As I recently opined, it isn’t easy to define what inevitably makes a production into a Cult Film.
Of course, there are some obvious traits. Typically, the flick doesn’t perform as hoped with its original box office run (though this may not always be the case). I’ve heard it long argued that the story should rely on the elements of genre entertainment, perhaps even venturing deeply into the territory of exploitation at some point. While Horror, Fantasy, and Science Fiction efforts do make up the biggest (and grossest!) contingent of cult efforts, I’ve seen a few dramas and romances that dabble in like-minded sensibilities. They may not be cult, but they come reasonably close. Stilll, the single greatest descriptor is that over time the story defies the odds and builds a loyal and passionate fan base which exists largely to recruit others to watch what they insist is a rare one-of-a-kind event too good to be missed if not too crazy to be believed.
See what I mean? The business of classifying films ain’t always easy.
In fact, I’ve often suggested to readers that over the past few decades there are a handful of projects that have been embraced by the cult community even though the stories kinda/sorta defy the usual conventions. Weird for the sakes of weirdness appeals to folks hungry for something different, but I’ve still insisted (for my own sake) that such insanity must be pervasive in order for the feature to truly be cult. Merely injected a few cult(ish) ideas into something that could otherwise be conventional isn’t enough; and the film’s ingenuity with its subject matter should never be outshone by any other factor lest the storyteller risk the chance at true longevity with folks willing to go where no one has gone before.
All of this brings me to the discussion of Cemetery Man (1994), a kinda/sorta Comedy and a kinda/sorta Horror that never quite finds what it’s ever truly about (in my humble opinion) but damn sure tries harder than many that have ever tried. Directed by Michele Soavi, Cemetery Man is a vision contemplating life itself by way of exploring death as its dynamic duo – Francesco Dellamorte and his sidekick Gnaghi – struggle against some unexplained dark forces trying to bring the dead back to life after they’ve been put in the ground of a sacred Italian cemetery. Along their merry way, they make friends and enemies, they experience love and heartache, and it all reaches a climax that might have some audience members scratching their noggins whilst others give an affectionate nod indicating some measure of universal understanding.
Whatever the case, I’d still argue that there’s been nothing else quite like it delivered to screens … ever.
And that, my friends, is why Cemetery Man might just be the textbook definition of a cult film.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“A cemetery man must kill the dead a second time when they become zombies.”
Of course, there are some obvious traits. Typically, the flick doesn’t perform as hoped with its original box office run (though this may not always be the case). I’ve heard it long argued that the story should rely on the elements of genre entertainment, perhaps even venturing deeply into the territory of exploitation at some point. While Horror, Fantasy, and Science Fiction efforts do make up the biggest (and grossest!) contingent of cult efforts, I’ve seen a few dramas and romances that dabble in like-minded sensibilities. They may not be cult, but they come reasonably close. Stilll, the single greatest descriptor is that over time the story defies the odds and builds a loyal and passionate fan base which exists largely to recruit others to watch what they insist is a rare one-of-a-kind event too good to be missed if not too crazy to be believed.
See what I mean? The business of classifying films ain’t always easy.
In fact, I’ve often suggested to readers that over the past few decades there are a handful of projects that have been embraced by the cult community even though the stories kinda/sorta defy the usual conventions. Weird for the sakes of weirdness appeals to folks hungry for something different, but I’ve still insisted (for my own sake) that such insanity must be pervasive in order for the feature to truly be cult. Merely injected a few cult(ish) ideas into something that could otherwise be conventional isn’t enough; and the film’s ingenuity with its subject matter should never be outshone by any other factor lest the storyteller risk the chance at true longevity with folks willing to go where no one has gone before.
