Cemetery Man (aka Dellamorte Dellamore) (1994)
Review by the Fiend of Grue
Francesco Dellamorte (Rupert Everett) is a young man living amongst the dead. He is not a zombie, but rather the caretaker at a cemetery in Italy where he lives. Living in a run-down shack of a house on the cemetery premises, Francesco’s only companion is his mentally handicapped assistant, Gnaghi (Francois Hadji-Lazaro), who rarely even mumbles, let alone speaks. Francesco and Gnaghi has got a big problem on their hands: the dead that come to the cemetery return to life within a couple of days. Francesco and Gnaghi must deal with these “returners” as they attempt to get to the bottom of what is going on. By day, Francesco and Gnaghi take care of mourning families by tending to their loved ones’ funerals and by night they are busy trying to keep them underground. Francesco and Gnaghi have no chioce but to deal with these “returners” as they attempt to get to the bottom of what is going on.
One day, while observing a funeral for an elderly rich man, Francesco spots the beautiful young widow (Anna Falchi). After the funeral he attempts to console her and the two of them immediately fall in love with each other. That night they consummate their relationship on the woman’s dead husband’s grave! While getting it on, the women’s husband rises from the grave and attacks the two of them, mortally wounding the woman. Francesco is devastated that the only woman he has ever loved is gone, after only a very brief amount of time together. From there, Francesco spirals into a depression that he can’t escape all the while being visited by Death itself, tempting him with mortal dialect.
From here the story gets much more outrageous as Francesco thinks he sees his dead lover in every woman he meets (all of which are played by Anna Falchi). With each one that he comes across, he goes to great lengths to try to make her love him. When one of the women describes her fear of penises to Francesco, he goes and has a doctor lop his off! Each of the women that he encounters ends up dying a horrible fate and poor Francesco is left alone again.
Gnaghi is also in search of love. He falls hard for the Mayor’s daughter, who ends up dying also. When she returns, Gnaghi cannot part with his love so he keeps her live, severed head and stores it in a broken screen television set. Ah…the romance ensues as Gnaghi and his ‘head’ girlfriend continue to build their relationship.
As the movie moves on, the surreal nature to the film continues to go further and further over the top. Francesco enters a complete delusional state in the third act where he figures it’s better to shoot people in the head while they are alive so that way they won’t return when they die. As he goes through the city, he leaves a trail of chaos and death in his wake. The rampage is triggered by a chat with Death and a betrayal by his new love. Enraged, he sets her place on fire with her and her new lover inside.
Cemetery Man is a film that came at the very end of the Italian zombie cycle and is probably the last great movie of that bunch. I hadn’t seen this movie until it was re-released on DVD a couple of years ago and at first, I didn’t know how to take it. I had always heard that it was one of the best zombie movies ever made, and at first I didn’t think so at all. Cemetery Man is a very different beast that only improves with multiple viewings. It has a very surreal and almost artsy feel to it and the dark humor is often overlooked the first time through. It’s strange to see Rupert Everett in a genre role, but he does an amazing job playing a man that is broken in spirit and only longs for true, lasting love. The beautiful Anna Falchi is a treat to see on-screen, not just because of her hot nude scenes, but also because she is a great actress and pulls off several roles very well. Francois Hadji-Lazaro as the lovable lug, Gnaghi, is also good. He and Rupert Everett have great chemistry throughout the entire 105 minute running time.
The original name of the movie could not be more fitting of a title: Dellamorte Dellamore, which translates to “Of love, of death”. That pretty much sums the movie up. As Francesco and Gnaghi both search for love and find it, they must also confront the harsh reality that awaits us all…death. And Death rears its ugly head in many ways, each time pushing both men further over the edge of sanity. Any fan of zombie films should definitely check this movie out; it’s an original, that’s for sure. Over time, I have came to love this movie…the acting, the effects, the gothic, worn-out scenery and the complete madness of the plot are all very original, but not only that…it’s also very good and entertaining too. Although I wouldn’t put this movie above Fulci’s Zombie, it still is one of the best Italian zombie flicks made to date. Go check it out!
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