Les Démons de la nuit

Mario Bava's final movie 'Schock' may be far from his finest work, and will never gain the cult following of his classics 'Black Sunday' or 'Planet Of The Vampires', but it is still a very strong and effective thriller.

Dario Argento's former lover and leading lady Daria Nicolodi ('Profondo Rosso', 'Tenebre',etc.) plays Dora, a young woman getting over a breakdown and the aftermath of the suicide of her first husband. With her young son Marco (David Colin, Jr the only tenuous link to 'Beyond The Door' which this movie was sold as a sequel to in the US), and her new husband airline pilot Bruno (Euro-horror regular John Steiner) she returns to live in her old house. Despite the bad memories that surround it, she attempts to get on with her new life, and make a fresh start. Sadly, this is not to be. Odd things start to happen, the normally cheerful Marco begins to act out, and Dora becomes increasingly disturbed by her surroundings, believing an evil force is lurking around and attempting to drive her insane. She isn't exactly wrong!

Bava manages to create a disturbing atmosphere throughout, which escalates as young Marco goes from disobedient to downright scary. We may have seen many basic elements of 'Schock' before but they are approached freshly and originally, and the incestuous undercurrents in Dora and Marco's relationship is very rarely seen in Hollywood horror. I wouldn't argue that this movie is flawless, but it has more than enough interesting touches and genuine scares to make it worth watching. Bava's reputation is increasing with every year, and 'Schock' deserves another look!

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.

A deceased man possesses his son in order to accomplish some dark things in this late 70's unofficial sequel to Beyond The Door.

The film starts with us meeting Dora, her new husband Bruno, and young son Marco. She has decided to move back into her former house where she lived with her ex-husband Carlo who killed himself at sea. After that traumatic event, Dora was given electro shock therapy to cope with the death of Carlo. We learn that Carlo was a drug addict who was taking LSD and heroin leading up to his death. As the film moves along, Dora reveals to everyone around her that she feels her young son Marco is being possessed by the deceased Carlo. Is this true, or is Dora simply going made from guilt she feels surrounding Carlo's death?

This unofficial sequel to Beyond the Door has absolutely no connection the original film. Shock is an original story that tells the tale of a young child who seems to possessed by his deceased father who was a serious drug addict that killed himself. The story lets the viewer know that the father may have in fact NOT committed suicide, and was perhaps murdered by our lead character Dora.

My issue with Beyond the Door II: Shock is how slow it moves. The plot is laid out very straight forward and is easy to follow, but it moves at a snail's pace. There are very little action scenes or moments of terror until the end of the film. Daria Nicolodi leads the way for me in the acting department. I thought gave a strong performance as the lead protagonist, Dora. The others were background noise for me for the most part. Noteworthy as the appearance of David Colin Jr. who was in the first Beyond The Door film. He definitely had a larger role in this one and did a fine job.

Overall, Shock (or Beyond the Door II) is a mediocre horror film done by the legend Mario Bava. I'd give it a viewing to make an opinion for yourself, but I was underwhelmed.

5/10

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 ****