All of this brings me to the discussion of Cemetery Man (1994), a kinda/sorta Comedy and a kinda/sorta Horror that never quite finds what it’s ever truly about (in my humble opinion) but damn sure tries harder than many that have ever tried. Directed by Michele Soavi, Cemetery Man is a vision contemplating life itself by way of exploring death as its dynamic duo – Francesco Dellamorte and his sidekick Gnaghi – struggle against some unexplained dark forces trying to bring the dead back to life after they’ve been put in the ground of a sacred Italian cemetery. Along their merry way, they make friends and enemies, they experience love and heartache, and it all reaches a climax that might have some audience members scratching their noggins whilst others give an affectionate nod indicating some measure of universal understanding.
Whatever the case, I’d still argue that there’s been nothing else quite like it delivered to screens … ever.
And that, my friends, is why Cemetery Man might just be the textbook definition of a cult film.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“A cemetery man must kill the dead a second time when they become zombies.”
The dirty little secret here is that Cemetery Man both has a plot, and it doesn’t.
Based on a novel and a comic strip of the Dylan Dog character, Man chiefly explores the nocturnal adventures of Francesco Dellamorte (as played by Rupert Everett), a somewhat simple man employed by the village of Buffalora to both bury the dead and – ahem – make sure they stay that way. Apparently, the deceased have begun rising from their graves; and these Returners are coming back with an appetite for – you guessed it – human flesh. Because it’s a largely rural existence, Dellamorte admits (in voiceover) that they’ve no way to know if this same phenomenon is taking place around the world; and he’s perfectly with such blissful ignorance. All that fundamentally matters to him is doing his job, and that’s precisely why Gianni Romoli’s script ‘gums up the works’ by having this solitary and somewhat hard-boiled man fall desperately in love with a beautiful widow – ‘She’ (the suitably dreamy Anna Falchi, who plays multiple roles in the picture) – whose aged husband was recently put in the ground.
Though She initially rebukes his advances, the lady eventually succumbs to his charms once Dellamorte introduces her to the cemetery’s mystical ossuary – basically, a collection of bones stored in a curiously picturesque crypt. Once inside, she’s overwhelmed with the kinda/sorta lyrical quality of mortality; and she lowers her defenses long enough to deliver an impromptu kiss, one that ignites the passions buried within both of them. It isn’t long after that they consummate their affair – under the moon and right on the grave her dearly departed is buried beneath – an event that spectrally brings her former husband back with that aforementioned hunger for human meat. He bites her, essentially dooming She to share his Fate, and Dellamorte finds himself alone once again. (Honestly, there’s a bit more to this, but I do try not to spoil the particulars. Suffice it to say, She both does and doesn’t go far away … that’ll mean more once you watch.)
So Cemetery Man’s most consistent plotline remains Dellamorte’s shared efforts to both dispatch these Returners while also trying to find love again in the arms of She who keeps showing up again and again – living and dead – in the guise of other women. Because our protagonist is obviously bound to his mortal responsibilities and will forever be denied true love, these subsequent affairs are also destined to fail: no matter what he does to try and please women, he continually finds himself always on the ‘butt end’ of a bad joke, whether he’s tried to become impotent to please one lover or realizing he’s been seduced by a lady of the night in another. His is a life of duty – not so much honor – and there can be little room for affairs of the heart in such dark corners of life.
But as I mentioned above, Dellamorte isn’t entirely alone: he eeks out his existence alongside his cemetery co-worker Gnaghi (François Hadji-Lazaro), a dim-witted kinda/sorta mute who exists to largely to shovel dirt and eat if screen time is any indication. Like Dellamorte, Gnaghi’s emotional attachments never end well – he has a brief flirtation with the Mayor’s daughter but the fetching Valentina (Fabiana Formica) winds up being little more than a reanimated head living in the hollowed-out shell of a broken television set. Because the universal powers that be have decreed that only Dellamorte and Gnaghi can be together (platonically, of course), their respective romances wind up being little more than comical filler as opposed to any greater statement on human existence.
Where Cemetery Man fails for me is that it never really finds a single story to tell. It's all fragment strung together loosely around a few central ideas, and this will likely always turn off a certain percentage of any audience.
