Cemetery Man 4K Review (Severin)

Cemetery Man (aKa Dellamorte Dellamore, Of Death and Love, and Demons ’95) is a 1994 comedy horror film directed by Michele Soavi (StageFright, The Church, and The Sect). It’s based based on the novel Dellamorte Dellamore and popular comic book series Dylan Dog by Tiziano Sclavi. In 2011, Dylan Dog: Dead of Night film was made based off the same source material. A television show has been in development for years also. The estimated budget was $4,000,000. It only grossed $253,986 in both the United States and Canada. Francesco Dellamorte (played by: Rupert Everett from My Best Friend’s Wedding, Napoleon, Dunston Checks In, B Monkey, Inspector Gadget, the Shrek franchise, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream) is the cemetery caretaker in the small Italian town of Buffalora. He lives in a small house on the premises, always surrounded by death, with only his mentally disabled assistant Gnaghi (played by: François Hadji-Lazaro from Dante 01, Chubby, Brotherhood of the Wolf, and The City of Lost Children ) for company. Young kids in town spread gossip that Dellamorte is impotent trying to ruin the loner’s reputation. His only hobbies are reading outdated telephone directories, in which he enjoys crossing out the names of the deceased, and he is trying to assemble a puzzle shaped like a human skull. Dellamorte has his time full with a grim responsibility. Some of the people rise from their graves within seven nights following their deaths, as aggressive zombies. Dellamorte destroys these monsters, which he calls “Returners”, before they overrun the entire town. Buffalora’s mayor (played by: Stefano Masciarelli from UGO and Donna Detective) is so fixated on his reelection campaign that he doesn’t register Dellamorte’s pleas for an investigation. He is so worried about his own job that he ignores his teen daughter Valentina (played by: Fabiana Formica from Hi-Death, Nero Wolfe, and St. Bridget of Sweden). Dellamorte opens up to his only friend, Franco (played by: Anton Alexander from Taboo, Devils, The Vatican, The Power of Three, and King David ), who is a municipal clerk but he doesn’t file the paperwork to get assistance. At a funeral, Dellamorte falls in love with the unnamed young widow (played by: Anna Falchi from Piper franchise, The Tracker, Corri, and Paparazzi ) of a rich, elderly man. She is won over when Dellamorte tells her about the ossuary, which she adores. While consummating their relationship by her husband’s grave, the undead husband arises and bites her. She seems to die from the bite, but the coroner claims it was a heart attack. Dellamorte knows what’s going to happen next and he waits to kill the returner version of her. Dellamorte encounters two more unnamed women (also played by: Anna Falchi from L’affaire, Pirates: Blood Brothers, Box Office 3D, and Sorry you can’t get Through). The first is an assistant to the new mayor. She confesses to Dellamorte that she is terrified of sexual penetration, so Dellamorte demands to have his penis removed by the local doctor. Refusing to do so, the doctor instead gives him an injection to induce temporary impotence. Meanwhile, the woman has been raped by and fallen in love with her employer. She lost her phobia because of it, she plans to marry her rapist and discards the cemetery man after he’s already fell in love with her. His grip on reality slipping, Dellamorte heads into town at night and he ends up killing all kinds of people after snapping. He meets a third manifestation of the woman he loves but after a great night he learns she is a prostitute and she only wants his money. Dellamorte continues to lose his sanity and everything falls apart for him. He learns that his best friend Franco is taking credit for all his madness. The Cemetery Man goes to confront him in the hospital. It just gets more chaotic from there. Detective Straniero (played by: Mickey Knox from The Godfather Part III, I Walk Alone, Lansky, Vendetta films, Frankenstein Unbound, and The X-Files) has been on the case since all the murders started. Will Dellamorte confess his crimes or get caught? or Will he keep on with his killing spree from his delusions of insanity???? Cemetery Man was inspired from the novel Dellamorte Dellamore and popular Italian comic book series Dylan Dog. This was director Michele Soavi’s most ambitious and biggest budget feature during his horror run. The cinemtopgraphy from DP Mauro Marchetti (Last Tango in Paris, Apocalypse Now, Popeye, 1900, Forever Mary, The Invisible Wall, Killer Fish, Reds, and The Last Shark) is excellent here. When it comes to visuals, filmmaker Michele Soavi always worked with the best and supervised everything that he shot in great detail. Italian horror special fx master Sergio Stivaletti (The Church, The Sect, Dark Glasses, Demons franchise, Opera, The Wax Mask, and Phenomena) handles all the violence, death, gore, zombies, and everything else crazy about this horror production. The crew that worked on Cemetery Man was top notch and it still all shows today after all these years. This one actually flopped pretty hard when it originally hit the states here but now it’s a cult classic. Before this home video release, it was one of the most requested horror titles to be upgraded to HD. Thanks to Severin, those dreams became reality. This is the most English friendly and popular feature when it comes to Italian horror visionary Michele Soavi. The script is a blast, it’s loaded with so many classic lines and scenes that still make me smirk from this day on. Cemetery Man has a great mix of dark comedy and horror when it comes to the production. The original image of the Dylan Dog character from the comics was actually inspired by actor Rupert Everett so that’s why he was picked as the lead here. I know that he’s done all kinds of huge movies over the years but I will forever always know him for this horror comedy. He gives the best performance of his career in Cemetery Man. He goes from a kind of an antihero who stops his community from being overrun with zombies to a psychopath who has completely lost his mind towards the end. He basically plays two different characters in this one. Speaking of playing multiple roles in the same movie, actress Anna Falchi shows off her variety of talents playing 3 different people in this including a zombie version of one at some point so that’s kinda like additional