Francesco Dellamorte doesn't deal with 'Zombies'; don't be so crass.
To him they are merely "returners" to be dealt with in a very logical manner.
Bodies go in graves, when they come out, put them back in.
His working stiff ethic, unwillingness to rock the boat, and his plodding, mechanical execution speak directly to the experience of any blue collar worker.
Francesco was determined to "do his job" and to keep it.
The first 2/3 of the movie were standard fare for B-grade horror movies, which as a person used to American movies, was expected.
It delved into foreign film absurdity though and lost a few points for this sheltered movie watcher.
--- SPOILERS BY THE BOAT LOAD FROM HERE DOWN ---
When Claudio's motorcycle came out of the grave with him on it, I have to say, I was scratching my head.
Who gets buried with their motorcycle anyway? Escpecially when it is just some greaser. Was his family wealthy and this was just implied in ways that I was not able to comprehend (due to my limited cultural exposure)? Cutting off the head of the mayor's daughter and putting it in his TV was a great idea. However, I have yet to figure out how it ~walked~ from the grave to Gnaghi's room.
And what the heck was going on when Franco took credit for Franscesco's murders. What was the motivation? Once Franscesco started blowing folks away in Franco's room, I was completely lost.
When Marshall Straniero is running up the stairs to find the mad shooter and sees Franscesco's gun, his reaction defies all logic.
Is all of this merely to point out how impotent (in the medical sense as well as his ambition and drive) everyone saw him? He yells out, "It was me!" but nobody cares? Not even the policeman? Not even for a second? Obviously we are traveling in strange places not populated by normal human beings.
The feeling was of course completely confirmed by the suitably un-American and bizarre ending in which Francesco discovers that their little town is the entire world as far as they are concerned and Gnaghi and Franscesco seemingly switch abilities with Gnaghi regaining his senses (thanks, blow to the head!) and Franscesco losing his.
The defining moment for me was when Francesco realized that his dream woman was ~alive~ when he shot her in the side of the head in the ossuary. Thus began his slide into madness. It was an extremely poignant and moving moment; the viewer is able to feel the conflicting emotions for Francesco: anger over Gnaghi sticking a sharpened shovel in her head, anger over himself for realizing that she wouldn't return twice and that she was, in fact, still alive after her dead husband's bite, anger at himself for almost surrendering himself to her as a returner.
The movie was very entertaining and I might even watch it again to see if I missed anything.
Is that the true mark of a movie's worth? The fact that people want to watch it over and over to try and understand it
When the credits rolled and the movie was over, I felt sadness; not at the fact that it was over, but at how Francesco's life was turning out.
To destroy the woman you love and then lose her two more times (although, he probably had a chance with the last incarnation if he had tried instead of incinerating her -- to him, the point was it wasn't the first one; it wasn't the widow). Gah! To have loved and lost is the greatest pain a man can carry with him. Wounds that never heal but burst out again and again when you least expect it.
That is what the movie means to me.
To him they are merely "returners" to be dealt with in a very logical manner.
Bodies go in graves, when they come out, put them back in.
His working stiff ethic, unwillingness to rock the boat, and his plodding, mechanical execution speak directly to the experience of any blue collar worker.
Francesco was determined to "do his job" and to keep it.
The first 2/3 of the movie were standard fare for B-grade horror movies, which as a person used to American movies, was expected.
It delved into foreign film absurdity though and lost a few points for this sheltered movie watcher.
--- SPOILERS BY THE BOAT LOAD FROM HERE DOWN ---
When Claudio's motorcycle came out of the grave with him on it, I have to say, I was scratching my head.
Who gets buried with their motorcycle anyway? Escpecially when it is just some greaser. Was his family wealthy and this was just implied in ways that I was not able to comprehend (due to my limited cultural exposure)? Cutting off the head of the mayor's daughter and putting it in his TV was a great idea. However, I have yet to figure out how it ~walked~ from the grave to Gnaghi's room.
And what the heck was going on when Franco took credit for Franscesco's murders. What was the motivation? Once Franscesco started blowing folks away in Franco's room, I was completely lost.
When Marshall Straniero is running up the stairs to find the mad shooter and sees Franscesco's gun, his reaction defies all logic.
Is all of this merely to point out how impotent (in the medical sense as well as his ambition and drive) everyone saw him? He yells out, "It was me!" but nobody cares? Not even the policeman? Not even for a second? Obviously we are traveling in strange places not populated by normal human beings.
The feeling was of course completely confirmed by the suitably un-American and bizarre ending in which Francesco discovers that their little town is the entire world as far as they are concerned and Gnaghi and Franscesco seemingly switch abilities with Gnaghi regaining his senses (thanks, blow to the head!) and Franscesco losing his.
The defining moment for me was when Francesco realized that his dream woman was ~alive~ when he shot her in the side of the head in the ossuary. Thus began his slide into madness. It was an extremely poignant and moving moment; the viewer is able to feel the conflicting emotions for Francesco: anger over Gnaghi sticking a sharpened shovel in her head, anger over himself for realizing that she wouldn't return twice and that she was, in fact, still alive after her dead husband's bite, anger at himself for almost surrendering himself to her as a returner.
The movie was very entertaining and I might even watch it again to see if I missed anything.
Is that the true mark of a movie's worth? The fact that people want to watch it over and over to try and understand it
When the credits rolled and the movie was over, I felt sadness; not at the fact that it was over, but at how Francesco's life was turning out.
To destroy the woman you love and then lose her two more times (although, he probably had a chance with the last incarnation if he had tried instead of incinerating her -- to him, the point was it wasn't the first one; it wasn't the widow). Gah! To have loved and lost is the greatest pain a man can carry with him. Wounds that never heal but burst out again and again when you least expect it.
That is what the movie means to me.