You won't be disappointed!

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The first must-see film of the year.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

"Shock" has Dario Argento muse Daria Nicolodi playing Dora, a housewife who returns to the home she shared with her deceased husband with her second husband and young son from the former marriage. On edge as it is, things become increasingly unsettling in the home when she is plagued by visions, apparitions, and strange behavior from her child—behavior that is reminiscent of her ex-husband.Technically Bava's final film, "Shock" seems to be one of the famed director's least-praised and most criticized works. Looking at his career trajectory, the film seems to be something of a return to his earlier roots, which were heavily characterized by the supernatural as opposed to his slasher and gialli outings ("A Bay of Blood," "Blood and Black Lace"). The film is a through-and-through supernatural horror movie, and what's perhaps most brilliant about it is that Bava paints it with an ambiguity that inclines the audience to take Dora's supernatural encounters as evidence of psychological meltdown, but he flips the script enough times to leave the audience thoroughly discombobulated.On a visual level, the film has more in common with other late '70s Italian horror films than it does with the aesthetic choices Bava is typically known for, but it is no less a visually dazzling movie. The cinematography is gorgeous, and there are a handful of brilliant camera tricks throughout, most memorably toward the frenetic and terrifying finale. On top of (and in some cases, because of) that, the film is just legitimately creepy, from the premise itself to the way Bava visually represents the horror on screen. The appearances of Dora's deceased husband are bizarre, startling, and sinister, and become increasingly disturbing as the film progresses; the visual flair Bava employs in these instances has been obviously influential on a slew of contemporary films. Nicolodi plays the distressed heroine here phenomenally, toeing the line between unhinged matron and terrorized housewife, and the audience never quite knows what to make of it until the script comes barreling down in the last twenty minutes. The film's conclusion is truly among the greatest finales of any haunted house film I've ever seen. The tension and dynamism that come out as the film spins out of control is absolutely transfixing, partly because of the performances, and partly because of the maintained stamina of the film.Overall, "Shock" is a fantastic haunted house film, and is probably Bava's most profoundly underrated work. The script is terrifying in all of its initial mundanity, and becomes explosively creepy as the heroine finds herself increasingly tormented. Beautiful camera-work and the somber country house setting accentuate the creepiness factor exponentially, and Bava's visual flair acts as mere icing on the cake. I am quite frankly baffled by the less enthusiastic responses to the film. "Shock" may not be "signature" Bava, but it is profoundly moody, creepy, and utterly mesmerizing. 9/10.

Having recently discovered "Twitch of the Death Nerve", I decided to finally give "Schock" a whirl. Imagine my joy when the film opened very similar to "Twitch of the Death Nerve", with the camera exploring the deserted location where our film will take place, a similar seaside locale featuring an unusual house. Dora has returned to this house with her small son Marco and her second husband, Bruno. We learn that Dora's first husband, Carlo, died under mysterious circumstances; it appears that the man's unbalanced psyche and drug abuse led him to commit suicide by drowning himself in the ocean. Dora has returned to their former home, convinced by Bruno that they would be better off making use of the house rather than selling it. Dora, however, suffered a mental breakdown at the time of her first husband's death, and strange feelings of dread begin to overtake her. Marco begins to communicate with an unseen presence, transforming from a happy child to a devious, lurking presence in the home. Dora seems to be headed for another breakdown.Unlike some of Bava's other work, the plot here is negligible. It doesn't hold up under consideration, and it's not very involving in the first place. Some viewers may be frustrated by preconceived notions that the film will be about the demonic possession of a child, which it is not. It's really about Dora and her fragile mental condition being unhinged by supernatural elements. If it were not for Bava's strong visual style, this movie wouldn't have a reason for being. It's not as good as his earlier work, mostly because of the weak script. It also doesn't help that the movie occasionally lapses into camp, such as a scene that depicts a near-disaster on an airplane where the passengers simply freak the hell out while the camera tilts wildly about.Dubbing is often problematic in Italian films, especially ones involving children as main characters. In this case, Marco's voice seemed to have been actually performed by a child instead of an adult speaking in falsetto, which is the best any of us can hope for. There are a few disturbing moments involving him, including one where he asks to sleep with Dora and then fondles her throat in an erotic manner while she is sleeping, his hand appearing as the hand of a rotting corpse. Sadly, another crucial shock involving Marco is given away in the film's trailer, which I would advise that you avoid before watching the movie.I can't forget to mention the score by Goblin, working under the name Libra here. It's memorable, while not as effective as their score for "Suspiria" done around the same time. One ingenious shot combines a very weird musical riff and a ghostly white figure circling a room. Ultimately this overlap between the style of Bava and Argento hurts "Schock"; even though Bava was doing things like that decades before Argento, in 1977 it was Argento who was at the top of the game. Even though "Schock" isn't Bava's best moment, it still delivers an effective haunted house thriller, with the disjointed atmosphere of classic Italian horror.