different character here. When it comes to the history of horror cinema, Anna Falchi might be the hottest leading lady of all time. She provides some of highest quality eye candy ever in this and she’s not shy at all here. It has a solid supporting cast that includes François Hadji-Lazaro, Fabiana Formica, Stefano Masciarelli, Mickey Knox, and Anton Alexander. So many original and wild people represented in Cemetery Man which really makes this 90’s horror stand out from others. It’s easily one of the greatest zombie features ever made when it comes to cinema. This has a little bit of everything for everyone. Gorehounds will be happy with it’s kills, the undead, and it’s glorious splatter throughout the movie. Everyone needs to check this out if they never seen it before and it should be included in every horror collection. Cemetery is highly entertaining, so much fun, and the replay value is very strong. HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation from Severin Films! This 2160p (1.66:1) transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 looks amazing in HD. The last time that I seen Cemetery Man was on the DVD from Anchor Bay from back in the day. This brand NEW 4K/UHD home video release from Severin blows away that older version plus everything else is that’s been available before this one. Director Michele Soavi always delivers on the nightmarish visuals when it comes to his earlier work in the horror sub-genre. Like I said above, he made sure to put together the best film crew when it came to his productions. The design work for this Italian horror flick really pops on the screen here. It has a few different audio options which includes English: Dolby Atmos English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, and Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0 on this UHD. I prefer the English dub because that’s the version that grew up on. All of the dialogue is crystal clear, the zombie madness is elevated, and the music had a killer boost to it. The soundtrack is included on a CD with this set. It also includes English and English SDH subtitles. Severin provides a very impressive technical home video release when it comes to the United States debut in 4K for Cemetery Man!!!! Let’s talk about the special features from Severin Films! It has an “Audio Commentary” with director Michele Soavi and screenwriter Gianni Romoli. This kind of a scene by scene audio track. They chat about what’s in front of them for the most part. They go over some of the production issues. They cover the story, fx, the budget, the locations, the cast, and various other subjects while revisiting their film. This and the 2 “Trailers” are the only special features on the UHD. The rest of it is located on 2 blu rays. “At The Graves” is an almost 36 minute interview with director Michele Soavi. He chats about the Italian comic books Dylan Dog that inspired this horror feature. He talks about the cast including the lead Rupert. The locations which included 2 different cemeteries. He kinda separated himself from all his usual collaborators on this one. “Of Love And Death” is an almost 21 minute interview with actor Rupert Everett. He brings up the comic book and the main character’s looks was actually based on him so that’s how he got the part. He goes over his experience on the production. “She” is a little over 21 minute interview with actress Anna Falchi. First off, I just want to say that she still looks amazing after all these years. She talks about how she got involved with it. She brings up playing 3 different roles in the movie. She mentions her experience with the fx and on the production in general here. “Archival Making-Of” is an almost 19 minute older behind the scenes look at making this feature. It has a variety of interviews with the cast and crew including a rare one with actor François Hadji-Lazaro. “A Matter Of Life And Death” is an almost 58 minute interview with screenwriter Gianni Romoli. This is damn near a feature length chat with the writer. He covers about everything that you would want from him when it comes to Cemetery Man including his career. “Graveyard Shift” is a little over 29 minute interview with cinematographer Mauro Marchetti. He chats about his influences. He goes over his visual style and equipment used. “Head Over Heels” is an almost 24 minute interview with actress Fabiana Formica. She discusses how she got into acting while in school. She chats about her audition for this. She brings up her character, the cast, and working with the director here. “The Living Dead Mayor” is a little over 11 minute interview with actor Stefano Masciarelli. He chats about how he got the role. He brings up his experience working with the cast. He says that he lost his hearing for a little bit after the shoot. “The Music From The Underground” is an almost 21 minute interview with composer Riccardo Biseo. He brings up his origins when it comes to getting into music. He discusses his work on the movie. “Resurrection” is a little over 19 minute interview with special FX artist Sergio Stivaletti. He chats about how popular the Dylan Dog comics were at the time. He brings up the screenplay. He talks about the fx and how Soavi wanted the zombies to look different from the others on this production. “Cemetery Gates” is a little over 26 minute interview with set designer Antonello Geleng. He talks about working relationship with Soavi and all the other projects that they worked on together before this. He goes over his experience on Cemetery Man. “Grave Encounters” is a little over 9 minute interview with author Alan Jones. He brings up the comic book. He chats about Soavi and Argento’s relationship at the time. He gives his own thoughts on the movie here also. It has 2 different “Trailers”. Just a warning, most of the extras on here are in Italian with English subtitles. Severin Films does it again, this set is loaded with all kinds of bonus material. This is the definitive Cemetery Man home video release, nothing else compares to it when it comes to this Italian horror feature. It comes with a high quality slipbox, two blu rays, a CD of the soundtrack, and a 54 page booklet. This was one of best home video releases of last year. This is a must own in every horror fan’s collections, pick this one up. It’s available exclusively at the Severin site/webstore right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!