Customer Reviews

Shock

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"SHOCK" was Italian director Mario Bava's last film. Retitled as "Beyond the Door II" for it's original US release, Anchor Bay's new DVD features a widescreen print of the film under it's original title. (Actually, the sharp noise the film makes when the title hits the screen made me jump in "shock"!) It's a fun little possession movie and features several very creepy moments...the standout being the shot where the possessed little boy runs up to his Mom (Daria Nicolodi) and suddenly turns into the ghost of her dead husband...all done without effects or cgi. All in all, the film doesn't really break any new ground, but it's a worthy last film from the original italian horror maestro. The print shows some grain and some visual noise (mostly in the dark scenes)...it's not bad, but it is not up to par with earlier AB titles. Extras include a short but interesting interview with Lamberto Bava, the international trailer, and a couple of US tv spots (one as a double-bill with "The Dark"!), plus the usual talent bios. A pretty basic package, but definitely a Must for Bava fans.

Creepy atmosphere, great soundtrack, interesting story. A family moves back to a house with old memories. Strange things begin to happen as the woman's son begins to behave strangely. I don't want to go deeper into the story because it will ruin the movie. It is definetely worth watching, especially if you are a fan of Italian Cinema. I would recommend, worthy addition to your horror collection.

This film came late in Mario Bava's career (actually his last film, I think?) and suffers slightly from the move into modern territory, leaving it resembling too many other films around it at the time. But generally it's a pretty solid thriller with some very good moments. Daria Nicolodi plays Dora, a woman recovering from a breakdown. She has a young son and a new partner, and together they move into the house that Dora used to live in when her first husband was still alive...not a good start eh? As you might expect things don't go well for the trio...Dora has nightmares and hallucinations, her son acts strangely, and her new husband Bruno always seems to be away working when she needs him most.

What we have here is quite a typical "is she going mad or is it all real?" scenario, which has been handled many times before. Bava, however handles the material quite deftly. He picks out lots of small oddities such as the bizarre ceramic hand sculpture that Dora pores over, some booby-trapped piano keys (ouch!), the weirdness of the young son playing around, and when seen from Dora's viewpoint, you can quite easily believe that she's being haunted by something very unnatural...or is she?

Well I'm not telling, and hopefully you can watch this film without being aware of the plot explanation, because it deserves to be experienced fresh. Bava directs the action with some skill, and the acting is pretty good, with Daria Nicolodi making a convincing traumatized victim. Sadly the English language dubbing weakens the impact of many scenes, but the visuals are good and Dora's dream sequences are all quite creepy. Plus the film boasts one really, REALLY good jump-scare, which I'm sure you will remember, as it's a very clever one. It also has quite a bloody finale, to keep gore fans happy.

The Anchor Bay DVD is a good copy to buy, it's uncut, restoring some sequences that were trimmed from earlier VHS releases, especially those involving the young son's behaviour (I think you'll be able to spot the ones I mean!), and nicely presented too. Worth owning, even if it's not really that big a "shock" film, but it delivers an entertaining weird experience anyway.

The only other Bava films I've seen are Bay of Blood and Black Sabbath, but Shock is my favorite. It seems to usually get lukewarm reviews from critics and horror movie fans for some reason. I remember seeing it on TV under the title Beyond The Door 2 and it freaked me out when I was younger. Some of the dialog is laughable, but maybe that's due to the dubbing and translation. It might sound much better in the original Italian. There's not a whole lot of gore, but enough surprises and weird imagery to keep one interested.

The dvd by anchor bay is very nice. It's great to see this movie in widescreen. (Italian horror films used to get such horrible pan and scan treatment on vhs back in the day.) It was also very cool to see the original Italian trailer and American TV spots. If you like this movie, you should get it as soon as possible because it's out of print and the price is only going to go up.

I bought this on ebay just because it was a Mario Bava film. I'd heard about it before but when I watched it I was very impressed. This has got some of the best surrealistic photography I've ever seen..(the floating blade scene). The story's been done before but the kid in the film was pretty darn creepy! And watch out for that one scene with him! You've been warned - - you'll jump 5 feet out of your seat! THAT alone was worth the price I paid for it!

This was the last film the venerable Mario Bava directed and is definitely worthy of being published on DVD. Having seen both the VHS version more than once, the picture quality of this DVD is as good as you're going to get on a film that was originally shot in 1977. Unfortunately, the filmographies are not as extensive as they could be. But, it's the actual feature film that's important here, and this DVD only adds to the unique elements that make this another of Bava's great productions. The acting is superb and the individual film arts (editing, lighting, sound, music, make-up, etc.) are masterfully executed to creep you out and make you suspect your own loved ones.