Based on a novel and a comic strip of the Dylan Dog character, Man chiefly explores the nocturnal adventures of Francesco Dellamorte (as played by Rupert Everett), a somewhat simple man employed by the village of Buffalora to both bury the dead and – ahem – make sure they stay that way. Apparently, the deceased have begun rising from their graves; and these Returners are coming back with an appetite for – you guessed it – human flesh. Because it’s a largely rural existence, Dellamorte admits (in voiceover) that they’ve no way to know if this same phenomenon is taking place around the world; and he’s perfectly with such blissful ignorance. All that fundamentally matters to him is doing his job, and that’s precisely why Gianni Romoli’s script ‘gums up the works’ by having this solitary and somewhat hard-boiled man fall desperately in love with a beautiful widow – ‘She’ (the suitably dreamy Anna Falchi, who plays multiple roles in the picture) – whose aged husband was recently put in the ground.
Though She initially rebukes his advances, the lady eventually succumbs to his charms once Dellamorte introduces her to the cemetery’s mystical ossuary – basically, a collection of bones stored in a curiously picturesque crypt. Once inside, she’s overwhelmed with the kinda/sorta lyrical quality of mortality; and she lowers her defenses long enough to deliver an impromptu kiss, one that ignites the passions buried within both of them. It isn’t long after that they consummate their affair – under the moon and right on the grave her dearly departed is buried beneath – an event that spectrally brings her former husband back with that aforementioned hunger for human meat. He bites her, essentially dooming She to share his Fate, and Dellamorte finds himself alone once again. (Honestly, there’s a bit more to this, but I do try not to spoil the particulars. Suffice it to say, She both does and doesn’t go far away … that’ll mean more once you watch.)
So Cemetery Man’s most consistent plotline remains Dellamorte’s shared efforts to both dispatch these Returners while also trying to find love again in the arms of She who keeps showing up again and again – living and dead – in the guise of other women. Because our protagonist is obviously bound to his mortal responsibilities and will forever be denied true love, these subsequent affairs are also destined to fail: no matter what he does to try and please women, he continually finds himself always on the ‘butt end’ of a bad joke, whether he’s tried to become impotent to please one lover or realizing he’s been seduced by a lady of the night in another. His is a life of duty – not so much honor – and there can be little room for affairs of the heart in such dark corners of life.
But as I mentioned above, Dellamorte isn’t entirely alone: he eeks out his existence alongside his cemetery co-worker Gnaghi (François Hadji-Lazaro), a dim-witted kinda/sorta mute who exists to largely to shovel dirt and eat if screen time is any indication. Like Dellamorte, Gnaghi’s emotional attachments never end well – he has a brief flirtation with the Mayor’s daughter but the fetching Valentina (Fabiana Formica) winds up being little more than a reanimated head living in the hollowed-out shell of a broken television set. Because the universal powers that be have decreed that only Dellamorte and Gnaghi can be together (platonically, of course), their respective romances wind up being little more than comical filler as opposed to any greater statement on human existence.
Where Cemetery Man fails for me is that it never really finds a single story to tell. It's all fragment strung together loosely around a few central ideas, and this will likely always turn off a certain percentage of any audience.
As I mentioned, there’s a plague of the dead rising from their graves, and yet it’s given absolutely zero explanation. Rather, it simply is a phenomenon – one that definitely requires a certain upkeep – and who better to be tasked with keeping an eye out for zombies than our two heroes hired to maintain the grounds? That basic concept is used entirely to get this clever little potboiler boiling, and it’s almost as if everyone involved creatively accepts it as the status quo, never seeking out answers of any kind for the dreaded miracle. Instead, Man explores the rather routine lives of two men paid to deal with such extraordinary circumstance; and never a scene or a sentence is wasted on trying to explain it. It just is, and it’s just being dealt with as is.
