{"id":28697,"date":"2024-05-26T23:35:39","date_gmt":"2024-05-27T06:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=28697"},"modified":"2024-05-26T23:35:39","modified_gmt":"2024-05-27T06:35:39","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-4k-ultra-hd-and-blu-ray-review-cemetery-man-1994-aka-dellamorte-dellamore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=28697","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Review: CEMETERY MAN (1994) aka DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray combo pack from Severin\nFilms will be available for purchase on May 28th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This reviewer has a long history with the English-language\nItalian feature Cemetery Man<\/em> aka Dellamorte Dellamore<\/em>. I attended\nits North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival back in\nthe day (it was part of the Midnight Madness program) with director Michele\nSoavi in attendance. The movie was a wild and impressive sight on the big\nscreen, with plenty of unique subtext that was explained to audiences by the\nfilmmaker in the Q&A session following its premiere. It was also\nwell-received and ended up finding a North American distributor in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Occasionally, a festival screening can make a bigger\nimpression on viewers than it might with others, and this admittedly is a very\neccentric zombie picture, mixing humor with more disturbing elements. However,\nas the years have passed, I have continued to write positively about it (even\ncalling it one of the best of its genre in a book I wrote on the subject).\nAfter stepping away for some years and revisiting it in 4K Ultra HD through\nthis new Severin Films release, I can confirm that its unique pull hasn\u2019t\nwavered. The movie holds up extremely well and is one of the best genre\nefforts. The disc is also phenomenal, with a cleaner image than I can recall\never having seen before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is an abridged version of what I wrote about Dellamorte\nDellamore<\/em> in my book from a little over 15 years ago\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also known as Cemetery Man<\/em>, this film was the last\nzombie movie made in Italy (at least, as of the time of this review\u2019s\npublication) and one of its finest. Director Michele Soavi adapted a popular\nnovel by Tiziano Sclavi (the main character is a kind of alter ego or relation\nof Dylan Dog<\/em>, the title hero of Sclavi\u2019s extraordinarily successful\ncomic book series). His zombie epic is a beautifully shot, dreamlike mix of\nshocks, comedy, horror and social commentary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Francesco Dellamorte (the appropriately cast Rupert Everett,\nto whom the look of Dylan Dog of modeled after) and his endearingly simple\nhelper Gnaghi (Fran\u00e7ois Hadji-Lazaro) are caretakers of a small town cemetery\nin which the dead return after seven days and can be stopped only with a bullet\n(or impalement) to the head. Everett\u2019s character, who refers to the zombies as\n\u201creturners\u201d is a bored apathetic loner who barely seems to register the\nstrangeness of it all. At times, he can\u2019t even be bothered to put down the\nphone while firing at the undead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While he is amusingly droll, the townspeople, the\nopportunistic mayor, and the mourners at the cemetery are equally self-obsessed\nand unwilling to move on with their lives \u2013 so the caretaker purposely avoids\nthem. But as the bullets continue to fly at the cemetery, our lead falls for a\nbeautiful woman known only as \u201cShe\u201d (Anna Falci), and when the relationship\ncomes to a deadly end, his grip on reality begins to slip. He soon mutters\nstrange things like, \u201cThe living dead and the dying living are all the same,\u201d\nand ultimately begins coldly firing on the townspeople as well as the zombies.\nIn the meantime, the sweet Gnaghi, who can\u2019t even speak to women without\ngetting nauseous, falls for a girl. After she is killed in a tragic auto\naccident, he attempts to befriend and win over her severed head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are definitely some outrageous and sometimes baffling\nmoments in the film. To director Soavi, the film is about the fear of living.\nFrancesco creates a dreamworld for himself within the cemetery. Protected from\nthe outside world, he is unwilling to leave and grow up. Unfortunately, it all\nturns nightmarish when reality comes crashing in. The returners can, in a\nsense, be seen as the returning problems in Francesco\u2019s life that just won\u2019t go\naway, no matter how he tries to escape them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Technically speaking, the film is gorgeous. There is\nincredible close-up photography, a 360-degree spinning camera shot, and slick\nsmooth camera moves through the cemetery. Truth be told, there is something\nthat is visually inventive in every scene and it really leaves a visual mark on\nthe viewer. The returners have an interesting, earthy look; fused plant roots\nand branches often stand out dramatically against the gray cadavers. Viewers\nshould watch for a group of zombie Boy Scouts whose teeth chatter in a most\nunsettling way as they stumble forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there are elements that may confuse (the ending is\nvery cryptic), this is wonderful horror\/satire that will stay with the viewer\nlong after the credits roll. The image quality on the disc is phenomenal,\ncoming from a Soavi approved 4K scan from the Cinecitta negative. While being\nclearly shot on film, the sharper, crisper image