A Real Shocker

Another day, another horror movie...at least until next Wednesday. Today's movie is rather atypical fare for me, since I prefer my horror movies either along the lines of giallo or mindless zombie blow 'em ups. Having said that, it would also be hard to argue with today's selection Shock, as it also marked the final film directed by legendary Italian director Mario Bava.

Technically, even though the credits show that Bava was the director, the film actually had two directors, as his son Lamberto had a hand in this movie. In many ways, this was a transition film, as not only was it the elder Bava's last directed film, but also the first film that the junior Bava would be directing in what would become a respectable directorial career.

As for Shock, the film stars John Steiner and Daria Nicolodi as a couple who move into a house with their son. Before I continue, read that last sentence and tell me if those names sound familiar to you. *pauses* For those that don't know, Steiner would later be in the Dario Argento film Tenebre while Nicolodi was in quite a few of Argento's films in addition to being his girlfriend at the time. Back to the plot, the couple Bruno and Dora (Steiner and Nicolodi, respectively) and their son Marco move into a new house, except that it isn't exactly new to Dora, as a few years ago, she had lived there with her first husband Carlo, who had supposedly committed suicide. Carlo had also been rather abusive to Dora, which eventually would lead her to the asylum. Things begin to get weird when Marco starts to talk to his imaginary friend in the basement, who would later turn out to be the dead father. Soon, Dora begins to have nightmares about Carlo and has to face Marco, who channels the deceased Carlo in many respects, going as far as doing among other things, ripping up Dora's underwear in the drawer, sending five roses with a note that read along the lines of "a rose for each year despite yourself," and even cutting up a picture of Dora and Bruno. The last action sees Marco pinning the head of Bruno on a swing and pushing it, mysteriously causing the airplane Bruno is flying to suddenly lose control. Eventually, the secret Dora is hiding comes out in a drawing Marco makes, which depicts Dora killing Carlo with a utility knife. This causes Bruno to try and dispose of the body from the wall in the basement that it had been hiding in, but before he can, Dora goes insane and kills Bruno with an ax. The insanity reaches a climax when Marco runs to Dora, only to turn into the corpse of Carlo. In the end, Dora ends up slashing her own throat with the utility knife and Marco is outside playing with the imaginary friend.

The film as a whole does plod along rather slowly, and the most astute followers of both Bavas will notice the different styles throughout the movie. What makes this movie great is the fact that even though the viewer knows what to expect as far as the supernatural, there is still no way to really brace for it, such as when Marco mind tricks the window shut on Dora. The razor between the piano keys is a subtle trick that also plays into the overall motto of "expect the unexpected," but the signature of this movie is when Marco runs to Dora and turns into the corpse of Carlo. In that scene, Marco is running and is just out of camera shot when Carlo jumps up at Dora. Folks, this is exhibit A on how to effectively use the camera angles to make a great scene. Overall, Shock relies more on scare than violence, so in a sense, it is more of your traditional horror movie that doesn't have the bells and whistles that others may have, but still worth your time nonetheless.