Forget Sixth Sense and others horrors with ghosts and take Shock.In this classic giallo from legendary Mario Bava will touch you fear pretty step by step,just to the macabre finale.The story is well written by four peoples,including Bava's son Lamberto and Dardanno Sachetti,important screenwriter for Italian horror film.The camera work is excellent,acting of Daria Nicolodi too.And the wonderfull collector's edition of Anchor bay entertaiment?Beautiful cover,widescreen and remastered picture,italian trailer and U.S.Tv spot and interview with assistant director Lamberto Bava!!!With perfect work of Amazon.com what else we can want?

Last film of the italian king of B-movies - Mario Bava - , SHOCK is now presented by Anchor Bay in an above-average DVD version. Trailers, italian, english and french dubbed versions and incomplete filmographies are offered as bonus features as well as a short interview with Lamberto Bava, the son of the late Maestro.

I didn't see SHOCK when it was theatrically released nor in the VHS-NTSC standards so I cannot make comparisons regarding the quality of images. In my opinion, the copy is superb without a single white or black spot and I had a tremendous pleasure to watch for the first time this movie which belongs to the psycho-horror thriller genre.

Due to production restrictions, at least I presume so, most of the action takes place in a cozy italian mansion near the sea. A couple played by John Steiner and Daria Nicolodi - Dario Argento's compaign - has just moved in with Daria Nicolodi's child. The father of the child has died seven years ago and, since then, Daria has spent a lot of time recovering from a severe depression.

As in BAY OF BLOOD, the child has an important role in the movie. One of the characteristics of Mario Bava's cinema is to always leave to the audience the possibility to find a rational explanation for the most bizarre events. In SHOCK, one could perfectly imagine that the story is told from the sole point of view of Daria Nicolodi who is lead to psychosis by her guiltiness.

Anyway, SHOCK is an example of a smart B-movie with good scary effects done without the help of computers. Mario Bava was a real movie lover perpetuating the example of Georges Méliès, the french movie director who invented some of the first special effects of Movie History. In 1905.

A shockingly good DVD.

Shock is the very last feature film made by the legendary Mario Bava and honestly this is one of the most frustrating movies I have ever seen. There was so much potential for a truly great and scary movie, but somewhere along the lines it just doesn't seem to fully work. There isn't anything in particular that is bad about Shock, but it just never reaches the level of greatness it was so close to.

The screenplay was written by Francesco Barbieri, Lamberto Bava & Paolo Brigenti & Dardano Sacchetti and honestly this is one of their better written movies. And again that is why it's so frustrating with the outcome. I love Italian horror films; in the 70s and 80s American and Italian horror were the leaders. While other nations were also producing quality work American and Italian horror were the more popular.

The thing is though with Italian horror is a lot of times things happen and they really don't make a lot of sense. Sometimes the things the characters say is kind of idiotic though sometimes it can be the dubbing. But Shock was actually mostly coherent and the characters don't really say the stupid things they normally do with a couple of exceptions. Shock was an interesting character study. But the problem is while not badly written there were moments it just wasn't all that interesting. Certain aspects of the film could have been explained better but overall Shock wasn't badly written at all; just at times not all that interesting at times.

Mario Bava was one of the best Italian filmmakers and one of the biggest influences on not just Italian horror, but American horror. Actually, his influence is more than just horror. He's inspired filmmakers of many different genres. But here with Shock the tension and suspense just slightly lack at times. By no means was Shock poorly made or anything there was just something missing. The pacing can be a bit off at times and personally I just never really felt the suspense and tension that I have felt in other movies by Mario Bava.

Mario Bava was a filmmaker who knew how to create suspense and tension that is why he is so loved. Story-telling wise his movies did lack, but as I have said many times, while yes that is important there is more to filmmaking than just story-telling. Bava, made movies that were high on suspense and tension and can be downright creepy; but here with Shock those elements were slightly off. Bava also was a filmmaker who was very visual and knew how to use colors much like the filmmaker he inspired Dario Argento. I think a movie like Shock could have used that touch. Quite honestly, when Bava used showed off his great visual style that is when Shock works best.

When it comes to children in horror movies I think I can count on one hand how many didn't annoy me. Even when I was a child, kids in horror often got on my nerves. One of the only exceptions was Danielle Harris; besides her in general kids get on my nerves in horror. And Italian horror they seem to annoy me even more since they are always so poorly dubbed. David Collin Jr. as Marco really, really grated on my nerves. While some of it was the actor it was for sure more of the dubbing.