reveals all sorts of great\ncemetery and background detail. Since the camerawork is already so striking,\neverything really pops on this release. I was made aware of one review complaining\nabout grain, but I saw no evidence of this with my copy. The Blu-ray is\nexcellent and the 4K Ultra HD disc is even stronger with beads of water and\nsign postings even clearer. It looks even more impressive  than it did on\nthe big screen back in the day, with much of the nighttime photography wowing\nand the daytime material looking so sharp that I was deeply impressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are some wonderful extras included as well. This\nincludes a detailed commentary from Soavi and screenwriter Gianni Romoli. They\nspeak in Italian with English subtitles translating their comments on the\nscreen. The pair have plenty of insightful things to say about the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soavi states that he wanted to keep a comic book feel to the\nproceedings and shot the movie in such a way as to try to match its appearance.\nHe takes note of what a rough and cold shoot it was and admits that the budget\nthey were given wasn\u2019t really enough to shoot the script as written. Soavi\ntalks about all the ways they attempted to shoot the movie as inventively as\npossible and mentions the importance of using as many practical effects on set\nas possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The director explains how thrilled he was that Everett\nagreed to star in the picture (also realizing that he was likely flattered that\nSclavi was a fan and had modeled his Dylan Dog character after the actor).\nRomoli discusses translating the episodic book to a narrative feature and\nattempting to find a way to develop the story in a linear manner. The pair\nexplain that the leads are essentially little kids who won\u2019t grow up acting\nout. They also discuss how difficult it was to come up with an appropriate ending\nand how they came to the idea for the conclusion and shot it after principal\nphotography had wrapped.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pair also talk about the criticism they received,\npointing out that some of the issues reviewers had with the emotionally stunted\nand at times violent male lead was actually the point of the story. His\ninability to emphasize with anyone other than Gnaghi was intentionally created\nto emphasize these disturbing, deep-seated flaws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, interviews are included. There is a lengthy\ntalk with Soavi, who goes over some of the ideas explained in the commentary\nand elaborates on them. He also talks about his relationship with Sclavi and\nhis career prior to the film, which included being second unit director on\nTerry Gilliam\u2019s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen<\/em>. He says that the\nlook of the statue of Death in his film was in some respects inspired by the\ncharacter from the Gilliam project. He also talks about how pleased he was that\nthe film seemed to be successful with audiences domestically and abroad (it was\nsold and released in many international territories).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is also an enlightening discussion with star Rupert\nEverett, who is very proud of the movie and the fact that it still has a big\nfollowing. He talks about his adoration of Italian cinema and how excited he\nwas to work on the film, detailing his own experience shooting the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anna Falci is also very happy to talk about working on the\npicture with the cast and crew. And if that isn\u2019t entertaining enough, there is\na lengthy archival making-of presenting more interviews, as well as the film\u2019s\ntrailers for Italian and English audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After owning a DVD of this picture for so long, I am\nthrilled to heartily recommend Severin Films\u2019 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray release\nof Cemetery Man<\/em> aka Dellamorte Dellamore<\/em>. They\u2019ve brought the\npicture to new life and anyone familiar with it will be amazed by both the\nimage quality and the extras, which provide further clarification of what the\npicture is all about and why it really makes an impression. I can\u2019t recommend it\nenough to zombie fans, or horror enthusiasts in general. Pick it up! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray combo pack from Severin Films will be available for purchase on May 28th. This reviewer has a long history with the English-language Italian feature Cemetery Man aka Dellamorte Dellamore. I attended its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival back in the day (it was part of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[128,300,1483,2923,2936,2960,3067,3295,4059,4060,4061,4660,4668,5654,5655,5656,6626,7829,9319,10039,13864,17442,17693,18083,19397,22950,24791],"class_list":["post-28697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-128","tag-4k-ultra-hd","tag-anna-falci","tag-blasts-from-the-past","tag-blasts-from-the-past-4k-ultra-hd-review","tag-blasts-from-the-past-review","tag-blu-ray","tag-book-adaptation","tag-cemetery-man","tag-cemetery-man-disc-review","tag-cemetery-man-review","tag-comedy","tag-comic-book","tag-dellamorte-dellamore","tag-dellamorte-dellamore-4k-ultra-hd-review","tag-dellamorte-dellamore-review","tag-dylan-dog","tag-francois-hadji-lazaro","tag-horror","tag-italian","tag-michele-soavi","tag-rupert-everett","tag-satire","tag-severin-films","tag-surreal","tag-tiziano-sclavi","tag-zombie"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28697\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}