Dellamorte Dellamore (AKA Cemetery Man) (1 Viewer)

[MaxY]

Ok Hold your horses a second, before you go blowing this one off as a typical horror/gorefest movie because it is oh so much more then that, so please read on.
Dellamorte Dellamore
AKA Cemetery Man
Is far from a run of the mill lving dead type movie and is perhaps the best movie of it's genre that I have ever seen, and I have seen most of them. It is deep, well written well acted and beautiful filmed and scored. It is also not avalable in the US on DVD yet. :frowning: I hear that sometimes IFC shows it letterboxed under the name Cemetery Man though so keep an eye out for it or if you have Multi Region capablities then you can look for the Italian Ed with a great 16x9 transfer.
Rupert Everert turns in a fantastic performance as Fransesco Dellamorte an employee at the local cemetery who has grown tired of his meaningless life. He lives there with his assistant Nog who is a man child and his loyal friend. Fransesco even jokes about his naming meaning Death as in he is Frnak Death. His life takes a turn for the better when he fall for a grieving widow (Anna Falachi) and finds himself in love. It is the story of a man who has lost is grasp on reality and can no longer tell the living Dead from the Dead Living.
It was directed by Michele Soavi who was a onetime assistant and co-conspirtor of Dario Argento. The movie was filmed in a fantastically gorgous style that would make Argento proud or perhaps Jelous. The movie is less about the living dead then it is about those who are alive yet not living, it is a story of love and the loss of love and sanity. It does a wonderful job of mixing the maccabe with deeper meanings and tragic comedy.
I give this movie a big thumbs up.
If you have the chance to see it, don't let this title scare you away from a great performance by Everett. I would also reccomend the movie Stagefright as another excellent movie by the sam director that is avalable on R1 DVD but that movie while artistically filmed does not raise above the horror genre quite like this one does.
This Italian PAL R2 DVD release features in english and Italian soundtrack with an option for english subtitles. Keep in mind that there is no correct audio format as these movies are shot multi-lingal andfeature dub work no matter what language you chose.
It also has a beautiful 16x9 1:85 transfer that is damn near 3D on my set.
Max

 

[Jason Delaney]

they need to release this damn thing on region 1 dvd.

i got my old vhs of it, and i can never win an auction on the usa laserdisc on ebay ughhh hurry up already fox video!

 

[Lannie Lorence]

Max, I couldn't agree more. In my opinion, it is the last truly great (destined for classic) horror films that I've seen. And the Medusa DVD is stunning. I can't imagine a better looking DVD.

 

[Anthony Thorne]

Max, glad you liked DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE. I'm a big fan of the movie and was very happy when I picked up that (nicely remastered) Italian DVD a few months ago. It's a superlative transfer, though I think that one brief shot (less than a second) has a small glitch or something. Check out the scene where Dellamorte's assistant Gnaghi is running alongside the car after throwing up on the Mayor's daughter(!) in the town square - the shot of Gnaghi falling over has a weird streaking effect that isn't in any other version I've seen. It lasts for less than half a second though, and the rest of the disc is spot on and blows any other version out of the water. For what it's worth, Martin Scorsese told British critic Alan Jones that he felt DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE was the best film of the year when it came out around 1994/1995. Folks who haven't seen it may scoff, but anyone who checks it out will probably recognise was Scorsese was excited about, and marvel at how much style and poetry Michele Soavi was able to cram into what is probably the first and only 'existential zombie movie'.

And, for what it's worth, I think DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE has one of the greatest final shots of all time. You've GOT to love that ending...

 

[Eujin]

Where can you get the Medusa edition? Does it have English subs?

 

[Chris Xolotl]

English is the original language. So pick your choice English 2.0 or Italian 2.0. The box lies and says its 108' when it's the same as the Red Edition. Dump all your other versions and get the Medusa. I got mine from Italy. $25 or so shipped.

The IFC shows the uncut version, as far as I can remember. But don't take my word for it. They usually play it around Halloween.

 

[MaxY]

Eujin,
Keep in mind it is an R2 PAL release so you will need a Multi Region player that can convert PAL->NTSC.
I ordered my copy from http://www.diabolikdvd.com/
I think it features Italian Subs but it does have both english and italian stereo surround.
There is no undubed language on these movies as they are shot with multi-lingual actors and then dubed into Italian and English.
Yeah the ending shot was great. I really felt this movie raised itself above the Horror Genre and was a great movie, not just a great horror movie. Rupert Everett did a fantastic job in this movie.
Max

 

[John P Grosskopf]

I have had the Japanese import LD for years and have enjoyed it many times. Great flick!

 

[Jeff_P]

Man, I saw this movie back when it was released in NYC and loved it. Bought the videotape and have not watched it since I bought a DVD player. I cannot stomach to watch VHS anymore besides the original Star Wars trilogy.

I would love to see this on DVD. Does anyone know what the holdup is?

 

[Greg_D_R]

I would love to see this on DVD.

Well, that's the thing. It is on DVD, just not in R1.

Dellamorte Dellamore is yet another great example of why everyone who loves genre films should own a PAL-converting multi-region player. It's great to no longer be at the mercy of the big distributors who just don't give a damn about little films like this. As for a North American release of DD, we could be waiting for a very long time.

There is a whole world of film out there on DVDs that will NEVER show up at Best Buy. Check it out. It's worth it.

 

[Kent Nelson]

I still have my Cemetary Man LD that I bought on sale for $15 at a Suncoast about 5 or 6 years ago - but it is full frame. I agree with all of the comments here - great movie that some people dismiss as a gorefest without having seen it. I would be all over a regoin 1.

