within the film is a lot of dark humor, zombie love, and a gun wielding caretaker that can't keep the women away.
I'd have to say this is one of the strangest film I have ever seen in my life. However it's not a bad thing in this case. Cemetery Man was done extremely different then most zombie films thanks to some very interesting writing/directing. There is just the right amount of humor and zombie action to keep your interest despite some slower moving parts. The Italians certainly have a great hold over the zombie genre and would inspire me to check out many more works of the sort. I recommend this film to a certain type of viewer. If you want a gory zombie flick then this one won't satisfy you. You really have to be open to an artistic spin on the walking dead.
"Gna!" ^ In `Cemetery Man', better known in Europe as `Dellamorte Dellamore', poor old Rupert Everett (before he was famous), has to deal with a pesky plague of corpses that return to life on the seventh night of their burial in the graveyard of a small "Italian" town of Buffalora. Although there isn't a single word of Italian spoken in the film, apart from the words "Dellamorte" & "Dellamore", the Italian setting is unmistakable. At first, the premise sounds great. It promised a return (or at least a nod) to the good old days of 70's Italian gore classics, like `Zombie Flesh Eaters' or `Zombie Creeping Flesh', but unfortunately, after the first 25 minutes or so, it descends into a mish-mash of the unintelligible and the aimless.
Honestly, I do understand why this movie would have a decent following, but the film really doesn't know which direction it's going in. It continually wanders off down blind alleys and gets itself lost. Even the basic premise that the film is hung on is never fully fleshed out...so to speak and is completely abandoned half way through the running time. Likewise, the side story of Everett's hopeless infatuations with several women (all of whom are Anna Falchi) never seems to know what to do with itself and therefore one is left with an unsatisfying taste in the mouth, when the end credits roll.
Unfortunately, the film's characters don't save the day either. Everett comes across as an annoying foppish Englishman (totally out of place in the Italian setting), with an inbuilt detachment from the whole project. Falchi is, of course very striking, but couldn't act her way out of a paper bag and every other character is there to make up the numbers it seems. Except for Everett's monosyllabic friend and work colleague Gnaghi, who's played greatly by Francois Hadji-Lazaro and is easily the best thing about the movie.
"Gna!"
But, while `Cemetery Man' fails to deliver on its promises, it does hold a certain spell over the viewer. It's atmosphere is not without merit and in fact it's a far more interesting movie than a large percentage of the dross that gets the green light every year and in a way, its aimlessness is one of its charms, in that you truly never know where the film is going to go next. The problem is though, is that you get the feeling that the director Michele Soavi wasn't 100% sure either. I haven't read the book that the film was based on, but I'd wager that there are a number of departures from the novel's narrative. Either way the film veers from the superbly weird `Mr. Vampire' like atmosphere one minute, to absurd, inane and extremely annoying idiocy the next.
It also difficult to know just who Soavi was thrusting his picture to. As a bizarre pudding of zombie horror, comedy, romance & eurotrash, the film promises everything on the one hand and delivers nothing with the other. Simply because none of the themes are expanded on and are discarded willy-nilly. The zombies are few and far between (and are completely forgotten about), the comedy is not funny, the romance has no chemistry and is aborted all the time and the eurotrash is just not trashy enough.
`Cemetery Man' is, in no way, a complete failure though due largely to the previously mentioned atmosphere and I'd recommend it for that (and Gnaghi) alone. But it is certainly not in the same stable as weird euro horror of the 1970's / 80's and is sure to disappoint many who will come at it from that angle.
Either way, it's probably a movie that I will revisit sometime in the future, but I'll almost surely come away from it feeling the same way. Confused, unsatisfied and a little short changed.
Severed Heads In Love ^ Anyone who likes macabre humor and views life as being somewhat repetitive, will love this odd little Zombie film. This movie is very strange and I will warn you, the movie ends pretty openly. Some of what happens in the film despite being shovenistic happens in such a bizarre way where you can't help but laugh. The main character by the end has killed many of the living as well as the dead. The characters within this film are out of one or two Dylan Dog comic books.
One thing that I felt was missing ^ Everything you have read about this film is spot on but I haven't heard anyone mention that there is no Italian audio. You do get the Italian trailer and I want the option to listen to the film in Italian. that's all. Good movie still, do not let this miniscule complaint detour you from purchasing and experiencing this film.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
