Before it was retitled by its poetry-shy domestic distributor, "Cemetery Man" was known by the international title of "Dellamorte Dellamore." As bland and nondescript as the American title of Michele Soavi's underseen horror classic may be, the former name -- casually translated as "Of Death, Of Love" -- is every bit as evocative.

Starring Rupert Everett in one of his finest performances, "Cemetery Man" is the story of Francesco Dellamorte, caretaker of the cemetery in Buffalora, a small Italian town. His jobs include general grave maintenance and burial duties, which he undertakes with his inbred partner and friend Gnaghi (Francois Hadji-Lazaro). Dellamorte only has one other responsibility: When the corpses return from the dead as flesh-eating zombies, he has to re-kill them. Everything changes, though, when a mysterious widow (Anna Falchi, truly one of the most ravishing women ever to grace a movie screen) comes into his life and leads, indirectly, to a killing spree that impacts both the living and the undead. Love and zombies, the movie suggests, make you do terrible things.

Based on Tiziano Sclavi's popular Italian graphic novel, "Cemetery Man" was a box office disappointment outside of its native land and Soavi hasn't directed a theatrical film since 1994, which is a pity. The director, who apprenticed under Dario Argento, orchestrates the mayhem with a confident hand, despite wildly divergent tonal shifts. One second, Dellamorte is engaged in kinky sex with a woman who may or may not be alive (but who still looks great) and the next, he has to dispatch a dozen zombie boy scouts. It's a movie that has the loopiest romance with a severed head since "The Re-Animator," but also reaches a stunningly existential climax. Soavi treats every action, however horrifying or ridiculous with the same casual remove of his leading man. Nothing is exploitative and nothing is shocking and everything fits perfectly in the film's universe.

With its mixture of over-the-top gore and relatable human emotion, "The Cemetery Man" is a perfect compliment to the Italian horror works of Argento or Fulci and also will appeal to fans of George Romero or early Peter Jackson. It's a hoot.

The Anchor Bay DVD isn't overloaded with features, though the 30-minute featurette "Death Is Beautiful" goes a good job tracing Soavi's career and the evolution of this unique project. Everett is missing from the interviews, though Falchi's appearance is enough to make this reviewer wonder why she hasn't been recruited for more film work.

STUDIO: Anchor Bay
RELEASE DATE: June 13
RATING: R
PRICE: $19.98
TIME: 99 minutes
DVD EXTRAS: "Death Is Beautiful" featurette.