Ultimately, that might be the only message the film tries to shuck through all of this: accept your lot in life and deal with it. Dellamorte and Gnaghi’s highs and lows never become something that one or the other can’t solve (to a degree) either by oneself or on behalf of a trusted friend; so maybe all Cemetery Man sought to deliver to audiences was a philosophy of ‘serve thyself,’ and everything will come out fine in the big finish. I’m still inclined to think otherwise, though, as the last reel serves up a closing scene that – while I again won’t spoil it – suggests that there’s far more afoot in director Soavi’s imagination than he wanted viewers to mull over. Do we all exist in a bubble – one that’s perfectly acceptable – until someone new arrives and upsets the cosmic order of things? Or is the fact that we do exist in that same bubble the source of everything that ails us?
Mind you: I’m not here to answer such a quandary. My task as a reviewer is to give you the plusses and minuses to any individual experience; and – on that front – wowza. Cemetery Man is an incredibly visual experience, one abounding with some fabulous practical effects, scenic but occasionally claustrophobic setting, and interesting performances. Falchi – in one of her earliest works here – is magnetic on screen, a face crying out in every role to be watched. Hadji-Lazaro makes the most of his subordinate status, so much so that it grows increasingly hard to watch Dellamorte and not wonder where his partner is and what he’s up to presently. Everett gives an almost hard-boiled yet comic edge to the young man hired to manage the dead in ways he never conceived plausible, and at all times he hits every note as a worker just doin’ his job come Hell or high water. They make for a great trio – in a handful of ways – and I can’t imagine any other faces assigned to the project.
There’s an awful lot that’s been written about Cemetery Man over years. (Just do a bit of Googling, and you’ll see what I mean.) The passage of time has been pretty kind to it – I’m understanding that it didn’t achieve the results the studio wanted at first blush, and it isn’t hard to see why given that there’s really no main throughline to any of it – and it continues to be discovered as one of the screen’s finer Cult entries ever. I’ll agree that I’ve never quite seen anything like it – a film that survives and thrives despite so many possible detractors – and I’d have to give the biggest kudos to Soavi for delivering something that played by its own rules and eventually seized the day … albeit a decade or two later.
There really isn’t anything quite like it. And that’s saying volumes.
Ultimately, that might be the only message the film tries to shuck through all of this: accept your lot in life and deal with it. Dellamorte and Gnaghi’s highs and lows never become something that one or the other can’t solve (to a degree) either by oneself or on behalf of a trusted friend; so maybe all Cemetery Man sought to deliver to audiences was a philosophy of ‘serve thyself,’ and everything will come out fine in the big finish. I’m still inclined to think otherwise, though, as the last reel serves up a closing scene that – while I again won’t spoil it – suggests that there’s far more afoot in director Soavi’s imagination than he wanted viewers to mull over. Do we all exist in a bubble – one that’s perfectly acceptable – until someone new arrives and upsets the cosmic order of things? Or is the fact that we do exist in that same bubble the source of everything that ails us?
Mind you: I’m not here to answer such a quandary. My task as a reviewer is to give you the plusses and minuses to any individual experience; and – on that front – wowza. Cemetery Man is an incredibly visual experience, one abounding with some fabulous practical effects, scenic but occasionally claustrophobic setting, and interesting performances. Falchi – in one of her earliest works here – is magnetic on screen, a face crying out in every role to be watched. Hadji-Lazaro makes the most of his subordinate status, so much so that it grows increasingly hard to watch Dellamorte and not wonder where his partner is and what he’s up to presently. Everett gives an almost hard-boiled yet comic edge to the young man hired to manage the dead in ways he never conceived plausible, and at all times he hits every note as a worker just doin’ his job come Hell or high water. They make for a great trio – in a handful of ways – and I can’t imagine any other faces assigned to the project.
There’s an awful lot that’s been written about Cemetery Man over years. (Just do a bit of Googling, and you’ll see what I mean.) The passage of time has been pretty kind to it – I’m understanding that it didn’t achieve the results the studio wanted at first blush, and it isn’t hard to see why given that there’s really no main throughline to any of it – and it continues to be discovered as one of the screen’s finer Cult entries ever. I’ll agree that I’ve never quite seen anything like it – a film that survives and thrives despite so many possible detractors – and I’d have to give the biggest kudos to Soavi for delivering something that played by its own rules and eventually seized the day … albeit a decade or two later.
