Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore) – Severin Films (4k UHD/Blu-ray/CD Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1994
Director: Michele Soavi
Writers: Tiziano Sclavi, Gianni Romoli
Cast: Rupert Everett, François Hadji-Lazaro, Anna Falchi, Mickey Knox, Fabiana Formica, Clive Riche, Katja Anton, Barbara Cupisti, Anton Alexander, Michele Soavi

Release Date: December 5th, 2023
Approximate Running Time: 103 Minutes 10 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Stereo Italian, Dolby Atmos English, DTS-HD 5.1 English, DTS-HD Stereo English
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region A (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: $69.95

"Rupert Everett stars as cemetery watchman Francesco Dellamorte, tasked with dispatching the recently deceased when they rise from their graves. But when he falls in love with a beautiful young widow (Anna Falchi), will his resurrected lust for life become greater than his bond with death?" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD, Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, “a Soavi-approved 4K scan from the Cinecittà negative.”

Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore) comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 83.3 GB

Feature: 79.3 GB

Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore) is a film that has not been treated well on home video; all of its previous releases have had their shortcomings. Fortunately, this new release from Severin Films corrects the mistakes from the past and gives Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore) a transfer that is vastly superior to all of its previous incarnations. Flesh tones look healthy, colors are nicely saturated, image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic. That said, what really impressed me about this transfer was how well it handled the darker scenes, which make up most of the running time.

Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore) comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 46.1 GB

Feature: 34.2 GB

The Blu-ray uses the same source as the 4K UHD does for its transfer.

Audio: 4.5/5 (DTS-HD Stereo Italian), 5/5 (Dolby Atmos English, DTS-HD 5.1 English, DTS-HD Stereo English)

This release comes with four audio options, a DTS-HD stereo mix in Italian, a Dolby Atmos mix in English, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English, and a DTS-HD stereo mix in English. All four tracks are in great shape; there are no issues with hiss or distortion. Dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, ambient sounds, and the score is well-presented. That said, the three English-language tracks sound more robust than the Italian-language track. Also, the newly created Dolby Atmos track does a great job expanding the sound spectrum when compared to the two other English-language tracks. Included are removable English subtitles for the Italian language track and removable English SDH for the English language track.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include U.S. theatrical trailer (1 minute 43 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), Italian theatrical trailer (2 minutes 22 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), and an audio commentary with director Michele Soavi and screenwriter Gianni Romoli.

Extras on Blu-ray disc 1 include an archival making of documentary (18 minutes 32 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), an interview with actress Anna Falchi titled She (24 minutes 15 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with actor Rupert Everett titled Of Love and Death (20 minutes 37 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Michele Soavi titled At the Graves (35 minutes 49 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with Michele Soavi and Gianni Romoli.

Extras on Blu-ray disc 2 include U.S. theatrical trailer (1 minute 43 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), Italian theatrical trailer (2 minutes 22 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Alan Jones, author of Profondo Argento titled Grave Encounters (9 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with set designer Antonello Geleng titled Cemetery Gates (26 minutes 8 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with special FX artist Sergio Stivaletti titled Resurrection (19 minutes 24 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with composer Riccardo Biseo titled The Music from the Underground (20 minutes 56 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with actor Stefano Masciarelli titled The Living Dead Mayor (11 minutes 15 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with actress Fabiana Formica titled Head Over Heels (23 minutes 45 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with cinematographer Mauro Marchetti titled Graveyard Shift (29 minutes 17 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), and an interview with Gianni Romoli titled A Matter of Life and Death (57 minutes 155 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles).

Disc 4 is a CD with Cemetery Man’s 34-song soundtrack.

Other extras include a slipcase, and a 56-page booklet with information about author Claire Donner, an essay titled The Last Great Italian Horror Film written by Claire Donner, and a track listing for Cemetery Man’s soundtrack.

Summary:

Italian horror cinema has a long pedigree of maestros whose legacy has cast a long shadow over those who have followed. Though filmmakers like Mario Bava and Dario Argento are considered the two best ever-made horror films in Italy, a strong case can be made for a filmmaker like Michele Soavi as their heir apparent.

Francesco Dellamorte, with the help of assistant Gnaghi, is in charge of the Buffalora cemetery. It appears that the dead are coming back to life after being buried. Now Francesco has his hands full trying to keep the recently deceased dead and buried. To make matters even worse, Francesco has fallen in love with a widower whose husband has recently been buried at the Buffalora cemetery. Francesco's slowly losing grip on reality continues to crumble as each new day brings more problems.

The Italians have made their fair share of zombie films through the years, but still, nothing could have foreseen the direction Michele Soavi would take the genre with his 1994 film Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore). Also, to merely write this film off as another zombie film is to completely miss the point, as Michele Saovi imbues some deep and spiritual meanings throughout this film that are easy to identify with. Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore) sees an evolution in director Michele Soavi’s style as he discards the Baroque style he learned from Dario Argento for a style more likened to Terry Gilliam’s inspired tales of madness. Michele Saovi worked with Terry Gilliam as a second unit director on The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. The way Michele Saovi effortlessly shifts from dark subject matter to more comedic moments owes a lot to his time working with Terry Gilliam. That said, Michele Saovi’s direction is flawless, as every frame and moment in Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore) are used to their maximum potential.

Rupert Everett is cast in the role of Francesco Dellamorte; it is one of his best performances. His facial expressions and brooding demeanor totally sell the Francesco character. That said, he delivers a flawless performance as he hits all the right beats. Another performance of note is by Anna Falchi, who portrays three characters who all resemble Francesco’s dream woman. Also, her voluptuous, full-figured frame makes her the perfect choice for a temptress. If any scene more proves seductive charms, it would be the scene in which her character and Francesco make love on her husband’s grave. This scene is arguably one of the most erotic moments to ever appear in a horror film.

Sure, there are plenty of zombies in Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore), and many of them are killed in an almost nihilistic way. The zombies mostly use window dressing to try to disguise what is really going on. The way Michele Saovi sets up Francesco’s and the widow's first kiss is ingenious, as both of them were veils to further support the masquerade that is unfolding before their very eyes. Also, Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore) is filled with many visceral moments of carnage, which in many cases are not reality-based, and these images are actually from the mind of a character named Franco, who has killed his family and the prostitute he had an affair with. It is also interesting to note that Francesco mentions that the only person in the real world who can see him is Franco. Is this because Francesco and all the events that have happened are figments of Franco’s imagination as he lay in a coma? Francesco and Gnaghi represent the good and bad sides of Franco. At the very end of Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore), when Francesco murmurs while Gnaghi is now able to speak clearly, it symbolizes that the good side has now gained control. Ultimately, Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore) is a masterpiece; it is a film where everything perfectly falls into place, and most importantly, it is one of Italian cinema’s greatest horror films.

Severin Films gives Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore) a fully loaded release that comes with over 6 hours of extra content and a solid audio/video presentation, making this release from Severin Films a definitive presentation and highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer