Product Details

• Actors: Martin Blank, Jim Cooney, Mary Cristadoro, Tom Desantis, Rick Giovinazzo
• Format: Color, EP, NTSC
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Troma
• VHS Release Date: February 20, 2001
• Run Time: 85 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304369247
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #405,244 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Uncompromising And Relentless --Dave Kehr, The New York Times

Review

One Of 80s American Independent Cinema's Most Powerful And Uncompromising Triumphs --Film Comment

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Movie, January 19, 2000

By 

Marc Black "stmm" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Combat Shock [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Combat Shock is one of those movies you watch not because it's good. but because it is interesting. The story of a man's struggle with life after the Vietnam War, and what he cannot remember about what happened. When he starts remembering it changes his life. In conclusion I would like to say Combat Shock is the best movie I have seen about a man trying to cope with life after a war.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An underrated gem! Inventive no-budget art!, December 3, 2001

By 

Josef K "person" (LA, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Combat Shock (DVD)

"Combat Shock" is one of those rare microbudget films that has a lasting impact on its viewers. Originally titled, "American Nightmares", "Combat Shock" plays like a really grimy, amateurish version of "Eraserhead" with a little bit of "First Blood" and "Taxi Driver" thrown in. The commentary is extremely helpful, and Buddy went on to direct "No Way Home" with Tim Roth. If you're expecting an over-the-top satire Troma style, you're in for a surprise. The last 15 minutes of the movie may very well blow your mind. Also, the plotline predates "Jacob's Ladder", which is an almost exact word-for-word descendant of this sometimes cheesy, but mostly honest film of urban decay and psychopathy in the mind of a Vietnam vet. Lloyd, you sure know how to pick 'em! Buy the dvd and see what I mean. Remember, it is pretty shocking though, with that special graphic violence that will Tromatize you forever!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The heart of darkness, July 24, 2000

By 

linus (the land of wind and ghosts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Combat Shock (DVD)

Forget Henry Winkler in HEROES, Jon Voight in COMING HOME, or Stallone in FIRST BLOOD. If any film released by the notorious schlock distributor Troma has a claim to art, this is it. I'm not kidding. This Vietnam-flashback psychodrama, probably the most savagely depressing film ever made, brings you inside the splintered mind of a 'Nam vet and never lets you out. (In the few scenes having nothing to do with him, we see guys even worse off than he is.) The film is best described as a cross between ERASERHEAD and the last two hours of THE DEER HUNTER. Frank Dunlan (Ricky Giovinazzo) has blocked out his painful memories of combat - captivity, torture, atrocity, the works - but they keep creeping up on him. Unskilled and unwashed, he can't hold a job. This annoys his wife Kathy (Veronica Stork), who must take care of their baby - which has been mutated by his exposure to Agent Orange. Frank spends his days standing on unemployment lines, avoiding loan sharks, and hanging out with heroin addicts. This is the best Harvey Keitel/Abel Ferrara movie they never made; if you appreciated BAD LIEUTENANT, you've got to see this. The last reel (if you're still with it by then) will leave you in a sickened stupor. Sometimes low-rent and amateurish, but it gets under your skin in ways that a more polished movie never could. The DVD includes often amusing commentary by director Buddy Giovinazzo, always eager to goof on his own movie; he's not one of those gasbags who go on and on about how brilliant their film is and what every scene signifies. NOT FOR EVERYONE! - but an unforgettable ride for those who feel that movies should be more than Tom Hanks acting cute.