A Cat in the Brain

Rating:
Summary: Stab Him Again, Tony
Review: As one who often paid good coin to see Fulci movies during their brief theatrical runs, I can appreciate the guilty pleasure of kicking back to hoot at badly-dubbed sadism and cheesy gore. But I draw the line at clods who insist that Lucio Fulci was some kind of tortured, misunderstood artist. Better you should write theses on the mise-en-scene of AIRPORT 1975, or maybe the underlying theme of ROLLER BOOGIE. There's no doubt Fulci was intending to shock his audience with mean-spirited viciousness; however, his ham-handed obviousness and ineptitude are what make his films "classics". I haven't seen BEATRICE CENCI or that DUCKLING one, so maybe there was some real talent there once. But from ZOMBIE onward, Fulci delivered more unintentional comedy than on-purpose terror. CAT IN THE BRAIN is probably his worst ever, a hopeless porridge of old gore-fx footage spliced into new scenes in an excruciating attempt at a psychological thriller. A horror-film director slowly losing his ability to distinguish reality from fantasy IS a scenario ripe with possibilities: wait till you see how badly this simple-yet-solid premise is botched. Or better yet, take my word for it and pass altogether. I hold no personal animus against the late Fulci, but it irritates me no end that this guy is slowly gaining a reputation as some kind of great Italian moviemaker - mostly from lazy gorehounds who can't be bothered to check out De Sica, Rossellini, Visconti or legit horror masters like Bava and Freda. Maybe CAT IN THE BRAIN isn't representative of Fulci's best -he was in failing health at the time- but I've seen his other "triumphs" and his only genius was in aiming low - and missing.

Rating:
Summary: Fulci on Fulci
Review: I'll begin this review by warning everybody that it will only focus on the content of the film, not the DVD itself (which is still 2 months from release at the time of this review). This being an Image Entertainment release though, I feel safe in my assumption that the sound and video quality will be at least acceptable.

This is in a way Fulci's autobiography. Fulci on Fulci if you will. A look (sort of) into the mind of one of the Italian Cinema's most controversial and prolific filmmakers, at least that was the idea. This movie can only be taken on one level, gore munching fun. Unfortunately all of the potential of a poignant look into the mind of the maestro is absolutely wasted, and what's left is a somewhat 2 dimensional story. A director of violent movies (Lucio Fulci) tries to cure himself of all the mental anguish having created such pieces of horror celluloid bestows upon him. In his hunt for absolution, he finds himself in the office of one of the most ludicrously acted doctors this side of Brian Yuzna's The Dentist, who takes it upon himself to live out every murderous fantasy he's ever had and pin the wrap on Fulci.

This idea in itself would have still made for an interesting movie, if not an incredibly deep one, but as anybody interested in this movie probably already knows, only around of half of the movie is actually a new film. Most of Cat in the Brain (or Nightmare Concert as it is also commonly known) plays as sort of a Fulci's greatest hits, being made up of gory highlights from many of his lesser known latter films (and a few movies that he didn't actually direct). It's not unlike, if Lucio's career had been a television series, this would be his end of the 5th season "flash back episode".

Even though many have taken issue with the somewhat plaguristic leanings of this movie, the idea itself still kind of works. The problem is the execution is such that the viewer's head is left absolutely spinning. The film cuts from story, to random gore, to story and back again, allowing the film to get to the point where even the most rabid of gore hounds will be tapping his foot and wondering "When is the blood gonna stop, and the film gonna start again?"

Interestingly enough, through all of this mayhem, Fulci proves to not be all that bad of an actor (his 8,000,000 Hitchokian cameos more than likely got him ready for the role), but unfortunately for the film, he is the only one who appears very fit for the screen.

This film will more than likely only be truly enjoyed by Fulci (or eurohorror) enthusiasts, and while others might enjoy it, they probably won't be able to sit through repeated viewings. But if you are an admirer of the late maestro's work, then there is no reason to not own this "ode to himself". And besides, where else but in a movie made by Fulci, about Fulci would we see multiple Italian beauties swooning "Look, it's the director Lucio Fulci, maybe I can be in his next movie." From the sound of it, she probably has never seen what most often happens to girls in Fulci's movies.

Rating:
Summary: Fulci on Fulci
Review: I'll begin this review by warning everybody that it will only focus on the content of the film, not the DVD itself (which is still 2 months from release at the time of this review). This being an Image Entertainment release though, I feel safe in my assumption that the sound and video quality will be at least acceptable.

This is in a way Fulci's autobiography. Fulci on Fulci if you will. A look (sort of) into the mind of one of the Italian Cinema's most controversial and prolific filmmakers, at least that was the idea. This movie can only be taken on one level, gore munching fun. Unfortunately all of the potential of a poignant look into the mind of the maestro is absolutely wasted, and what's left is a somewhat 2 dimensional story. A director of violent movies (Lucio Fulci) tries to cure himself of all the mental anguish having created such pieces of horror celluloid bestows upon him. In his hunt for absolution, he finds himself in the office of one of the most ludicrously acted doctors this side of Brian Yuzna's The Dentist, who takes it upon himself to live out every murderous fantasy he's ever had and pin the wrap on Fulci.

This idea in itself would have still made for an interesting movie, if not an incredibly deep one, but as anybody interested in this movie probably already knows, only around of half of the movie is actually a new film. Most of Cat in the Brain (or Nightmare Concert as it is also commonly known) plays as sort of a Fulci's greatest hits, being made up of gory highlights from many of his lesser known latter films (and a few movies that he didn't actually direct). It's not unlike, if Lucio's career had been a television series, this would be his end of the 5th season "flash back episode".

Even though many have taken issue with the somewhat plaguristic leanings of this movie, the idea itself still kind of works. The problem is the execution is such that the viewer's head is left absolutely spinning. The film cuts from story, to random gore, to story and back again, allowing the film to get to the point where even the most rabid of gore hounds will be tapping his foot and wondering "When is the blood gonna stop, and the film gonna start again?"

Interestingly enough, through all of this mayhem, Fulci proves to not be all that bad of an actor (his 8,000,000 Hitchokian cameos more than likely got him ready for the role), but unfortunately for the film, he is the only one who appears very fit for the screen.

This film will more than likely only be truly enjoyed by Fulci (or eurohorror) enthusiasts, and while others might enjoy it, they probably won't be able to sit through repeated viewings. But if you are an admirer of the late maestro's work, then there is no reason to not own this "ode to himself". And besides, where else but in a movie made by Fulci, about Fulci would we see multiple Italian beauties swooning "Look, it's the director Lucio Fulci, maybe I can be in his next movie." From the sound of it, she probably has never seen what most often happens to girls in Fulci's movies.