Un gatto nel cervello (1990)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Lucio Fulci

Writers:

John Fitzsimmons (writer)
Lucio Fulci (writer)

Release Date:

8 August 1990 (Italy)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

A horror film director is stalked by a mad psychiatrist/serial killer bent on killing people to model the killings after the director's gory death scenes from his movies.

Plot Keywords:

Gore | Decapitation | Child Murder | Violence | Extreme Violence

Cast

Lucio Fulci	...	Dr. Lucio Fulci
David L. Thompson	...	Professor Egon Schwarz
Jeoffrey Kennedy	...	Officer Gabrielli
Malisa Longo	...	Katya Schwarz
Ria De Simone	...	Sopran ('When Alice Broke the Mirror') (archive footage)
Brett Halsey	...	Human Monster ('When Alice Broke the Mirror') (archive footage)
Sacha Darwin	...	Woman in the Oven ('When Alice Broke the Mirror') (archive footage)
Robert Egon	...	Himself / Second Monster ('Ghosts of Sodom')
Shillett Angel	...	Filipio the Producer
Paola Cozzo	...	Nurse Lilly (as Judy Morrow)
Layla Frank	...	Nightmare Victim (archive footage)
Georgia Moore	...	Nightmare Victim (archive footage)
Paul Muller	...	Nightmare Victim (archive footage)
Marco Di Stefano	...	Man run over by car ('When Alice Broke the Mirror') (archive footage)
Maurice Poli	...	Nightmare Victim (archive footage)

Also Known As:

Nightmare Concert (A Cat in the Brain) (International: English title)
Un gatto nel cervello (I volti del terrore) (Italy)

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence/gore, a strong scene of sexuality and some nudity.

Runtime:

87 min | Germany:66 min | USA:93 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:(Banned) (uncut) | Italy:VM14 (re-rating) (2000) | UK:(Banned) (original rating) | Italy:VM18 (video premiere) | USA:R | UK:18 (video rating: 2003)

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Executive Cine TV

Trivia:

Many events in the film are based on Lucio Fulci's experiences as a filmmaker.

Movie Connections:

References E tu vivrai nel terrore - L'aldilà (1981)

Fulci's swan song is a good time for all!

Lucio Fulci's Cat in the Brain is an inventive and somewhat egotistical tale of a director's decent into madness. The director in question is Fulci himself, who stars in the film. Fulci has become known to horror fans everywhere as 'the godfather of gore', and for good reason, as he has provided us with some of the nastiest and most gruesome films ever to grace the silver screen; from the eyeball violence in films like 'Zombi 2', to a man been hacked to death with chains in 'The Beyond', all the way to the full on gore fest known as 'The New York Ripper'; if you want gore (and let's face it, who doesn't), Fulci is your man. However, all this catering for gorehounds like you and I has taken its toll on Fulci's mental state, and he's quickly delving into madness, brought about by what he films. Fulci's problems don't end at his mental state either, as his psychiatrist that he has gone to see about his problem has took it upon himself to take up murder as a hobby, using Fulci's films as blueprints for the murders!

I've got to say, the acting in this film is absolutely atrocious. There is one scene in particular that involves a hooker, and it's only fit to be laughed at, for both it's acting and it's stupidity. Fulci takes the lead role of the film (obviously). He's not an actor, and it shows, but his performance is actually the best in the film. It's even safe to say that one the whole, the acting is bad for an Italian horror film. Of course, nobody goes into an Italian horror expecting good acting, so it's somewhat forgivable, but I do think that Fulci could have hired some better ones. Bad dubbing doesn't exactly help either. However, something that does help is the fact that the terrible acting is counterbalanced by lots of gore, and it's extreme to say the least! People get their heads cut off, a woman is slain in the shower (and unlike Psycho, here we REALLY see it), people are hacked up, fed to pigs and there's lots and lots of cinema's finest melee weapon - the chainsaw on display, which delighted me no end. The amount of gore is massively over the top a lot of the time, which gives the film something of a 'spoof' feel, but Cat in the Brain is obviously a tongue in cheek film anyway.

It would be hard to make a film about yourself and not come across as being a bit of a big head, and Fulci does indeed come across as a bit of a big head in this movie. His name is mentioned often, and he's on screen nearly all the time; it's not too much unlike 'New Nightmare' in the ego stakes, but it's obvious he had a good time making this, and I for one had fun watching it, so we can forgive him a little egotism. The film's ending lets it down - I saw it coming a mile off, but then didn't seriously think that the movie would take that route, but I was wrong; it did, unfortunately. The ending left me cold, and the film is a better watch if you turn it off just before the final two minutes. However, despite it's ending and terrible acting, Cat in the Brain is a lot of fun and will please Fulci enthusiasts no end, and it is therefore recommended.