Video Nasty: Cat in the Brain

Lucio Fulci was a weird man and made really weird movies. Today's film is no exception. The weirdest subject left to cover: himself.  I should probably explain that, right?  Well, I won't.  Instead, i'll cut the crap and jump right into...

To preface the film, you need to know about its cast. The film is co-written by, co-produced by and directed by Fulci. But wait, there's more!  The movie also stars Lucio as...Lucio Fulci.

No, I'm not kidding. Just go with it.

Lucio is in the middle of making a new movie, but is starting to feel weird. Maybe it is the fact that he has a tape of a cat eating what appears to be eating brain jerky in his possession. Despite this, he manages to also work on Sodoma's Ghost (not a good film, as you recall). In a scene that you would not see re-enacted until Adaptation, he meets up with one of the actors before shooting a scene. Well, to be realistic, he does reaction shots that are synced up with footage from the film. Get used to this, loyal readers.

The film is a mix of graphic and strangely muted scenes. On one hand, you get re-used footage of a body being vivisected by a chainsaw. On the other hand, you have a Fulci freak out that is not actually shown. Instead, they simply have his agent go 'why did you do etc etc.' You won't show that, but you will show a woman being decapitated by a chest lid (don't ask)?!? This film was banned by England, but I wondered why at times.

Sometimes though, I do get it.

The narrative is really confusing here. Basically, Fulci has issues and goes to see a Therapist. Said therapist has even more issues than him, what with being emotionally-castrated by his wife. He convinces Lucio to see crazy hallucinations on cue (don't ask) and proceeds to go on a killing spree of people near where the Director goes. His killings are the only new death scenes in the film and are pretty good. 

Nothing stands up to the recycled footage of the kid randomly getting his head cut off with a chainsaw though.

Stop now if you don't want to know about the ending...

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The ending is just weird, stupid and oddly shot. Fulci goes to his friend after 'seeing his family be killed' in archival footage. He goes off later and wakes up near a dead body. He pleads to his friend to believe his innocence, prompting the man to smile. His buddy called the police (not shown), had Fulci...and the psychiatrist...tailed (not shown), and they caught the guy, killing him in the process (not shown). Are you kidding me?!? You have to do better than that, movie. Lucio goes on a holiday boat ride with a young woman (since creepy old men with Diabetes make girls wet?!?), but seemingly kills her. They pull out to reveal that this is for a film (wait...huh?) and then he actually leaves. My brain hurts.

This movie is really not that good. On the surface, you get a high body count to boast about. The problem: this film is marketed to Fulci fans who have probably seen all of his movies up until this point (1990). So, you're just replaying stuff that they have already seen to support a thin premise that makes no sense? Sure. It is a film curiosity for sure. Is that enough? I'm not sure. On the plus side, this movie doesn't fall apart after 20 minutes like Manhattan Baby (more on that later). You can do worse with Fulci, but not by a whole lot.

Next up, what is better than a vampire, you ask? How about a space vampire...who is naked all of the time? Stay tuned...