Renowned horror film director Lucio Fulci is haunted by shocking visions of violence. He goes to see his psycho-therapist to help him ease his mind - but the line between reality and fantasy begins to blur even more...
Fulci plays Fulci. In "Un Gatto Nel Cervelo", we get some insight into the crazy mind of a notorious horror film director, and his issues. The uncut version of this concoction has a runtime of 93 minutes. A version currently available on YouTube, which probably is identical to the original German FSK 18 VHS tape release, has a runtime of only 68 minutes. 25 minutes of violence removed - that should give you an idea of the level of depravity this movie has to offer. It's basically a collection of violent scenes, framed by a little giallo story with some comedic elements. In its cut version, it's unwatchable, you literally have no idea what's going on. In its uncut version, a really strong stomach is required to sit it through.
But it's also funny as hell. The giallo element is a farce, the gore is all too blunt and omnipresent, and the scenes of violence are taken from other Fulci movies, which just has to be obvious even for the occasional Fulci viewer. Of course it makes sense given the premise of the story, but the amount of re-used footage is just too substantial. Once you get what's actually going on - or if you don't, then the end of the movie will make it very clear for you - you'll just have to smile from ear to ear. Lucio Fulci is one of the grand-daddies of splatter cinema, a lot of bad things have been, are being, and will be said about horror film makers, and he knows precisely what he's doing.
Shock scene after shock scene, "Un Gatto Nel Cervelo" is just relentless - thus it has some serious horror value, but it's certainly not a quality thriller. And it isn't meant to be. Yes, there is a psycho thriller story in there, but it's more like the gory equivalent of a "commedia sexy all'italiana". It's cheap, grotesque, a bit naive, and absolutely hilarious given the actual background of Lucio Fulci and his critics. It's a wild ride, and a big, heartfelt middle finger to those who think he's just sick in the brain (lol), as well as a lovely present to his fans. It was never meant to give people real nightmares. Quite the opposite - it's only a movie! It's only Lucio.
Verdict: It doesn't get any more Fulci than this. 6/10
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099637/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_in_the_Brain
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