Intro:
Now being a director myself I have A LOT of projects in development, production, and ideas just floating around in the old noggin! A lot of these involve death, killing, and brutal acts against the human body, and there have been many times where I questioned where this macabre personality comes from; and furthermore if it is possible for these devastating thoughts to possibly overtake my mentality? Like in the 1990 release of Lucio Fulci’s "A Cat in the Brain."
Dialogue & Acting:
Written by Lucio Fulci, John Fitzsimmons, Giovanni Simonelli, and Antonio Tentori, the dialogue in the film was paced nicely. With Fulci speaking very passionate with every line of his all the way through. You could feel the emotion that was omitting from his unique mind, which fully grasp his portrayal of a director going through a mental breakdown. For a casual person, it’s hard to imagine how a man can have a hard time separating his work with his personal life, but it’s seen here clear and simple. However Fulci’s hard work is almost killed off by the mediocre performances from a majority of the remaining cast. They seemed very bland and made the film’s acting very lopsided, when comparing Lucio’s performance to the rest of the cast.
Plot:
The plot of "A Cat in the Brain" is a truly creative piece of work. A famous horror film director, Fulci playing himself, starts having visions of the graphic gore that is in his latest feature he’s working on. I really enjoyed this, it seems like such an obvious idea. and yet not had not been done to the scale which it was depicted here (Yes, I’m not the biggest fan of 8½, probably just due to the timeline which it takes place in). I thought it was set up well, and structured to bring the gore to you fast and in getter more detailed doses as the film progresses.
Music:
Composed by Fabio Frizzi (Composer of a number of other Fulci films) the music in the film was superb. It had a feeling to it as it was it’s own entity among the actors. I love this style and feeling of Mr. Frizzi’s composing, and this is coming from an avid John Carpenter composer fan.
Special Features:
The film was not the only thing included in this 2 disc edition of "A Cat in the Brain." The 2nd disc was composed of special features, which i LOVE to see full discs devoted to special features when i buy a film on DVD. The footage itself looked very nice! The colors were just right, not too bright not too dull and well old looking. Now with that said, there still is a look of graininess to the footage, which helps give it that grindhouse feel in a way. Back on disc one, there was special features as well, original trailers for the film (both in English and Italian), Photo gallery, and footage back from the epic appearance of Fulci from the 1996 Fangoria Weekend of Horror. I loved seeing that because it marked one of the last times, if not last time, he was captured on footage. The 2nd disc had bios on Lucio and Brett Hasley, which SURPRISE, has two Easter eggs; They are trailers for The Beyond and Silver Saddle. Also included are two MORE interviews with the Godfather of Gore, which i found to be grade A ones at that. One final feature I must mentioned was the featurette entitled "Memories of Lucio Fulci," which served as a tribute to Fulci and his work. It gave the thoughts of many people who have worked with him closely in their past, which included Sacha Maria Darwin and Jeoffrey Kennedy, just to name a few.
Overall:
Overall, Lucio Fulci’s "A Cat in the Brain," in my eyes, is one of his finest films. Did it have it flaws, yes. What film doesn’t? But what it brings to the table is something that wasn’t being done, or being close to done at that time. It isn’t a waste of your time by any means, and come to it with a strong stomach and maybe a barf bag!! Kudos to Lucio Fulci for another Cult classic, and a killer DVD cover!
3.5/5 Reels
Squid Rating
Worth a watch!
Trailer:
Purchase: