Cemetery Man
Achingly romantic and creepy-funny, this funereal fantasy from
the director of La Chiesa (1989) is unlike any Italian film in
memory. Rupert Everett plays Francesco Dellamorte, a lonely
cemetery caretaker who just wants to get out of his small town of
Buffalora. His assistant and sole companion, Gnaghi (played by
famed French musician Francois Hadji-Lazaro) is an overweight
cretin who speaks only in grunts, and the dead people outside
are rising from their graves as zombies and trying to have him for
breakfast. This situation, coupled with all his other problems,
gives Francesco a real complex. His troubles are compounded
when he meets a series of mysterious women (all played by the
beautiful Anna Falchi) whom he loves before they die tragically.
Soavi's film is based on a graphic-novel, Dylan Dog by Tiziano
Sclavi, but Soavi's more obvious influences range from Jean
Rollin's La Rose de Fer (1973) to Tim Burton's Edward
Scissorhands (1990). Barbara Cupisti (of Soavi's Deliria) has a
small role, and the film also benefits from Manuel de Sica's
memorable score and excellent pacing by editor Franco Fraticelli.
This is a film to savor and it will go down as one of the most
striking Italian genre efforts of the decade, despite some weak
effects work by the normally reliable Sergio Stivaletti. ~ Robert
Firsching, All Movie Guide
Running Time: 99 mins
Director(s):Michele Soavi
Writer(s):Gianni Romoli
Theatrical MPAA Rating: R
Achingly romantic and creepy-funny, this funereal fantasy from
the director of La Chiesa (1989) is unlike any Italian film in
memory. Rupert Everett plays Francesco Dellamorte, a lonely
cemetery caretaker who just wants to get out of his small town of
Buffalora. His assistant and sole companion, Gnaghi (played by
famed French musician Francois Hadji-Lazaro) is an overweight
cretin who speaks only in grunts, and the dead people outside
are rising from their graves as zombies and trying to have him for
breakfast. This situation, coupled with all his other problems,
gives Francesco a real complex. His troubles are compounded
when he meets a series of mysterious women (all played by the
beautiful Anna Falchi) whom he loves before they die tragically.
Soavi's film is based on a graphic-novel, Dylan Dog by Tiziano
Sclavi, but Soavi's more obvious influences range from Jean
Rollin's La Rose de Fer (1973) to Tim Burton's Edward
Scissorhands (1990). Barbara Cupisti (of Soavi's Deliria) has a
small role, and the film also benefits from Manuel de Sica's
memorable score and excellent pacing by editor Franco Fraticelli.
This is a film to savor and it will go down as one of the most
striking Italian genre efforts of the decade, despite some weak
effects work by the normally reliable Sergio Stivaletti. ~ Robert
Firsching, All Movie Guide
Running Time: 99 mins
Director(s):Michele Soavi
Writer(s):Gianni Romoli
Theatrical MPAA Rating: R