Dellamorte Dellamore

In Buffalora, Francesco Dellamorte (Rupert Everett) is the administrator of the local cemetery and he lives in a house by the cemetery with the intellectually disabled gravedigger Gnaghi (François Hadji-Lazaro) that is his only friend. The cemetery has a peculiarity since the dead reanimates on the seventh night after their death and Dellamorte and Gnaghi together hunt them down. When a gorgeous widow (Anna Falchi) attends the funeral of her old husband, Dellamorte falls in an unrequited love with her. One day, he shows the ossuary to her stimulating her sex drive, and they make love on the top of her husband's grave. However he awakes and bites her, and when she raises, Dellamorte shoots her. On the next days, Gnaghi falls in love with the mayor's daughter Valentina Scanarotti (Fabiana Formica) but she is beheaded in a motorcycle accident with her friend Claudio (Alessandro Zamattio). Along the next days, Dellamorte meets two women that looks alike his deceased love, but his romance ends tragically. He decides to leave Buffalora with Gnaghi, but their journey abruptly ends.

"Dellamorte Dellamore" is an unconventional, weird, funny and cult black comedy. The surrealistic plot has a great cinematography, direction and performances. Dellamorte is a detached character and Rupert Everett is excellent. Anna Falchi is very sexy and has an amazing body. Unfortunately the dubbing is terrible. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Pelo Amor e Pela Morte" ("For the Love and for the Death")

From the land that spawned probably the most zombie films to this date, ranging in quality from excellent to exremely dull, comes one film that rises above nearly all the rest. DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE (aka CEMETERY MAN) is that film, and if you haven't seen it yet, you are seriously missing out. The story is about lonely cemetery attendant Francesco (Rupert Everett (!?) in one of his very early roles)and his mute, Igor-like assistant Gnaghi. Every seven days, the dead rise from their graves (for no real apparent reason...) and it is Francesco and Gnaghi's job to dispatch them. The 2 live a pretty solitary existence until a mysterious woman comes along and into Francesco's life. Cut to the chase- Francesco and the woman have sex on her newly buried husband's grave, and when he returns from the dead, everything goes haywire from there...

DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE is several films rolled into one...zombie gore film, dark comedy, romance story - similar in some ways to perhaps DEADALIVE (not nearly as silly or gory), but this is a hard film to make a comparison on. It really is it's own unique experience and should definitely be viewed by anyone into horror/zombie films. Again, one of my all-time zombie favorites...Highly Recommended 9/10

The great thing about this movie is that it's not scared to walk a dangerous line between two rarely compatible genres - tongue in cheek horror comedy and European art flick. On its simplest level, it's a schlock zombie flick - pandering to the gore fans. But on another level, it has enough thought-provoking material and poetic direction to please the turtle-neck brigade at your local arts and drama society.

Director Michael Soavi risked alienating both camps with this approach. After all - do fans of George A. Romero *really* want to see zombies that don't seem all that dangerous? Or hear philosophical dialogue about the blurry line between what is alive and what is dead? And conversely - do the coffee-house beatniks really want their poetic escapism dampened by bullets through nuns eyeballs and flying, biting severed heads in bridal veils??? If you had asked me a year ago I would have said that the mix sounded ridiculous.

Now though - I stand corrected.

On the side appealing to my sense of aesthetics and intellect - Michael Soavi's direction was wonderful. The screen is alive with wide angles, slo-mo flowing silks and drips of water. Reminiscent of Ridley Scott in his better days in fact. But wait? What's this cutting through the arty farty pretension? A Sam Raimi style track and pan here? A Jean Paul Jeunet style superimposition there? The whole film is an exercise in visual flair. I can only wish that hollywood had more directors of this calibre. On top of this - the screenplay was superbly written. It delivered shock, comedy or deep sentiment with perfect timing. The climax was stunning and left me very quiet throughout the closing credits.

On the side appealing to my sense of "Hey lads, let's crack open a few beers and watch some chicks get naked and eaten by zombies!" I was equally satisfied. The gore and heaving breast content is most adequate. The zombies were brilliantly designed and had distinct personalities. Even in its deeper moments the film always seems to have it's tongue firmly in its cheek and a mischevious gleam in its eye.

At various times I was reminded of Evil Dead 2, The Hudsucker Proxy, Bad Taste, City of the lost children, and Zombie flesheaters to name but a few. An unusual mix indeed - but one that somehow works. All said and done, I heartily recommend this movie to anyone willing to try out - just for once - a zombie flick with a brain (pun intended).

If you don't mind horrific, grotesque comedy that mixes the gore of George Romero and Dario Argento with the quixotic irreverence of Monty Python and Delicatessen, Cemetery Man provides the opportunity for a funny, strange time at the movies. Moreover this is a highly atmospheric film and Soavi's love for the horror genre shows in the composition of almost every scene. Soavi uses the time not spent on raucous action to cultivate a sense of atmosphere and craft surreal beauty in the limited setting of the graveyard and that in my opinion is as good as any to see this film.

Rupert Everett plays a cemetery caretaker named Francesco Dellamorte.He and his mute sidekick Gnaghi spend most of their evenings shooting zombies in the head,or splitting their skulls in half with the shovel,having to dispatch them again when they tend to rise from the grave after seven days.Rupert falls for a mysterious beautiful young widow(the breathtaking beauty Anna Falchi).After the two of them have sex on her husband's grave,her husband wakes up and takes a bite out of her,sending her to the grave."Cemetery Man" is one of the best Italian horror movies ever made.It's so wonderfully stylish that it truly blew me away.There is plenty of gore to satisfy fans of Italian horror.Highly recommended.Michele Soavi is a genius!