This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Unhinged traumatized Vietnam veteran Frankie Dunlan (strongly played with jolting conviction and intensity by Ricky Giovinazzo, who also composed the wonky, yet still fitting and effective synth score) struggles to keep his steadily eroding sanity, lives in miserable squalor with his whiny, fed-up, and overbearing pregnant wife Cathy (a perfectly shrill portrayal by Veronica Stork) and his constantly mewling malformed baby (the result of Frankie's exposure to Agent Orange during his tour of duty), tries to find a job, and runs across a gang of local thugs while wandering around the dismal Staten Island neighborhood he resides in. Writer/director Buddy Giovinazzo delivers a pungent and unflinching evocation of severe urban decay that's rife with an overwhelming sense of pain, angst, despair, and utter hopelessness. Indeed, this picture's unsparingly bleak and depressing tone along with its fierce undiluted nihilism and pessimism give it a raw unsettling potency that's like a vicious kick right to the gut. The grimy locations, colorful array of lowlife characters, and the rough unpolished cinematography by Stella Varveris all further enhance the overall grungy verisimilitude. Packed with startling moments (a desperate and pathetic junkie uses a coat hanger to mainline heroin!), thick with a brooding gloomy mood and a harrowing grasp of the foul bitter reality of down-trodden American existence, and capped off by a shattering downbeat conclusion, this dark and ugly, yet still riveting powerhouse deserves its sterling cult reputation.

Combat Shock has been described as a cross between Eraserhead and Taxi Driver. I would find that statement to be accurate . However, Taxi Driver is a shiny happy movie compared to this . This movie shows the crime of poverty , the horrors of war and how some veterans fall under real hard times when they return home. Very low budget , limited resources really set the tone for this filthy , bleak, urban hell . The most well made of anything under the Troma banner , and artistic even. I do enjoy a lot of Troma 's campy titles , but this is stone cold serious , depressing , and well done. The pace is slow, but hits hard and heavy like a Black Sabbath riff. Very good.

This is a difficult one to review because it's so slow to today's standards and it really looks low budget. But the movie had such a history that it really became a cult flick. It was Buddy Giovinazzo's first flick and he financed it himself. Nobody would take the picture to promote and distribute, not even Troma. He went to Troma but it never ended on the desk of Kaufman. One year later he went back and Kaufman liked it but then it was called American Nightmares, a title he didn't like and he changed it to Combat Shock trying to clock in on the success of Rambo and Chuck Norris. Sadly it didn't work out that way. The promotion looked like a Vietnam flick but it wasn't and it failed at the box office so it played at 42nd street. Another problem was that the place it was shot, Stanton Island, didn't like the way it was shown but it wasn't exaggerated. It just looked that way. And not only that, most of the people found it a really boring flick. But people talked about it...I admit, it is a slow builder and it is sometimes boring but it was made in the Reagan era and New York was bankrupt. By adding an ex Vietnam soldier story it did gives it a uneasy feeling. The flick starts with some real footage of the Vietnam war, then we see how he is trying to survive in New York without money and we do see the decay of the suburbs and drug fiends. Of course the acting is really bad but what did gives it a cult status is the end of the flick. The gruelling ending made it notorious. It isn't brute or whatsoever but it do stick with you. I can understand that a lot of people will hate this but I didn't like it either while watching it but the end makes it indeed one to watch. The effects used do add something towards the uneasy feeling. Cult indeed. And do see the wink towards Eraserhead...Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

If you want to see a very effective, considerably penniless drama filled with horror and despair you can't go past the Troma released "Combat Shock". Looking at the cover artwork, it doesn't do it any justice because it's far more than just an exploitative actioner but a thoughtfully raw and unsettling psychological character piece on the struggle to cope with the hardship of unflinching reality that faced Frankie a Vietnam Vet returning back to a decayed society that just doesn't care. It's a dog eat dog world. Other than the nightmares and flashbacks that plague his mind, he finds himself still battling a war and trying to survive along with his wife and baby son (which is a disturbing sight); only the jungle this time is in his own backyard. An urban jungle --- where pimps and thugs rule the nest. Nothing seems to go right, even when he tries it goes from bad to worse with no real luck and the powerfully downbeat finale is hard to wipe from your mind. It's as depressing as you can get, because the story actually gets your into this character's mindset making you feel every bit of pain and torture. There is some action and violence, but like I mentioned earlier it's more than just that. Ugly to look at with its seedy shot on locations, but the script emotionally unfolds slowly and remains captivating in its bleak intensity. Sometimes it might lull about with the spaced-out central character's aimless wandering, but it grimy edginess just sticks with you. Although the accompanying electronic score does amplify some oddly sounding cues. Performances are credible and Ricky Giovinazzo moodily solitude turn is picture-perfect as Frankie. Director/writer/producer Buddy Giovinazzo straight-up compact handling is tough and unsparing, making the production a true labour of love. Primitive, but challenging entertainment."I can't go home empty handed tonight"