One of my favorite Halloween movies is the underappreciated Cemetary Man (Italian title: Dellamorte Dellamore). It’s a 1994 Italian horror film dubbed in English, similar to the style of Dario Argento but much more surreal and philisophical than the films of that master of Italian horror.

It stars Rupert Everett as Frencesco Dellamorete, a cemetery man responsible for managing graves, guarding the plots, and murdering the zombies that keep on rising from the dead. He handles this latter job with nonchalance, which leads to some morbidly funny scenes, such as his reaction when he learns of a bus accident that kills tens of children – he merely sees more zombies as more work (Shaun of the Dead certainly has traces of this film). There’s also a great subplot that revolves around his assistant Gnaghi and his love affair with a female zombie in the form of a severed head.

Back in my college days, we used to screen several films every Halloween but Cemetey Man was the only film that never left the rotation. We liked it that much, and I guess we also reveled in its cult status. Unfortunately, it seems as if it hasn’t been released on DVD yet, but you can find in on VHS if you go to your local nerdy video store.