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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 to 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.












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