 

[MaxY]

Pay attention to what Greg said above. He is quite correct that there is a whole world of DVDs out there that are not going to be showing up at Best Buy anytime soon.
I just invested in one and could not be happier.
Oh and really it was not because I ran out of worthy R1 DVDs to buy.
As for a US release, it strikes me as something that Anchor Bay would do and they just released two other films by the same director (Stagefright which is quite good and the Church which I have not yet seen) so it seems to me if they could have done this one they would have done it now, so there must be a problem getting rights.
Max

 

[Jeff_P]

I hate to get off topic but what movies am I missing that are R2? I sometimes read some posts about some movies that are R2 but it nothing that I am dying to see. Please fill me in on what I am missing(besides Cemetary Man).

 

[MaxY]

Jeff,

Sometimes it is just better releases of movies that are in R1 and other times it is movies that don't ever come out here and sometimes it is movies that get released elsewhere long before here.

Right now you can get Jackie Brown in several regions other then 1. The Others is already avalable else where.

If you enjoy Euro-Horror there are many titles released over there that are not here, there are many titles that were US movies that are out over there but get ignored here.

There are many Asian movies Action, Kung Fu, and Horror that will never be released here or were released here in some sort of sub par way. Dimension messes with all the Jet Li movies they release here but you can get them unaltered from Asia.

Someone had posted a link somewhere of good movies that were not out in R1. I will see if I can find it.

Max

 

[Chris Xolotl]

To me, it's about picking and choosing any released DVD from anywhere without and blocks.

Without a region free player, I would never have been able to watch these:

Game of Death Platinum Edition (40 minutes unreleased Bruce Lee Footage) (R2 PAL)

Brother - The uncensored version (R3 NTSC or R2 PAL)

Meet the Feebles - A good print (R2 PAL)

Dellamorte Dellamore - (Three PAL versions to choose from)

Uzumaki - Japanese Horror (R3)

Memento Mori - Widescreen Version (R3)

B.B. King Workshop [get this - multi coded R2,3,4,5,6]

Woodoo - A better print of Zombie - PAL

HKL Discs - The best treatment of HK films [PAL]

Battle Royale - Unreleased in US [R3 NTSC, R2 PAL, R2 NTSC]

Drive - Director's Cut, US butchered movie and replaced OST [R2 PAL]

Others - R3 NTSC [just wanted to see it before it came out here].

$0.02 FWIW

 

[Alan Benson]

My apologies in advance for taking the thread further down a tangent... But what about RCE? I thought multi-region players couldn't play them... (I'm nervous about buying a machine, however legal, that the studios are dedicated to screwing over...)

I agree that Cemetary Man is a terrific film, and one I'd love to add to my (currently R1-only) collection...

 

[Eujin]

most all-region players these days are RCE-friendly, so there's very little danger there. However, I use a dedicated player for all my non-region 1 playback. Since RCE is primarily a region 1 issue, playing stuff from region 2-6 really isn't a problem. At least I've never experienced any problems playing a disc due to RCE (I currently use a Malata, but have also owned one of the Sampo machines).

You can also add TV series to the list of things available in other regions that aren't available in region1 or are delayed for region 1. The main reason I decided to go region-free and PAL-to-NTSC converting was because I wanted the Buffy and Sopranos box sets which were available about a year or more before they came out in Region 1. Right now, Buffy is up to Season 3 in region 2, Angel Season 1 is also out (not out in region 1) along with a bunch of other quality titles. Off the top of my head, here are some others, including movies:

West Wing (4/8 R2)

Battlestar Galactica Complete Series (June R4)

The Family Guy (R2)

Kieslowski's Blue/White/Red Trilogy (R2)

Alien Legacy Box Set (R4 including 5th disc)

Brotherhood of the Wolf Limited Edition(R2 no subs, but full-rate DTS!)

There are lots more and I'm sure if you search the threads, you'll find the giant compilations of movies not available in region 1.

 

[Anthony Thorne]

Alan - a lot of multi-region players have no problem at all with RCE. The important thing is was sort of multi-region player you have. If your player has been 'chipped' (essentially acting as a 'no zone' player), then an RCE disc, which restricts use of the disc to a specific region, will have problems. If you have a multi-region player that lets you select the region on your remote (with the player essentially working as an 'all zone' player) RCE causes no hassles at all.

For what it's worth, all the RCE discs I've heard about have been Region 1 titles. The HK discs, UK Hong Kong Legends releases, European horror titles, most Japanese discs that I know of... I don't think any of these are Region Code Enhanced. I think RCE was mainly designed to stop guys like me (in Australia, or anywhere else out of the United States) from importing Region 1 discs, as they typically consist of big theatrical releases that the rest of the world is champing at the bit to see, and nifty Special Editions that everyone wants to watch. The market for imported Japanese/HK/Euro/Australian discs between non-Region 1 countries is probably a lot smaller.

 

[Enrique B Chamorro]

Is the Italian version that much better than the

German Red Edition?

I have an Apex, so it does a poor job of 16X9PAL to NTSC.

Does the Italian version have any extras?

The German Red Edition just has some strange trailers

of other movies with a German dub.

 

[Greg_D_R]

Enrique, because it is anamorphic, I wouldn't recommend the Italian version to you. I own both the German Red and the Italian versions, and even though the Italian disc does look better when properly converted, with an Apex you would see no benefit, and the picture would be squashed to boot. The Red Edition transfer is quite acceptable.