Two-time BAFTA and Golden Globe nominee Rupert Everett (ANOTHER COUNTRY, MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING) stars as cemetery watchman Francesco Dellamorte, tasked with dispatching the recently deceased when they rise from their graves. But when he falls in love with a beautiful young widow (Anna Falchi), will his resurrected lust for life become greater than his bond with death? François Hadji-Lazaro (THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN) co-stars in the finest erotic romantic existential black comedy zombie gorefest of our time, featuring a Soavi-approved 4K scan from the Cinecittà negative and over 3 hours of Special Features – including new interviews with Soavi and Everett.
What We Thought:
Not only had I never seen Cemetery Man, I had never even heard of it. After seeing the film it’s hard to describe. Is it a horror flick with zombies? Is it a rom-com with zombies? Is it a mix of all of that with a head scratching ending?
Rupert Everett plays a cemetery watchman at a cemetery where the dead are coming back to life. With the help of a co-worker (who seems to have some sort of special needs) he goes about shooting the zombies in the head or hitting them with a shovel. But then a beautiful young widow comes visiting the grave of her recently deceased older husband and Everett falls for her. They get together, but soon she dies. The co-worker falls for the daughter of the mayor and she dies and it’s all over the map. There are women who look similar to the dead widow. Others find out their loved ones come back to life and one young girl wants her boyfriend back. Then the ending will leave you asking “What?” as you sit there trying to figure out the point of all of it.
As for the horror elements it has some fantastic kills and effects. This film is from the 1990s so it doesn’t rely on CGI. There are bullets being shot through heads, shovels going through heads, blood splatter and more. I dug the horror stuff. They don’t fully explain why there are zombies so the zombies themselves don’t have to look or move a certain way which helps the movie just be what it is.
As for the romance angle, the actress that plays the widow is just gorgeous. I understand why a man would instantly fall for her. Seriously, she is one of the most stunning characters I’ve seen in a long time. The oddball co-worker gets a love interest, but it’s played for laughs more than anything else because of how weird his character is.
If you are a fan of Cemetery Man or Dellamorte Dellamore as it’s also called, you’ll eat up this 4K release. The film looks great after being scanned. It’s also jam packed with bonus features like commentary, interviews and trailers. I’m sure it has a cult following because it has zombies in it and Rupert Everett went on to have a very good career. I had fun with it even though the ending makes no sense whatsoever. It’s sexy and gets laughs and has great gore. It’s a nice surprise gem if you don’t know of its existence.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary By Director Michele Soavi And Screenwriter Gianni Romoli
- At The Graves – Interview With Michele Soavi
- Of Love And Death – Interview With Actor Rupert Everett
- She – Interview With Actress Anna Falchi
- Archival Making-Of
- Italian Trailer (only available on the UHD release)
- English Trailer (only available on the UHD release)
The Nerds Templar 