In the same general
period as the Italian film industry was imploding in on itself due to a lack of
budgets and enthusiasm, director Lucio Fulci decided to try something different:
a self-reflexive look back over the latter part of his career as a famed horror
director. While the end results have divided
even some of his most hardened fans, Fulci’s A CAT IN THE BRAIN
(1990) is certainly a novel concept – in terms of Italian horror films, at
least – plus, taking his Hitchcockian cameos to the next level, Fulci casts
himself in the lead role as a tormented director who is beginning to blur the
line between his excessively gory filmic output and everyday reality.
Sometimes referred to as
“Dr. Fulci”, first seen is his now trademark woolen cap and matching hunter’s lumber-jacket,
he is suffering from terrible hallucinations (“a woman hacked to death with an axe”)
that, according to him, feels akin to a ‘cat in his brain’, which is hilariously depicted by a ferocious feline – an obvious
hand-puppet – ripping apart the inside of his grey matter. Sandwiched between numerous gore scenes from
late-entry Italian splatter flicks – including many of his own – Fulci’s
violent hallucinations are very easily triggered, even as he performs the most mundane
of daily activities, so he seeks the help of psychiatrist Egon Swharz (David L.
Thompson) to help quell his ever-increasing loss of reality. Unfortunately for Fulci, his psychiatrist
merely uses him as a pawn to continue indulging in his very own – and very real – murder spree.
Directed a year after his
much-touted, but decidedly meager,
‘comeback’ film DEMONIA (1989),
Fulci decided to really let loose and try something entirely different, and
while this is yet another very low-budget effort, it’s considerably more
memorable and even – gasp! – rather audacious
for the once-fiery director. Like Fulci
himself, by the end of the film, most people will also be tired (or bored?) by
the seemingly unending stream of gore and realize it’s closer in spirit to a
comedy than a horror film. Even much of
the ‘borrowed” footage consists of Fulci’s TOUCH
OF DEATH (1988), a darkly comic, and equally gory, look at a modern-day
Bluebeard as portrayed by Brett Halsey, who, in A CAT IN THE BRAIN, is merely credited as “the monster.” In actuality, much of this footage plays quite
well alongside A CAT IN THE BRAIN’s original material as
Fulci becomes paranoid of eating steak tartar, a man chopping wood, a microwave
oven, or even a young girl in wheelchair, scenes which are always punctuated by
some sort of splattery nightmare. However, as the film progresses, the gimmick
does begin to wear-out its welcome, which may well have been Fulci’s original
intent; to try and smother the viewer with as much gore as possible until it no
longer resonates and leaves viewers inured to its effects from simple
repetition. It’s a fitting close to one
of Fulci’s most popular periods in his 40+-year career.
Despite the heaping
amounts of squishy gore on display, it’s left up to the cast to inject any real
substance into this “Fulci’s Greatest Hits” package, and aside from the novelty
of Fulci as the lead (adequately dubbed in the English version by Larry Dolgin),
most of the cast is only amateurish at best.
As the psychotic shrink, Thompson doesn’t exhibit any acting range
whatsoever, and comes across almost like a caricature of all those ’70s gialli killers. On the other hand, it’s always nice to see
Malisa Longo (credited here as Melissa Lang), star of countless ’70s Italian
‘sexy’ films, who here appears as the bitchy, unfulfilled psychiatrist’s wife and
meets a particularly nasty end.
A popular title among
Grindhouse Releasing’s catalogue since the laserdisc days, A CAT IN THE BRAIN first
appeared on DVD in 2006 as a 2-disc Special Edition (the initial batch even had
a nifty lenticular cover), which was loaded with extras, but if you’ve never
seen this film or are possibly considering an upgrade, then Grindhouse’s newest
3-disc set, which houses 2 Blu-rays and one soundtrack CD of the complete
15-track Fabio Frizzi score, is yet another incredible set well worthy of the
double-dip. Due to the film’s low-budget
origins, A CAT IN THE BRAIN would never be considered demo material, but the
team at Grindhouse have, as per their usual standards, created yet another
small miracle with their latest Blu-ray; it’s hard to imagine it looking any
better than it does here.
Presented in its
customary English language version as NIGHTMARE
CONCERT (the film’s alternate English language export title), Grindhouse
have also provided the Italian language track with removable English subtitles. All the extras from the earlier DVD are
reinstated, including “Genre Terrorist” and “The Television Years”, a massive
two-part interview with the late director.
Further interviews with Halsey, Longo, Sacha Maria Darwin and Joffrey
Kennedy are also included alongside new interviews with director of photography
Sandro Grossi, composer Frizzi, co-writer Antonio Tentori and poster artist
Enzo Sciotti. More extras include hidden
Easter eggs, the obligatory Grindhouse trailers – and even a few for some of
Fulci’s rarer films, which are located in the filmography section of the disc –
and poster galleries. An excellent
booklet with essays from Antonella Fulci, Eli Roth, David J. Schow and Martin
Beine, who gives a great rundown of the ALL
the borrowed footage that appears throughout the film, is also included. Lastly, the first 3000 units come with a portrait
of Fulci, which is supplied as a thick insert card.
No comments:
Post a Comment