The main saving grace was Daria Nicolodi who was excellent here. Daria should be very well known to horror fans for her work with her one time partner Dario Argento, she also happens to be Asia Argento's mother. Daria was excellent here and quite honestly was the main saving grace. It's her who really kept me interested.

Overall Shock has some solid moments with some suspense, but overall it mostly lacks in my opinion. The shame of it all is Shock had potential to be a truly frightening movie. All the elements were there, but it just never fully works. Despite the flaws I'm still giving it 3-stars. Mainly due to the potential and due to some creepy moments; while Shock doesn't come highly recommended for fans of Bava or ghost flicks you might get a little something out of it.

Mario Bava's "Shock" is an interesting, although somewhat flawed, attempt at a horror movie that, for the most part, effectively mixes mystery, psychological horror and the paranormal. However, Bava's reliance on the ending is a double-edged sword that proves to be the savior of this movie as well as its nemesis.

"Shock" is about a family that moves into a home with a dark secret. Dora, the main character, has a dark history with this home as her ex-husband apparently died there some years ago under suspicious circumstances. As the movie opens, the audience sees that Dora has remarried a man, who is stepfather to her only son of her previous marriage. Dora has emotional issues, and has been treated for her problems in the past. As the family attempts to move on with their lives, old issues begin to resurface in this movie, and all of the family's problems appear to be linked to a dark past, the secret of which appears to lie within the basement of their new house. Once Dora's son begins acting strange, her emotional issues really begin to resurface and the movie is set into motion.

The first part of "Shock" is designed to set the stage for the shocking ending that this movie relies so heavily upon. There is some elongated character development, and some scenes that could have been cut short. However, in "Shock", Bava is indeed building towards something that is designed to shock and horrify the audience by movie's end. Thus, the name for the movie is "Shock". Therefore, some scenes of character and plot development are obviously necessary to enrich the audience's viewing experience. As such, "Shock" is a bit slow to start, but it does warm up as the movie progresses with some eerie visuals that are quite creepy as well as a gradually developing dark atmosphere which are both conducive to an effective horror movie. In other words, there is a method to Bava's madness. With that being said, some of these scenes could have been shorter and had the same effect. The problem is that the movie is only ninety-two minutes long to begin with. This is a recurring problem with horror movies, but if the ending is rewarding enough, a la "Burnt Offerings", it is wise to stay with the film. I think this is the case with "Shock" to a certain extent as well.

What Bava does rather well in "Shock" is to instill in the movie a rather ominous atmosphere that thickens as the plot develops. The atmosphere and the story itself work to foster suspense in the audience, and this really makes the viewer want to stay with this movie. What ultimately transpires is a shocking and somewhat horrifying conclusion to the movie. The mystery of "Shock" is interesting enough in and of itself, but Bava also does a good job of mixing in dream sequences with paranormal phenomena that works to heighten the tension in the audience thereby producing horror. In this respect, Bava does a good job of playing on the psychological state of Dora versus the paranormal/haunting spirit theme that is also present. While the acting is not the greatest (although Daria Nicolodi did a fine job as Dora), it is actually pretty good for most European horror movies. The execution of the plot is also adequate and relatively smooth. The plot development is sufficient for the execution of such a movie, but there is definitely room for improvement in this area of "Shock". My biggest argument with "Shock" would simply be that not enough happens, until the end of the movie. However, this is a byproduct of Bava's film execution for this particular script as the title would indicate the need for such. In this capacity, I believe that "Shock" works fairly well as a horror movie with some obvious limitations with the script. The concept of "Shock" is sound, but the script could have been better.

In conclusion, "Shock" is a pretty good horror movie that is extremely reliant (to a fault) on its concluding scenes. Not enough happens to make this a great horror movie, and one is left to wonder if the potential of this film (as Dave eluded to in a prior review) was fully realized. In short, "Shock" is an entertaining and relatively effective horror movie that could have been better, but for whatever reason (limitations of script, reliance upon ending, more death scenes, another character or two might have helped, etc., etc.) does not rise to the status of a really good horror movie, much less a great one. Still, I must confess that I like it probably more than I should. Although somewhat different, I would also suggest "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" to those that like "Shock" as another movie that plays on the psychological versus the paranormal theme, but conversely leaves the viewer to his/her own conclusions rather than coming down on one side or the other.