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Overall Rating : 4/10
Directed By : Michele Soavi
Rupert Everett (My Best Friend's Wedding)
François Hadji-Lazaro
Anna Falchi
Supplied By : Anchor Bay Entertainment
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : May. 16, 2006
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| PLOT Francesco Dellamorte, a cemetery watchman whose job is to slaughter the living dead when they rise hungry from their graves. But following a tragic tryst with a lusty young widow, Francisco begins to ponder the mysteries of existence. Is there long-term satisfaction in blasting the skulls of 'retruners? Will his imbecile assistant find happiness with the partial girl-corpse of his dreams? And if death is the ultimate act of love, can a psychotic killing spree send Dellamorte to the brink of enlightenment? |
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| THE REVIEW Francesco Dellamorte is a cemetery caregiver, and by night he happens to be a paid undead slayer. It is Francesco job to kill off the dead as they rise from their grave to live again. But his outlook on everything changes when he meets a young widow whose husband has just been buried there. He falls in love with the woman unexpectedly and they have brief love affair before her angry "ex" husband rises from the grave and bites her. Later, thinking that his lover is infected he shoots her, sending her to a early grave. He experiences heartache two times over when she rises from her grave much like her husband only to be killed by Francesco's assistant Gnaghi, We watch as the cemetery man goes through the turmoil of life, Ultimately finding the meaning to his. I first saw CEMETERY MAN about 10 years or so ago as it aired on a cable movie channel late at night. Back then, I remember I didn't like it too much and now that I have seen the version released on DVD...my opinion pretty much stays the same but is altered a little. This film is probably one of the films that inspired such horror comedies like SHAUN OF THE DEAD, as it has the same slapstick dark humor as SHAUN went on to borrow years later. I am not a fan of Horror films that try to be over comedic and I feel that sometimes genres should not be crossed, and anyone that reads my reviews regularly(and I hope you do) should know by now that I did not like SHAUN OF THE DEAD at all. But it is sort of funny with me, because I absolutely love films like the SLEEPAWAY CAMP series and thought films like DEAD AND BREAKFAST were passable. I guess it is just a matter of preference here, CEMETERY man is a Horror/Romance and Comedy drama all in one, and i'll admit it has great special effects and sometimes a level of humor that I do enjoy. But in the end some of the humor displayed, is meant to be funny...but I just didn't laugh or see the humor. Despite having incredible effects and great acting by the two most notable stars, the story was definitely there but it is shown at a slow pace that just could not keep me entertained throughout. Watching Francesco struggle and cope with the lose of the "only one he's ever loved" as he called her was interesting admittedly. He realizes that death will come to all and that for him it just might not come soon enough, but toward film's end he finally realizes that life is much more valuable and so is his long time friendship with his partner Gnaghi. Interesting story as it develops, it just develops to slow and tiresome. Rupert Everett in my opinion, is at his best as Francesco Dellamorte, as you can really feel the emotion he brings to the character as his facial expressions change, as well as body language. In the end of the film as Francesco has his change of heart the audience definitely feels it....that is something every actor should do in any film.... connect with their audience. I also enjoyed the incredible Anna Falchi, who is just absolutely gorgeous. She plays three different roles here and three roles that are definitely welcomed. First, she plays a grieving widow that happens to fall in love with Francesco, but is later bitten by her now dead husband while her and Franesco are making love on his grave.... later she dies, as predicted. Next she plays a role as the Mayor's assistant....who again falls in love with our Cemetery keeper. and lastly she rounds out her triple threat performance playing a prostitute college student, whom our boy kills in a fire after getting the shaft! But perhaps my favorite character is that of the overweight assistant to Francesco, Gnaghi. played by François Hadji-Lazaro. Hadji-Lazaro brings to the table a light hearted comedy that the film would just not have if Gnaghi wasn't a part of it. I really enjoyed his performance, he doesn't talk too much in the film but his actions and mannerisms are what make his character a charm! It may seem as if I am raving about this film overall...but in reality...while it is somewhat entertaining at times, it's just not the film I usually go for. I know this film has been given high ratings over the years by film fans and I see why, but as far as my opinion goes, CEMETERY MAN is just not my cup of tea so to speak. |
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| GORE
METER 6/10 Pretty gory i'd say....fantastic FX have heads exploding and crosses impaling....I really enjoyed the hospital massacre towards the end! |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 4.5/10 CEMETERY MAN has a sort of a retro European synth score and I thought that it really worked well for the film. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM Overall, I really believe that fans of SHAUN OF THE DEAD will dig CEMETERY MAN. while fans that didn't like it(like myself), may not. I feel that the appeal of the film is 50/50. Try it and you just might like it as they say... The DVD will be available on June 13, 2006 |
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