A Cat In The Brain AKA Nightmare Concert
So you're leading a normal life, being one of the worlds most acclaimed horror directors; and into this very NORMAL life you find yourself haunted by the past. For Lucio Fulci (Director of New York Ripper, Zombie Flesh Eaters, The Beyond) a visit to the psychiatrist sets off a whole series of shockwaves.
I should of course explain that Lucio Fulci plays himself in this movie, and although you may not necessarily know the name, you'll know what he stands for. In the UK during the early 1980's the broadsheet newspapers launched a witch-hunt on horror movies calling them "Video Nasties". The person that suffered the most during this time was Lucio Fulci as all of his horror movies were banned overnight.
Back to the story which is partly factual; while making the movie Touch Of Death Fulci experiences strange visions, and his behaviour becomes quite erratic. In trying to rectify the situation Fulci goes to see Professor Egon Schwarz, a very well respected psychiatrist; who promises to help Fulci overcome these visions. However he does the opposite, and while hypnotising Fulci actually encourages him to have more visions and delusions.
As Fulci's behaviour becomes more and more bizarre Schwarz uses the opportunity to carry out a variety of murders living out his obsession with Fulci. Schwarz has long been a fan of Fulci and loves the beautiful deaths in his movies; now with Fulci in a weakened state he can carry out murders in the same manner Fulci carried them out on screen. The big difference being that Fulci's victims were actors; where as the victims of Schwarz are real people enjoying real lives.
While not being a phenomenal film it certainly is a quirky movie to see, especially if you enjoy Fulci's work. It kind of resembles a bonus feature on a DVD, or a TV show recap episode where they think about events of the past and re-use footage to fill a gap in the schedule. Cat In The Brain or Nightmare Concert as its better known in Europe is not quite that bad, but you can see the resemblances. For Fulci as a director it gave him a opportunity to redo special effects shots that never worked so well the first time round.
The two major movie influences over the film were two recent additions Sodoma's Ghost and Touch Of Death; both of which were finished just prior to the filming of Cat In The Brain. I guess for Fulci it allowed him the opportunity to get a bit better coverage on these two forgotten movies. The movie is made as if the two films are still being filmed; back to back so to speak. As Fulci moves from directing one film to the other as the events unwind.
The story content is a little more risque than other Fulci productions. You could even say a little more perverse, there seem to be an awful lot of breasts being flashed around; usually something that's just hinted at in Fulci movies. It's almost like he was actually exorcising some sort of personal demon. In one scene a part of a woman's anatomy is used as a replacement Snooker pocket. The film actually comes across as being some sort of softcore porn/horror.
Another not great part of the movie in my opinion is that during the mid 1980's as video became a more popular form Fulci choose to exploit the cheaper video option in making his movies. The result is varied, the picture is a bit hazy, and at times the camera work is very cheap; almost like a home video. As time has progressed this cheaper video image has weakened; making the hazy image now also a bit more unclear. While close up shots are strikingly clear, distant shots have smog around them. At the same time I guess you could say the movie looks dreamlike, which could be part of Fulci's goal; I'd like to think that but personally very much doubt it.
I've focused on the bad but very little of the good. Made 5 years prior to a similar style movie made by US director Wes Craven (Wes Craven's New Nightmare) in which Freddy Kruger came after the cast and crew of the Elm Street movies. Wes Craven appears to have ripped off a lot of Fulci's innovative ideas. In fact put the movies side by side and Cat In The Brain is a far superior movie, the plot is more coherent and the characters act rather than whine there way through the plot.
In making a movie so close to home (emotionally speaking) Fulci lets the viewer see him in a slightly different light than they may expect. Rumours of him being a miserable old sod are not likely to diminish after seeing this movie; which personally I believe is an incredibly courageous thing to do, baring your soul to the world.
In real life, despite being a clever man Fulci was a terribly foolish man; always putting his trust in others and being ripped off by them. So it may be that Fulci, literally spending his last Lira's to make the movie may very well have thought "What else have I to lose?".
The gore within the movie is typical Fulci, lots of blood and guts to keep the gore hounds pleased. But without it becoming the key part of the story, which in later Fulci movies proved to be more the case. Another big issue for the fans will be the re-introduction if not in a slightly varied forms of musical compositions from previous movies. In a scene where Fulci is staggering through a graveyard the theme from his movie The Beyond is played, the combination of the two creates a much more lasting image than the original use of the score in The Beyond. Fulci even brings up pieces of his work from before his name became immortally tied with horror, such as The Smuggler; Fulci was near the end of his life when making this film and I cannot help but think he knew this to be the case. If this was so maybe he was making a plead with the viewers that to remember him for more than his horror. And remember Fulci you should, he tackled a range of movies that no other director in living history has managed to achieve. From erotic gems to historical dramas, from musicals to westerns, from thrillers to children's movies, from science fiction to horror. Fulci was in a league of his own, but having received the most acclaim from Horror he stayed a little too long in that area, and the result was his final movies not being to the same standard as his earlier work.
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