Dellamorte Dellamore (1994)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Michele Soavi

Writers:

Gianni Romoli (writer)
Tiziano Sclavi (novel)

Release Date:

26 April 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror | Romance

Tagline:

Zombies, guns, and sex, OH MY!!!

Plot:

A cemetery man must kill the dead a second time when they become zombies.

Plot Keywords:

Sexy | Crushed Head | Topless | Old Woman | Freak

Awards:

7 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Rupert Everett	...	Francesco Dellamorte
François Hadji-Lazaro	...	Gnaghi
Anna Falchi	...	She
Mickey Knox	...	Marshall Straniero
Fabiana Formica	...	Valentina Scanarotti
Clive Riche	...	Doctor Verseci
Katja Anton	...	Claudio's Girlfriend
Barbara Cupisti	...	Magda
Anton Alexander	...	Franco
Pietro Genuardi	...	New Mayor Civardi
Patrizia Punzo	...	Claudio's Mother
Stefano Masciarelli	...	Mayor Scanarotti
Vito Passeri	...	1st Returner
Alessandro Zamattio	...	Claudio
Marijn Koopman
Renato Donis	...	Husband of 'She'
Claudia Lawrence	...	Miss Chiaromondo
Francesca Gamba	...	Hospital Nurse
Elio Cesari	...	Monk
Maurizio Romoli	...	Hospital Doctor
Maddalena Ischiale	...	Stanza Franco Nurse
Elena Fresco	...	Hospital Sister (as Mariaelena Fresu)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michele Soavi	...	Man in City Square (uncredited)

Directed by
Michele Soavi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Gianni Romoli		writer (as Giovanni Romoli)
Tiziano Sclavi		novel

Produced by
Conchita Airoldi	....	co-producer
Conchita Airoldi	....	executive producer
Heinz Bibo	....	producer
Tilde Corsi	....	producer
Dino Di Dionisio	....	co-producer
Dino Di Dionisio	....	executive producer
Gianni Romoli	....	producer (as Giovanni Romoli)
Michele Soavi	....	producer

Original Music by
Riccardo Biseo
Manuel De Sica

Cinematography by
Mauro Marchetti

Film Editing by
Franco Fraticelli

Production Design by
Massimo Antonello Geleng

Set Decoration by
Roberto Caruso

Costume Design by
Alfonsina Lettieri
Maurizio Millenotti

Makeup Department
Daniele Auber	....	assistant makeup artist
Maria Teresa Corridoni	....	chief hair stylist
Enrico Jacoponi	....	makeup artist (as Enrico Iacoponi)
Marijn Koopman	....	assistant makeup artist
Barbara Morosetti	....	assistant makeup artist
Francesco Motolese	....	assistant makeup artist
Sabrina Ranalli	....	hair stylist
Sergio Stivaletti	....	makeup artist
Gino Zamprioli	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Carla Bernardin	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Julie Gavras	....	assistant director
Enrico Grassi	....	first assistant director
Francesca Marra	....	assistant director

Art Department
Roberto Angelini	....	sculptor
Marina Pinzuti Ansolini	....	set dresser
Sebastiano De Caro	....	property master
Tommaso Dubla	....	set painter
Umberto Fantina	....	carpenter
Maurizio Garrone	....	assistant production designer
Sergio Grassi	....	property master
Osvaldo Monaco	....	property master
Caterina Napoleone	....	assistant production designer
Dionisio Rossi	....	sculptor

Sound Department
Andrea Dallimonti	....	sound recordist
Alessandro Peticca	....	sound editor (as Sandro Peticca)
Alfredo Petti	....	boom operator
Angelo Raguseo	....	sound mixer
Frank von Kuegelgen	....	adr editor

Special Effects by
Daniele Auber	....	special effects assistant
Marijn Koopman	....	special effects assistant
Barbara Morosetti	....	special effects assistant
Francesco Motolese	....	special effects assistant
Sergio Stivaletti	....	special effects designer

Visual Effects by
Francesca R. Di Nunzio	....	ossuary designer
Sergio Stivaletti	....	ossuary designer

Stunts
Valerio Colombaioni	....	stunts
Fabio Romanielo	....	stunts
Mauro Romanielo	....	stunts
Pamela Vitali	....	stunts
Nazzareno Zamperla	....	stunt coordinator (as Neno Zamperla)
Rinaldo Zamperla	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Alessandro Bolognesi	....	Steadicam operator
Domenico Caponecchi	....	grip
Romolo Eucalitto	....	still photographer
Stefano Falivene	....	focus puller
Claudio Frollano	....	electrician
Luciano Giusepponi	....	key grip
Roberto Luzi	....	camera operator
Marco Massaccesi	....	electrician
Cesare Pascarella	....	grip
Marco Pieroni	....	Steadicam operator
Giovanni Piperno	....	camera loader
Otello Simotti	....	generator operator
Claudio Verdenelli	....	chief electrician

