Review of Cemetery Man (1994) by Sebastian W — 07 Nov 2008

Dellamorte Dellamore concludes my list of horror flicks for the month of October, and I must say this is an impressive send-off.

The film, much like Shaun of the Dead, is a blending of horror, action and comedy genres (with a little drama thrown in). Rupert Everett's character, Francesco Dellamorte, is reminiscent of Simon Pegg's Shaun in a way (as well as Gnaghi's likeness to Ed), although Francesco may not ultimately be as clueless as Shaun. But I will say that Pegg's biggest influence for making Shaun of the Dead seems to be right here.

A couple sex scenes in Dellamorte Dellamore are almost pornographic, very off-putting but weirdly funny. Anna Falchi has several roles in the film, each more perplexing than the last as Francesco's love interests.

I'm not sure if it was the result of limited budget, but there are some glaring miscues with special effects. When She and Francesco are in the cemetery, these animated blue flames begin dancing around them. The strings on them can clearly be seen, but I questioned whether or not it was intentional. Dellamorte Dellamore's humor and commentary works on many levels.

The conclusion of the film is incredibly original (it's been called 'existential,' and I'd say that's right), but it's also marred by the strangeness of its weak visual makeup. However, in another sense the visuals are actually quite impressive but the screen juxtaposition illuminates the flaws of computer-generated landscape.