Dellamorte Dellamore

aka Cemetery Man
Italy, 1996

Director: Michele Soavi
Starring: Rupert Everett, Anna Falchi
IMDB: 7.4

With a title like Dellamorte Dellamore, I was expecting a dark, gothic, classic italian horror movie - however the American title of "Cemetery Man" actually gives a better feel for the kind of movie this is. It's a horror comedy along the lines of the Evil Dead series ... which occupies the territory somewhere between the first and second films of that series.

The US theatrical poster exclaims "Zombies, guns and sex. Oh my!" ... and that's a pretty accurate byline.

It's an interesting mixed bag of styles actually. Featuring fantastic gothic sets and locations, combined with stunning cinematography - the movie at times looks like it could've been a top shelf serious horror movie. However the zombies and kills would be more at home in a low-budget splatter flick.



Lead actor Rupert Everett plays Francesco Dellamorte, superintendent of the local graveyard. This is no normal graveyard however, as the dead have a habit of rising from their graves. His job, therefore, also entails ensuring they return to their graves once and for all by means of splitting their head open with any suitably blunt object, but preferably with dum-dum bullets.

Despite the rampant over-the-top scenarios, Everett plays it extremely low-key, with all the jokes delivered dead-pan (quite a fitting style really). He is assisted by his trusty sidekick, the simpleton Gnaghi, who helps keep the zombies at bay each night.



One day however, a beautiful widow (played by Finnish Italian model Anna Falchi) shows up at the graveyard, and this is when the down-and-dirty fun really starts.

Wearing a tight black dress that hugs her curvaceous figure to full effect, its no wonder that Francesco is instantly transfixed. With her full pouty lips, blue eyes and a body made for sin - it's not long before he's shagging her on her deceased husband's grave!



Unfortunately her husband picks that moment to claw his way out of his coffin, and she is zombified before his eyes. This forces him to make sure she subsequently stays dead, despite being madly in love with her.

What follows is a comedy of errors that is well written and hilarious. Approached in the right frame of mind, this movie guarantees a great time with plenty of sex and zombies mixed with clever, witty dialogue. Highly recommended for fans of comedy horror.

Rating: 7.5/10

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