Dario Argento is of course one of the greatest masters of horror ever to grace the screen with his ideas and in the 70s, 80s and 90s there was a slew of Italian filmmakers all making unique and unparalleled horror films the likes of which could never be made in the states. One such director was Michele Saovi. Argento was Saovi's hero and one day his dream came true as he became assistant director on such films as Phenomena with Argento. Through this relationship he garnered the attention of many famous Italian producers and eventually directed his first feature film Stage Fright. One such project he wanted to make however was comic book writer Tiziano Sclavi's Dylan Dog, which is the story of an ex Scotland Yard detective who solves mysteries of the paranormal. However were it not for the Sclavi's first unpublished work, Dellamorte Dellamore, Dylan Dog would not exist. After years of being rejected Dellamorte Dellamore, the story of a cemetery caretaker who kills the undead rising in his cemetery, was finally published and Soavi finally got to make a film based on Sclavi's work! I love Italian horror cinema, it's deeply mired in color, and aesthetic storytelling, not to mention its heavy reliance on practical FX, but I'm not going to lie for those not indoctrinated into this type of film it's really strange. It's a basic premise but with a much deeper and strange allegorical subtext. You better be ready for Dellamorte Dellamore otherwise known in the states as Cemetery Man!

dellamorte-dellamore-6Francesco Dellamorte is the caretaker of a cemetery in Buffalora, Italy who has a daily routine of burying the dead with his simpleminded and grotesque companion Gnaghi, however they've grown accustomed to the dead rising again several days later and having to destroy the brain of the "resurrectors" in order to keep the deceased dead. Complications arise however as a beautiful widow enters the cemetery and Francesco madly falls in love with her. The only problem is the two make love on top of her late husband's grave as he rises up and bites her, forcing Francesco to kill them both. The loss of the only living thing he's every cared about spirals Francesco out of control as he questions the difference between the living and the dead as well as having to deal with constant resurrector related incidents overflowing the cemetery.

This movie starts out simple enough. Guy kills zombies for a living, guy meets girl, girl gets killed by zombie ex, guy goes crazy and then it gets really weird. It even gets to the point where Death appears before him and says stop killing the dead, which poses the question should I then kill the living? It's a really interesting thought of Death is the reaper of living while Francesco is the reaper of dead. Both do their job out of necessity and in some ways love. Whose more deserving of living? Hell even Gnaghi finds love with a talking head he feeds. Does the head deserve to be taken away from that happiness? Does Gnaghi? It's some stuff that if you look past the absurdity of the situations it just gives you questions of why we are here. By the end it questions the characters of their roles in life even.

Ceme7The zombies are crazy looking in this flick. Since the zombies stay down underground bare minimum seven days, they decay nicely and for some who stay underground even longer start getting foliage growing in and out and all around them. A good chunk of these things have roots coming out of their heads, which according to the filmmakers is partially what helps give them life are the plants growing in them. My favorite zombie though has to be the biker. There's a scene in the film where a bus full of Boy Scouts Rams into a biker gang and there is a huge funeral for all of them but the lead biker is buried with his motorcycle which seems to have been infused to him. This guy straight up launches from his grave, not only riding a motorcycle but infused with it so much he has headlights for one of his eyes. Like a greaser from hell he rides through the cemetery with the lady love who cried by his graveside wit h Francesco and Gnagi chasing after him before he gets hungry!

vlcsnap-2009-07-09-21h31m29s96Rupert Everett is fun as hell in this movie to watch as Francesco. If you don't know him, he's probably most commonly known as Prince Charming in the Shrek movies. The comic book character's entire look was also based on him so for the film adaptation it was Everett or bust. This guy is funny as hell gunning down zombies while on the phone with a desk clerk asking him about his wife and kids. It gets even more insane as the movie goes on and he's having to cover up certain things and takes desperate measures to find love again. I can't even begin to describe how awkward some of the scenes are and how great he plays them up. Francois Hadji-Lazaro plays Gnaghi and as disgusting as he is constantly drooling and eating like a slob you can't help but love him. Francesco treats him like a little kid and he falls into it perfectly. At one point Gnaghi is smitten by the beautiful daughter of the mayor and is so embarrassed he throws up on her, running off home as Francesco drives next to him trying to get him in the car but Gnaghi just cries completely embarrassed, punishing himself by walking. It's a great juxtaposition between the two as Francesco overthinks everything trying to piece together what life is in general and what his duty means while Gnaghi is content to work, eat and fall in love. Gnaghi finally gets his wish when the mayor's daughter dies and becomes a severed talking head he keeps as they live a content little life loving one another. While Gnaghi only says Gnah the whole film this severed head that loves him understands him better than Francesco ever has. They make a great duo playing off each other the whole film culminating into a bitter and strange end as Francesco goes a little psychotic.

Cemetery Man 7I'll leave you with this, in a time period where every other horror flick made is a zombie flick and half of them bring nothing to the table do yourself a favor and take a minute to watch one of the most visually pleasing both aesthetically and beautiful lighting work zombie films ever made. It's got laughs, gratuitous sex, horror imagery and makes you think. It's probably one of the most fun zombie flicks I've seen since Dead Alive minus the gore, but it makes up in some really badass practical FX. Have you ever seen blue floating flames hover around two people having sex in a graveyard without CGI!? I didn't think so.

25 Days till Halloween! Halloween!
25 Days till Halloween! Silver Shamrock!