Italian horror cinema, especially it's more exploitative stylings such as giallo, is so hit-and-miss. Some directors are great, others are terrible, even when they're contemporaries. Within oeuvres, some director's movies are quite effective, others are nearly useless (I'm glaring at you, Dario Argento). And, in some cases, even a single movie has its amazing parts and its terrible parts--yes, like Shock, Maestro Mario Bava's final directorial effort.The concept itself is very good. A mix of Shining and Amityville Horror style haunted house narrative, a woman and her family move into the house of her youth, only to be beset by spectres. Dora, the mother, is first beset by apprehension, then anxiety, then horror, and finally insanity as the house slowly destroys her mind. Young Marco, her child, almost immediately gets possessed -- by what is not so clear, but that's actually a good way to go about it. Bruno, Dora's second husband and Marco's step-father is ostensibly the voice of reason, but first his absence's sink the security of Dora's psyche, and then his sordid past comes back to destroy all vestiges of hope for the family. If you're looking for skeletons in the closet, that's basically the best way to describe this movie.However, it's execution is spotty at best. There's the aforementioned possessions, ghostly happenings, psychoses; there's also voodoo, token objects, endless dream sequences, and a trippy montage in the middle of the movie that comes out of absolutely nowhere. There are some sequences that are superbly executed (one shot near the end of the movie involving a hallway and Bruno suddenly changing into someone else has to be one of the most terrifying moments in cinema I've ever witnessed), and then there are others that do more than drag down the narrative (Dora slowly going hysterical while Bruno just sits there watching goes on too long while little reaction from Bruno makes it entirely unbelievable). In classic Italian cinema means, the imagery is mostly beautiful but their penchant for dubbed post-production sound is very disconcerting, making the movie a little harder to get into.I'd really only recommend this one to fans of Bava, the other Italian giallo filmmakers, and those who really do love really flamboyant horror movies of all sub-types. It's a shame, too, because some sequences are deserving of recognition for their skill and execution, but the whole does not support the parts, and vice versa.--PolarisDiB

Horror genius Mario Bava is, as far as I am considered, one of the greatest directors ever, an opinion that most true Horror lovers will share. His repertoire includes more masterpieces than any other Horror director's, titles like "Black Sunday", "Blood And Black Lace", "Kill Baby... Kill", "The Whip And The Body", "Bay Of Blood" or "Lisa And The Devil" are just some of the many essential Horror films this Italian genius has made. 1977 was a memorable year for Italian Horror fans. Fellow Horror genius Dario Argento directed "Suspira", one of the most brilliant horror films of all-time, in that very year, and Mario Bava ended his career with "Shock", mainly in order to boost the career of his son Lamberto (Dèmoni), who is an OK director himself, but never came near his father's brilliance. This last Mario Bava picture is an Italian-style Haunted House film, and while "Shock" is not as memorable as most other films by this brilliant director, it is definitely a creepy, genuinely scary and downright great film that Italian Horror fans can not afford to miss.Dora Baldini (Daria Nicolodi) moves into a house with her husband Bruno (John Steiner) and her son Marco (David Colin Jr.). Her first husband and father of her son has long been dead, but the Pilot Bruno, who is mostly away due to his job, has become a surrogate father. The new house which they are moving into, is actually the old house in which Dora used to live with her former husband, and while Bruno enjoys the huge mansion immensely, Dora becomes more and more scared of the strange things that seem to be going on. Especially the strange behavior of her little son begins to frighten her...Daria Niccolodi, the long-time girlfriend of Dario Argento who starred in many of his films, is a very good actress and she once again delivers a great performance, and while I didn't find her attractive in every movie she was in, she is very beautiful here. John Steiner is a great actor, who is especially talented for playing villains and psychos, and my only regret with his casting here, is that he plays a kind-hearted family man. The supporting cast furthermore includes Italian Horror and Exploitation regular Ivan Rassimov. The academy award goes to little David Collin Jr., who delivers an exceptional child performance. This is one out of only two films he ever was in, and yet this nine-year-old actor is capable of giving you the creeps merely by his facial expressions. The excellent Progressive Rock score by 'I. Libra' (a band that includes 'Goblin' member Walter Martino) and the ingenious camera work compliment this film's atmosphere even more, and the exceptionally creepy finale lives up to the film's title. As mentioned above, this last film is not as brilliant as most of Bava's other films (such as his brilliant second-to last film "Cani Arrabiati" aka. "Rabid Dogs"), but this man was a cinematic genius, and even though this does not nearly range among the highlights in his career, it is a highly atmospheric, creepy and great Horror film. Mario Bava sure was a brilliant director. Even his slightly lesser films, such as this one, are exceptional movies that outshine the rest!