Groupe de choc

This film has been bundled with "Battle of Blood Island" by Something Weird Video and they both have a lot in common. Both were made with minuscule budgets. Both had tiny casts. And, both were WWII war films that were made during the late 50s to mid-60s. However, while "Battle of Blood Island" proved you could still make a half non-way decent film with next to no money, "Shell Shock" would almost seem to prove the opposite.

"Shell Shock" is a very dull film. What makes it much worse is that, according to the movie, WWII must have involved a dozen or so men TOTAL on both sides! That's because you never see more than three or four or five guys at any one time in the film and the action is almost non-existent. To make matters worse, the German soldiers look like American college students from 1964---and I truly believe that's what they are. The black rimmed 60s nerd style glasses and hairdos are clearly NOT German circa 1944! As for the plot, it isn't bad but overacting all around really sink the production. The story involves a soldier who has just been decorated for bravery going nuts because he's so badly in need of a break from the action. Ultimately, however, the guy snaps out of it and single-handedly wins WWII...or something like that.

Overall, it's just amazingly dull from start to finish. Seeing a very few guys wearing army surplus uniforms and running around the hills outside Los Angeles isn't my idea of fun...and I doubt if it would be yours.

I recently learned that Beach Dickerson passed away on 7 Dec, 2005. This review is dedicated with deepest respect to his memory.

You know you're watching a low budget movie when the ubiquitous Bronson Canyon stands in for Northern Italy during WW2. Johnny (Carl Crow) is a new guy in the combat unit of tough guy sergeant Rance (Beach Dickerson). Rance has been busted 3 times and it's beginning to look like he'll never get his stripes back. This has made him mad at the world and he rides the soldiers under him without letting up. While trying to take a machine gun nest Johnny freaks out big time and has a mental breakdown. Rance thinks he's faking it just to get some R & R in a nice quiet hospital so he lets Johnny "escape" just for the fun of hunting him down and (maybe) shooting him for desertion. So is Johnny headed for a psycho ward? Is Rance going to gun him down? Has anyone remembered that there's a war going on and the real enemies are the German soldiers who are out there someplace? Is this movie ever going to end?

You wouldn't think a low budget war movie would have an undercurrent but SHELL SHOCK has a motif of losing and recovering ones own humanity. Without revealing too much Johnny finds a few moments of tenderness with an Italian farm girl (Pamela Grey) and Rance gets back in touch with his sensitive side when he meets and Italian-American expatriate (Delores Faith, who deserved way better parts than she got in her short career) who offers him a slow dance and a hamburger.

Okay so some of the people in this picture couldn't act their way out of an empty room; most of this movie is fun and many of the characters are very believable. I enjoyed watching this and I think many of you will too.

We miss you Beach, thanks for everything.

Shell Shock (1964)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Set during WWII, Rance (Beach Dickerson) loses out on a promotion and is outraged that someone under him, Johnny (Carl Crow) gets a metal for bravery. After an event in the field has Johnny freaking out, Rance decides to try and prove that he's actually a coward.

Director John Hayes would later make GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE, which is probably the film he will always be remembered for. He made several exploitation pictures in his time and those films are better remembered than SHELL SHOCK. This film is a pretty boring one and that keeps it from reaching any sort of entertainment but at the same time I can at least tip my hat to the director for at least trying to do soemthing different.

The movie is trying to take a look at battle fatigue and the impact that war can have on someone's mind. All of that is well-understood but sadly the film just doesn't capture any of that for a number of reasons. For starters, the budget is so low that it's obvious they are shooting in California and this hurts the picture. What hurts it even worse is that everyone, whether they are American or Germany, are being played by American actors. Realism is certainly taken away.

Dickerson is decent enough in his role and it's nice seeing him in the lead. Many of the supporting performances are a bit below par. The film also suffers from being way too slow and the story just never comes to life or grabs your attention. SHELL SHOCK might have had its heart in the right place but the end result is a mess.

Shell Shock seems to have been made on a limited budget, and while everyone tries their best this is far from a classic film. Though set in Italy in 1943, it is quite obvious that it was filmed in the Hollywood Hills in the early 1960s and also apparently on a LA beach for one scene. It is quite a laugh to see lots of WW2 soldiers (both American and German) with mid sixties surfer haircuts. Some of the action scenes aren't bad, but the psychological aspects dealing with combat fatigue seem quite unbelievable. Not a totally bad film, but a movie to watch only once.

Considering that it was obviously shot in and around Hollywood and that the German soldiers look like crew members pressed into service, this still has some very effective scenes and some decent performances. Good to see Dickerson play a bad guy for a change.