Skip to main content

Nightmare Concert (A Cat In The Brain) (1990) / Madhouse (1981)







From the Godfather of Gore, Italian director Lucio Fulci, comes this ultra gory horror fest from 1990.














Fulci plays a fictionalized version of himself. As he's filming a movie, he finds himself plagued by bloody, violent visions of death that become increasingly disturbing and disruptive. He seeks the help of a psychiatrist to help him make sense of it all and put the visions to rest. It turns out that the psychiatrist is insane, and he hypnotizes Fulci, causing the director to believe that he himself is the one responsible for murders around that area that the crazed doctor is committing. As more killings occur, Fulci's visions continue to grow more and more horrific. 












This movie was outrageous and over the top. The plot was paper thin, the entire thing playing like a surreal sonata of death, with lots of gore, blood, brutality and depravity, with the occasional brush of Grand Guignol style humor. I became a fan of Fulci’s films in the 90’s, when I first watched his classic City of the Living Dead, about a zombie plague that terrorizes a small New England town. He became renowned for the graphic gore that was featured in his films, thus his nickname, “The Godfather of Gore” among horror fans. He had a pretty good running streak, starting in the 70’s and going well until the late 80’s, when the quality of his movies began to decline. This one, which featured clips of older films, as well as new footage, came off like his personal “fuck you” to all the critics who trashed his films for their excessive bloodshed and violence. It was hilarious, bizarre, and for the most part, made very little sense, featuring scene after scene of brutal killings and not much else. Still, if you’re a fan of his films, then it’s worth checking out at least once, especially if you enjoy your horror with a heavy dose of excessive blood splatter and decapitations. I streamed it on Tubi.
















The next one was an early 80's slasher about a woman who believes her estranged crazed sister is stalking her.







Julia's birthday is coming up. She gets a call from her Uncle James, who's a Catholic priest, that her twin sister Mary is hospitalized, with a rare condition that has deformed her face. Julia's relationship with her is strained, as she recalls being tormented by her sister when they were young children, because Mary was jealous that she had share her birthday with Julia. When she goes to visit Mary, she grabs Julia's arm and threatens her. Soon after, Mary escapes from the hospital and begins to stalk Julia and everyone she knows, with sinister plans for their upcoming birthday. 













The movie wasn't very good, with mediocre acting and a plot line that isn't very interesting. It also reveals the big twist too soon, making the climax more ridiculous than anything else, mostly due to one actor's embarrassing, hammy performance. This movie somehow made it on the Video Nasties list, which I found laughable, as it was quite tame, except for one scene where a dog gets drilled in the head, which honestly wasn't as graphic as it was probably made out to be. The entire thing came off more like an overdramatic made for TV movie. In the genre of 80's slashers, this one is rather unremarkable.












Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

S.H. MonsterArts King Kong '21

The next May pre-order to arrive is S.H. MonsterArts King Kong from the Godzilla vs. Kong film. I was psyched to get a highly articulated Kong from Tamashii Nations, and the great ape is finally here. Kong is a little shorter than Godzilla (just like in the film). The details of the sculpt are all well done. Tamashii Nations did a good job capturing his look well, from his hair covered body to a few scars on his chest. His faces, including his eyes and teeth on the open mouth head, as well as his axe, are all well painted. The only issue is that they seemed to have gone with a glossy finish, so he seems too shiny, especially on his face and chest. A duller matte shade would've suited him better. At least it would've kept him from looking like he over-moisturized. As for his articulation, he's quite flexible. His head is on a ball joint, ball jointed neck as well, ball jointed shoulders and thighs, upper arm cut, single jointed elbows and knees that go in further than 90 deg...
1 comment
Read more

S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla 1991 Shinjuku Decisive Battle version

The latest Godzilla figure I pre-ordered from the S.H. MonsterArts line has arrived. It is the 1991 Shinjuku Decisive Battle version, to go along with the Mecha King Ghidorah release from earlier this year. While the suit is almost the same as the one used in 1989's Godzilla vs. Biollante, they made some slight adjustments. Compared to the BioGoji figure, this one is much thicker, therefore, he does look different from that other release. His sculpt is the classic 90's era Heisei look, with small head, thick thighs, large dorsal spines and a long tail. Like all the other Godzilla suits of that decade, he has a cat-like face, both cute and menacing. While the King of the Monsters has had multiple looks throughout his 50+ years, it's the Heisei era that seems the most iconic. Artwork, toys, comics, etc, have all utilized this particular design. Similar to the 89 suit, this 91 figure has a small set of dorsal spines, followed by a much larger one, and then gradually getting sm...
Post a Comment
Read more

S.H. Figuarts Ultimate Ageis/Ultraman Zero Armor option parts set

Earlier in the week I received my S.H. Figuarts Ultimate Ageis/Ultraman Zero Armor option parts set. I was busy with work and doing other reviews, but I finally got around to checking these out. They turned out to be pretty cool option parts. Ultimate Aegis is a set of armor created by Ultraman Noa . My initial thought was that they may be a bit of a hassle to attach to the Ultras. They ended up being fairly easily to swap out and put on them. The only issue I had was with the large piece (Final Ultimate Zero) that Ultraman Zero holds. I was having trouble getting his arm peg into the fist (it’s attached to the piece). Then I realized that I had on his forearm with his bracelet, so I swapped out the regular forearm without the bracelet and it went in easily. For the ultimate Zero Sword, each hand piece comes with its own fists, a red (for X) and blue (for Zero). The top of the fist has a peg that attaches to the piece, and then you ...
2 comments
Read more