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Rating: The story is set in the cemetery of Boffalora, a small village with no way out (or perhaps it's the whole world?), where Francesco Dellamorte (Rupert Everett) and his mute assistant Gnaghi (who are, indeed, caretakers of the cemetery) find themselves fighting hordes of "returners", living dead who, a week after burial, rise from their graves in search of live flesh. The only way to stop these zombies is to smash their heads.
A film about death, then? Not only! Because as the title suggests, it's also a film about love. The protagonist falls in love with 3 mysterious women (all played by Anna Falchi), who will ultimately leave him always and inevitably alone, pushing him to seek the "rest of the world."
Based on the eponymous novel by Tiziano Sclavi (the creator of Dylan Dog) and directed by Michele Soavi (a protégé of Dario Argento), this film is a static journey in a reality where life and death seem equivalent, a dark fairy tale filled with macabre romanticism, an almost apathetic quest to escape solitude in a closed world (a prison). The atmosphere of the film is almost always wrapped in a rarefied air of darkness and fog that, together with the special effects, is very visually pleasing. A good job has been done at the sound level as well, and the music is very successful.
The characters are all well characterized; Francesco Dellamorte is a sort of "dark Dylan Dog" and Gnaghi an anti-Groucho, and the dialogues, besides prompting reflection, often draw a smile for the cynical humor they are steeped in. There are numerous memorable and surreal scenes (above all that in the hospital), and it is rarely boring thanks to continuous interesting ideas (the returner emerging from the grave on a motorcycle).
In short, it's not the classic splatter b-movie about zombies; on the contrary, it's a poetic and refined film (the "Magritte-style" kiss scene), grotesque and surreal (the mayor's daughter's head dating Gnaghi), in which there is no lack of a good dose of humor. A little gem, especially for fans of Sclavi and Dylan Dog.
"Between living dead and dying living there is no difference"
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Other reviews
By Fairy Feller
"More than physical death... it is the death of feelings that is frightening."
"The difference between the protagonist and Dylan Dog is that the former is a mystery himself who commits terrible acts without explanation."
