Shock (1979)

It has been said the Mario Bava is a better director than Dario Argento, but he does have the great scripts that Argento has. This final film of Bava shows his directorial talent and the script is really good also.It is a perfect Halloween film full of suspenseful music and creepy sounds, a great set, and just three main characters.Here, Bava has Argento's former partner, Daria Nicolodi, in the main role. She has appeared in many of Argento's films: Mother of Tears, Opera, Phenomena, Inferno, Suspiria and Deep Red. She even wrote Suspiria for Argento.Nicolodi is magnificent as a woman going mad.

Having recently discovered "Twitch of the Death Nerve", I decided to finally give "Schock" a whirl. Imagine my joy when the film opened very similar to "Twitch of the Death Nerve", with the camera exploring the deserted location where our film will take place, a similar seaside locale featuring an unusual house. Dora has returned to this house with her small son Marco and her second husband, Bruno. We learn that Dora's first husband, Carlo, died under mysterious circumstances; it appears that the man's unbalanced psyche and drug abuse led him to commit suicide by drowning himself in the ocean. Dora has returned to their former home, convinced by Bruno that they would be better off making use of the house rather than selling it. Dora, however, suffered a mental breakdown at the time of her first husband's death, and strange feelings of dread begin to overtake her. Marco begins to communicate with an unseen presence, transforming from a happy child to a devious, lurking presence in the home. Dora seems to be headed for another breakdown.Unlike some of Bava's other work, the plot here is negligible. It doesn't hold up under consideration, and it's not very involving in the first place. Some viewers may be frustrated by preconceived notions that the film will be about the demonic possession of a child, which it is not. It's really about Dora and her fragile mental condition being unhinged by supernatural elements. If it were not for Bava's strong visual style, this movie wouldn't have a reason for being. It's not as good as his earlier work, mostly because of the weak script. It also doesn't help that the movie occasionally lapses into camp, such as a scene that depicts a near-disaster on an airplane where the passengers simply freak the hell out while the camera tilts wildly about.Dubbing is often problematic in Italian films, especially ones involving children as main characters. In this case, Marco's voice seemed to have been actually performed by a child instead of an adult speaking in falsetto, which is the best any of us can hope for. There are a few disturbing moments involving him, including one where he asks to sleep with Dora and then fondles her throat in an erotic manner while she is sleeping, his hand appearing as the hand of a rotting corpse. Sadly, another crucial shock involving Marco is given away in the film's trailer, which I would advise that you avoid before watching the movie.I can't forget to mention the score by Goblin, working under the name Libra here. It's memorable, while not as effective as their score for "Suspiria" done around the same time. One ingenious shot combines a very weird musical riff and a ghostly white figure circling a room. Ultimately this overlap between the style of Bava and Argento hurts "Schock"; even though Bava was doing things like that decades before Argento, in 1977 it was Argento who was at the top of the game. Even though "Schock" isn't Bava's best moment, it still delivers an effective haunted house thriller, with the disjointed atmosphere of classic Italian horror.

Mario Bava's Shock is an excellent addition to his canon of films. It almost feels like a more coherent and gritty modern day take on his earlier Kill Baby Kill, using similar lighting and direction tricks to make Daria Nicoldi's creaky house all the more terrifying.Even with the slightly shoddy transfer of the film I was watching, Shock oozes visual splendour. All shots are carefully composited for maximum impact and every set is fantastically beautifully lit as you would expect from the director. The movie is in effect a Gothic horror moved to a modern day setting, with Daria Nicoldi playing a woman plagued by memories of her dead husband and more than a little amnesia issues.The way the movie slowly builds an accumulation of signs that either something extremely wrong is going on or Daria's character is losing her mind completely is excellent. A lot of flak has been launched at the film for it's slow pace, but in truth it is no slower than his earlier movies, and the slow pace gives the truly horrific and bloody finale an undeniable punch missing from many 'fast-paced' horrors.Still. It is dubbed. Atrociously in parts. As with most movies of it's kind the weakest link is the voice-over for the child Marco. He's so unfortunately over the top. Most Italian movies have at least one character that the dubbing didn't quite work out for, and Marco is Shock's. You'll either be OK with it as all these movies have similar issues, or it'll force your hand to the DVD remote halfway through the first act. Ye have been warned.If you can stomach that issue, it's an excellent movie. It's atmosphere is slightly compromised at times by the dodgy dub but other than that, this is a chiller that won't leave you for a while, especially some of the tragic and truly disturbing images in the final reels. Check it out for a real shiver-down-the-spine horror flick!

Dora(Daria Nicolodi)returns with her new husband, pilot Bruno(John Steiner) and son Marco(David Colin Jr)to the home she once shared with her former husband. It's brought up as the movie continues that her first husband, a pianist whose best days were behind him as he progressed into drug addiction bringing Dora down with him, had committed suicide. Bruno tries to keep her calm because we immediately notice she's quite emotionally fragile. The idea of returning to the home of a devastating past is hard to accept at first without some reservations. With Dora's husband often away flying commercial aircraft, she begins to notice strange behavior from son Marco who even informs his mom that he is to kill her! That admitting such an atrocious deed coming from a boy is alarming to say the least. Soon Dora is plagued by disorienting nightmares and is often spooked by inanimate objects which often fall around her. With her son's bizarre behavior and some past recollections regarding what REALLY happened to her dead husband Carlo, Dora's sanity will be tested. The rocky marriage to Carlo sent to an emotionally distraught Dora to a sanitarium and being haunted by his spirit will only further complicate matters. Why is Carlo tormenting her to begin with? And, why is he using his son as a "go-between" to frighten his former wife? And, why is blood oozing from a brick wall down in the basement? And, more importantly, how is Bruno connected to the whole ordeal? In one scene, we hear the angered spirit, speaking through Marco, refer to Dora and Bruno as pigs.Bava's final film has some really cool set-pieces such as the corpse hand often fondling Dora's throat as she sleeps or caressing her ankle after causing her to fall. We see doors swing open out of the blue, a chandelier fall nearly on top of her head, furniture spring towards her, and even a razor blade(which has significance in the grand scheme of things)suspended in air coming towards her, at one point, slicing a gap in her gown. David Colin Jr is quite creepy as the possessed Marco and Daria is pretty much in a state of near hysteria throughout. One thrilling sequence shows Marco coming towards her changing into Carlo upon arrival. May not be Mario at his best, but very entertaining with a great score. Probably the nightmare sequences have the style we often are accustomed to when watching a Mario Bava film as he implements visual techniques that make Dora's visions so bizarre, surreal, & disturbing. The film's revelation regarding Carlo's fate is really neatly presented.