Shock

When a family moves into a home with a shocking secret, their lives become a nightmare of homicidal hallucinations as their young son begins to communicate with the spirits of the dead. Remodeled in madness and painted in blood, they soon discover that domestic bliss can be murder... when home is where the horror is.

Daria Nicolodi stars in a role where she doesn't just get killed off violently, and with her are John Steiner, David Colin Jr. and Ivan Rassimov. This is director Mario Bava's final film.

I really enjoyed the boy grunting out "Pigs! Pigs! Pigs!" and his weird fetish for shredded underwear. And there is a really cool shot in bed with hair flying every which way.

Howard Maxford calls it "unwatchable", "childish" and "unfortunate", completely in contrast to Luca Palmerini, who thinks it is a "splendid artistic testament" that anticipates "A Nightmare on Elm Street", full of "high tension". I, personally, enjoyed it.

The script was written by Lamberto Bava along with Sacchetti, Lamberto's first script. Lamberto has said the film is more his than his father's, and stylistically that is quite true. Critics comparing this to Mario Bava's other work may be surprised, but I found it was in many ways in the same vein as "Macabre".

Dora Baldini (Daria Nicolodi), her husband Bruno Baldini (John Steiner) and her son Marco (David Colin Jr.) move to a huge house that belongs to her. Dora lived in this house with Marco and her former husband, who was drug addicted and committed suicide. The house is empty since them and Bruno, who is a pilot, has decided to move to the place claiming it is close to the airport. Soon Marco is possessed by the ghost of his father and Dora is haunted by the house. She tells to Bruno that they need to leave the house and she is afraid of her son, but he believes Dora relapsed since she had a breakdown when he husband died. Why the vengeful spirit is seeking revenge?

"Schock" is a scary and creepy story of possession and haunted house. The direction of Mario Bava is capable to make a great low-budget film with a simple storyline. Daria Nicolodi has a convincing performance in the role of a traumatized woman that is haunted by the ghost of her former husband and discovers the motive in the end. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Schock"

The other night, an excellent documentary was on tv about Mario Bava. I had never seen a film of his before, but I had heard of him. After the doco, they played 'Shock'. The guy who introduced the film said that it wasn't Bava's best film but that it was a film that gets better every year.

Bava's films are hard to get in Australia so I watched this one without any expectation.

I wasn't more than pleasantly surprised. I felt that it was probably the best haunted house flick that I had seen. I enjoyed the twists and the turns of the plot, and the economy of the size of the cast,(3 principals). The whole film left me with a very creepy feeling and for that I feel that the film worked completely.

I could see the influence on other films such as 'The Sixth Sense', 'Stir Of Echoes', and 'What Lies Beneath', and I can safely say that I enjoyed 'Shock' more than all these others. I suppose it's because Mario Bava's direction was not flashy and concentrated more on telling his story and keeping us guessing.

Finally, my enjoyment of this film has encouraged me to seek out Bava's other films and that can only be a good thing.

The final completed film for Italian horror master Mario Bava is a decent one. It lacks the atmosphere of his very best work, but Bava still proves himself an expert at establishing a mood and putting macabre imagery on film.

Although sold in North America as "Beyond the Door II", this bears little relation to the earlier Italian "Exorcist" imitation "Beyond the Door". It does have one cast member in common - young David Colin Jr. - and features a similar possession theme - but otherwise, that's it.

The beautiful Daria Nicolodi stars as Dora Baldini, a young woman who moves with her son Marco (Colin Jr.) and second husband, Bruno (John Steiner), into her former home. She'd lost her previous husband under suspicious circumstances, and spent some time in a mental hospital. Now Marco is behaving strangely, and Dora begins to be tormented by various visions, to the point that she believes she may be losing her mind.

Bavas' son Lamberto was assistant to his father on this show, co-wrote the screenplay, and also plays a minor, uncredited role. "Shock" also co-stars Ivan Rassimov as a psychiatrist who attempts to help the fragile Dora. The Goblin-esque soundtrack composed by "I Libra" is effective most of the time. Bava, to his credit, eschews going for a lot of supernatural effects in favour of a mostly psychological approach. Things only start to get a little more conventional towards the end. However, gore fans need not worry as things become pretty bloody at the conclusion. Some viewers will also appreciate the nudity supplied by Ms. Nicolodi.

And speaking of Ms. Nicolodi, she's almost the entire show here, delivering a convincingly unhinged performance. It's safe to say that she makes the most out of this top billed role.

The director brings much of his customary style to this tale. He definitely could have done much worse for what would turn out to be his swan song.

Seven out of 10.

The final film from Italian horror director Mario Bava was this chilling tale.

Upon returning to the home where her former husband died, a woman begins to believe that her young son is possessed and is attempting to kill her.

Plot-wise Schock is slim on sense, but those of us that love the films of Bava (or most any Italian horror period) know that the entertainment is all in the style and Bava's direction flourishes with style in this film as well. Schock carries a strong atmosphere of darkness and an increasing feeling of dread that drives it to nightmarish proportions at times. The film's scenic locations, creepy music score, and its female star add all the more to the elegance that is this twisted spooker.

The cast is good over all, but it is Daria Nicolodi that really shines as a wife/mother who begins to question her sanity.

Granted, Schock may not be the greatest of Bava's films, but it certainly was a great last work. Worth seeking out.

*** out of ****