Casting Department
Ofelia Garcia	....	casting: children

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Giovanni Casalnuovo	....	assistant costume designer
Monica Ricci	....	costume assistant
Maria Spigarelli	....	wardrobe mistress
Maura Zuccherofino	....	wardrobe mistress

Editorial Department
Julie Gavras	....	post-production
Roberto Priori	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Renato Agostini	....	set technician
Guido Airoldi	....	paymaster
Giordano Esposito	....	production assistant
Renata Franceschi	....	continuity
Alessandra Guerra	....	cutting room assistant
Anna Orieti	....	production accountant
Barbara Petrelli	....	production secretary
Claudio Quaglietti	....	set technician
William Quarshie	....	dialogue director
Frank von Kuegelgen	....	adr director
Emilio Zaccaria	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Audiofilm
• Bibo Productions
• Canal+
• Eurimages
• K.G. Productions
• Silvio Berlusconi Communications
• Urania Film

Distributors

• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Astro Distribution (1998) (Germany) (VHS)
• Fox Video (video)
• Jacinto Santos Parrás (Spain)
• Malofilm Home Video (Canada) (VHS) (as "Cemetery Man") (dubbed)
• Norstar Releasing (1996) (Canada) (as "Cemetery Man") (dubbed)
• October Films (1996) (USA) (dubbed)
• Penta Video S.r.l. (Italy) (VHS)
• VellaVisión (Spain) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Cemetery Man (USA)
Demons '95
Of Death and Love (Australia)
Of Death, of Love (International: English title) (literal title)

MPAA:

Rated R for macabre violence and gore, strong sexuality and some language.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

Italy | France | Germany

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | Australia:MA | Germany:18 | Italy:T | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Italy

Company:

Audiofilm

Trivia:

Tangerine Dream was originally supposed to do the soundtrack, but something else came up.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Dellamorte is standing in the shower, he is hears the sound of zombies and he attacks them. When he attacks he is wearing dry underpants.

Quotes:

[Francesco and Gnaghi putting barbed wire on cemetery walls]
New Mayor Civardi: Mr. Dellamorte? I'm Civardi, the new mayor. Why the barbed wire? Do they climb in at night?
Francesco Dellamorte: No. They climb out sometimes.

Movie Connections:

References Psychomania (1973)

Soundtrack:

Hellraiser

A bizarre but incredibly rewarding film

Okay, forget the really cheesy American title ("Cemetery Man") and just pick it up if you ever see it. Anyone with an open mind and any mind at all should be able to like this film, if not for the bizarre story for Michele Soavi's incredible visual style, the perfect performances by Everett and Lazaro, or just as a plain, good old time.

"Dellamorte Dellamore" begins like a fun B-horror movie telling us of the care-taker of th Buffalora cemetery, Francesco Dellamorte. In the cemetery some dead people come back to life 7 days after burial, but, Dellamorte isn't too bothered by this, he just takes it as part of his job to put the dead back in the ground, answering his door with a gun in hand, ready to dispense some Grim Reaper-type justice. But, within the first three minutes we know from the visual complexity of the film that this won't be just any B-horror movie, and within the first ten minutes we get a glimpse of what is to come - a fascinating meditation on the difference (if any) between life and death, a philosophical look at insanity and loneliness, a recurring love story that grows more bizarre with each telling, and eventually a big old representation about how life is just what we make of it. The dead returning and the whole zombie thing is just a doorway into Dellamorte's world. Fortunately, it never takes itself too seriously, if it had it would be a dull bore, but thankfully Romoli throws in lots of wit and dark humor ("I'd give my life to be dead"), and Soavi never lets us get bored with his always moving, floating camera and elaborate but never over-done sets.

Everett gives one of the best performances in film history because it is so subtle, he delivers his lines with just the right amount of sarcasm, cynicism, and un-emotionalism (is that a word?) to pull off what was probably an incredibly difficult performance - but he does it perfectly. Francois Hadji-Lazaro, playing Dellamorte's mute and retarded assistant manages to build more of a character with his simple one word vocab of "Nyah" and his facial expressions than most big over-done actors/actresses in movies now-a-days. Anna Falchi is mainly there to provide mysteriously beautiful looks, which she does, in all three of her roles and all of her many lives and unlives. Soavi was the protogé of Italian horror-stylist Dario Argento, but in "Dellamorte Dellamore" he comes fully into his own with his own bizarre and incredible style. This isn't just a case of the student copying the teacher, in this case the student might have even surpassed the master. Ah, if only you could see one movie this life time.