Zombie horror meets art house. That's a fitting way to describe this truly bizarre rumination on the nature of love and death. The film plays by its own rules, and it is quite clear that this film does not take place in the same world that we live in. Black comedy married with gore, with a dash of the surreal, sprinkled with the profound. I'm sure there is much more to this film on the surface, but I haven't peeled away all the layers yet as what is on the surface is so much fun.
Cemetery Man was originally known as Dellamorte Dellamore when it was released way back in 1993 in its native Italy. It first came to the US on VHS in 1996, and has sat around while the DVD era passed it by, until now. Finally, Anchor Bay has released the zombie classic on DVD. It has been a long time coming, and this fan is certainly glad for it.
Francesco Dellamorte is the caretaker of the local cemetery. He takes his job seriously, although it seems to have sapped the life from him. His days are filled with burying the dead and dealing with the grieving visitors. His nights are filled with killing the returning dead and putting them back in the ground. For his troubles, he is assisted by Gnaghi, his slow-witted helper.
The film tracks Dellamorte's descent into madness. He becomes increasingly disconnected from his own life, identifying more and more with the dead and dying. He finds happiness in the arms of a beautiful widow, only to have that end tragically, in no small part to his own involvement. He continues to deal with his feelings for her as a zombie and later on, when she appears as the mayor's assistant and finally a prostitute. Gnaghi has his own experience with love, with the mayor's daughter, who does not return his feelings until she, herself, has died.
His obsession with death drives him into his own mind where he contemplates the nature of the dead and of the living. He never attempts to make any type of real sense of why they come back to life—he just accepts that they do, and does his job of putting them back in the ground. This dealing with death, and subsequent failure in love pushes his sanity to the brink, and he goes on a murderous rampage.
Cemetery Man has this magical blend of black comedy, gore, sexuality, and surreal mood that comes together perfectly. There are layers to be peeled back that I have yet to explore, yet the layers are not necessary to enjoy this. It has an absurdist nature that just flows along and sucks you, while you're wondering where it is going to go. When it gets to the end, you will be left scratching your head, wondering what you just saw. The realization comes that no one can escape their destiny, no can escape death. Plus there is an interesting foreshadowing of the end very early in the film that I just noticed. Will you see it?
Article comments
1 - rykarreolacr
Awesome review!!!
Just to add some details: the script was written by Tiziano Sclavi, the creator of one of the most famous Italian comics ever: Dylan Dog.
In fact, many consider this movie an adaptation of Dylan Dog.
How do I know this? I'm Italian. XD
2 - shuler
Well, rykarreolacr, if you are Italian, can you tell me, what song was playing on Francesco's radio in the middle on the film?
Why do I ask it? I'm Russian )))
3 - Olga
Shuler, it's the song called "Hadi Bakalim" by Sezen Aksu, a popular Turkish singer and songwriter.
p.s. - i'm Russian too :-)