There really isn’t anything quite like it. And that’s saying volumes.
Cemetery Man (1994) was produced by Audifilm, Urania Film, K.G. Productions, Canal+, Silvio Berlusconi Communications, Bibo Productions, and Eurimages. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Severin Films. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I thought that the film’s sights-and-sounds were incredible from start to finish. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? Well, the list is a bit extensive, so in order to be as succinct as possible I’m doing the ol’ copy-and-paste from the press materials as published on Blu-ray.com.
I can attest that the cited interviews were actually quite good, rising above the usual ‘promotional fare’ and instead concentrating on the memories of those involved in the production process at the time. Those alone were very refreshing as compared to what we’re given with contemporary extras. Well done, Severin!
Recommended.
I don’t think there’s anyone who could effectively argue against Cemetery Man (1994) at best being about as pure an example of a ‘cult film’ as there could be. While Michele Soavi may’ve had a clear vision for what he wanted to the experience to be, I’d still suggest that there a bits and pieces here and there which ultimately serve more as distractions from what could’ve been a simple main premise – maintaining the balance between the living and the dead – and wind up pointing this thing in several related directions out of storytelling necessity. Yes, it’s all very, very, very surreal, so much so most folks might not notice that they’ve just been dragged through a theatrical fever dream – which might not make much sense – instead of the usual cinematic fare. A unique experience, indeed, and one that may never quite be replicated.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Severin Films provided me with a complimentary Ultra 4K HD Blu-ray of Cemetery Man (1994) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
- NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
- DOLBY ATMOS AUDIO TRACK, plus English 5.1, English Stereo, Italian Stereo
- Audio Commentary By Director Michele Soavi And Screenwriter Gianni Romoli
- At The Graves – Interview With Michele Soavi
- Of Love And Death – Interview With Actor Rupert Everett
- She – Interview With Actress Anna Falchi
- Archival Making-Of
- A Matter Of Life And Death – Interview With Gianni Romoli
- Graveyard Shift – Interview With Cinematographer Mauro Marchetti
- Head Over Heels – Interview With Actress Fabiana Formica
- The Living Dead Mayor – Interview With Actor Stefano Masciarelli
- The Music From The Underground – Interview With Composer Riccardo Biseo
- Resurrection – Interview With Special FX Artist Sergio Stivaletti
- Cemetery Gates – Interview With Set Designer Antonello Geleng
- Grave Encounters – Interview With Alan Jones, Author Of Profondo Argento
- Italian Trailer
- English Trailer
- Subtitles: English and English SDH
- 4K BLU-RAY: REGION-FREE
- BLU-RAY DISC ONE: REGION-A "LOCKED"
- BLU-RAY DISC TWO: REGION-FREE
I can attest that the cited interviews were actually quite good, rising above the usual ‘promotional fare’ and instead concentrating on the memories of those involved in the production process at the time. Those alone were very refreshing as compared to what we’re given with contemporary extras. Well done, Severin!
Recommended.
I don’t think there’s anyone who could effectively argue against Cemetery Man (1994) at best being about as pure an example of a ‘cult film’ as there could be. While Michele Soavi may’ve had a clear vision for what he wanted to the experience to be, I’d still suggest that there a bits and pieces here and there which ultimately serve more as distractions from what could’ve been a simple main premise – maintaining the balance between the living and the dead – and wind up pointing this thing in several related directions out of storytelling necessity. Yes, it’s all very, very, very surreal, so much so most folks might not notice that they’ve just been dragged through a theatrical fever dream – which might not make much sense – instead of the usual cinematic fare. A unique experience, indeed, and one that may never quite be replicated.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Severin Films provided me with a complimentary Ultra 4K HD Blu-ray of Cemetery Man (1994) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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