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A superb 1977 Italian horror movie, the last to directed by the late, great Mario Bava. A textbook example of how to build mood, tension and…yes…shock on a limited budget, it remains one of the best films of its kind. |
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The PackageMario Bava was, quite simply, the finest director of Italian horror flicks; early films like BLACK SUNDAY (1961) and BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (1964) remain benchmarks of the genre. With their garish, stylized lighting, economical special effects and shocking (for the time) gore, they set the tone for what was to come (in the famed giallos of Dario Argento and others). Unfortunately, his final years were extremely erratic; Bava never finished editing RABID DOGS (1974), while the dreamlike LISA AND THE DEVIL (1975) was heavily re-cut and released as HOUSE OF EXORCISM. Both films were recently restored to their former glory‡itäs just too bad Bava himself wasnät around to see them.Mario Bava was, quite simply, the finest director of Italian horror flicks; early films like BLACK SUNDAY (1961) and BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (1964) remain benchmarks of the genre. With their garish, stylized lighting, economical special effects and shocking (for the time) gore, they set the tone for what was to come (in the famed giallos of Dario Argento and others). Unfortunately, his final years were extremely erratic; Bava never finished editing RABID DOGS (1974), while the dreamlike LISA AND THE DEVIL (1975) was heavily re-cut and released as HOUSE OF EXORCISM. Both films were recently restored to their former glory‡itäs just too bad Bava himself wasnät around to see them. |
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The StoryCall it REPULSION meets THE EXORCIST. Daria Nicolodi (Dario Argentoäs longtime companion and star of quite a few of his films) plays a woman with problems: her kid is acting weird and her house has turned against her. A slamming window shutter nearly breaks her fingers, animated furniture threatens her at every turn, and her young son has turned equally menacing ("Iäm going to kill you!" he tells her at one point early on). Sheäs also afflicted by ghostly visions of her dead husband, who died under suspicious circumstances. Things are further complicated by the third-act revelation that she recently spent time in an insane asylum--is she cracking up or is there an honest-to-goodness supernatural presence threatening her life?A simple story, sure, but itäs that simplicity which makes it
so effective, as the screws are steadily tightened, leading up to an almost
unbearably suspenseful climax. |
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The DirectionHorror connoisseurs have long debated the true authorship of this film. Many claim that Mario Bavaäs son Lamberto, a longtime assistant to his father who receives a screenwriting credit here, actually directed much, if not all, of SHOCK. Maybe, but the sheer skill with which this one was executed could only have been achieved by an experienced master, and that the elder Bava most certainly was.The opening montage of household items is breathtaking, imbuing everything with a subtle sense of creeping menace that perfectly sets the tone for what is to come. Bavaäs knowledge of how to stretch a limited budget to its limits comes in handy here, with quite a few brilliantly executed yet economical special effects. Particularly fine is the sonäs sudden transformation into his dead father (achieved by simply having the kid duck out of the frame and his old man pop up in his place), and the invisible hand that seems to stroke Nicolodiäs hair (she and the camera were strapped to a revolving bed). |
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Vital StatisticsSHOCK [aka BEYOND THE DOOR 2]
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