 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 1977 Italian horror film shock And it's a Mario Bava film and I'm going through a bunch of Mario Bava films at the moment as you may find out Because a bunch of them are available on shutter And this one was also available on shutter when I watched it and I'm reviewing it right now Don't know how long it's gonna be on there. I've actually created a playlist on my channel for Mario Bava So if you have that interest you can just go through that playlist Anyway, like I said directed by Mario Bava also known for such films as Black Sunday Black Sabbath a Bay of Blood One of my favorites of his blood in black lace another one of my favorites of his Planet of the vampires kill baby kill five dolls for an August moon Hatchet for the honeymoon the girl who knew too much and the whip and the body a few of those I have reviews for right now written by Lamberto Bava. Yes, the son of Mario He had also written scripts for macabre Demons demons to demons three the ogre you'll end you'll die at midnight Dardano Siketti was also involved with this script Who's been a longtime collaborator of a lot of big-time Italian horror directors? And I read an interview with Siketti who is saying that Mario Bava was far and away his favorite director to work with So just know that he also talked a lot of shit about other directors Who don't sound so great? So Dardano Siketti's also written scripts for films such as the cat and nine tails Cannibals in the streets city of the living dead the beyond the house by the cemetery the New York Ripper The scorpion with two tails a blade in the dark demons demons to demons three the ogre Killer crocodile killer crocodile to and a Bay of Blood and also Written writing for this because this is how it works. It's not just one or two people John Franco Barberi who also wrote scripts for emergency squad And then also Alessandro Parenzo who wrote scripts for malicious rabid dogs and Parisian lamb coat, which is an interesting title for a film this stars Daria Nicolodi who Sadly just recently passed away when I'm recording this it was within the past month So once I started watching this film I was like oh how appropriate that I'm watching this film right now She does a great job in this. She does a great job in everything. She's in and to give you an idea She's also in Suspiria deep red inferno to nebrae phenomena Delirium opera and mother of tears. Obviously. She was a heavy collaborator with Dario Argento But she did this film with Mario Baba This was Baba's final film. This was the last film that Baba did It wasn't the last of his films It was released though because he had other projects that had kind of been unreleased that ended up being released later such as which was the big one Was rabid dogs rabid dogs actually ended up getting released the other one he had been working on that didn't get finished I don't know if it actually was released was called baby Kong and He had done those kind of back-to-back and they didn't get finished And so he kind of felt like he was a bit maybe done with filmmaking until Lamberto his son talked him into Hey, why don't you do this film and then kind of worked on the script got cicchetti involved with it and everything and Which I think this was a partial script actually not long after Baba had worked with cicchetti on a Bay of Blood This script had been kind of like drafted up a little bit and then they kind of like resurrected it for for this film This was released in the United States as behind the door or sorry beyond the door to Which if you haven't seen beyond the door you should I think it's still on shutter It's an experience. It's not a good film. It's a wacky film, but it's definitely worth watching very entertaining and I think maybe one of the reasons that they called it beyond the door to other than the fact that Italian filmmakers just did or Production companies did this from time to time would have a film that's not tied at all to another film be the sequel Or just call it that it's weird But I think the tie-in here is that the kid the little kid in beyond the door is also in this film So there is like an actual connection And you could actually you know, this is a spoiler review and it's actually gonna be spoiler for beyond the door I would say that if you watch this film from the standpoint of this being a Sequel to beyond the door, then you could see it as this one little kid who's in both of the films can't stop getting possessed Cannot stop getting possessed and then with the end of this film even Wherever his parents are dead And his step-parent like all of his parents are dead You could take it further and do a third one where you move him to an orphanage And then he gets adopted by another family and then he gets possessed again And you just keep it going they could have done a whole franchise of this same kid getting possessed But he's not actually the same character from the first one just so people know Like I said unrelated the film was actually rushed when it was made they started filming in June of 1977 and it was released the film was released in Italy in August of 1977 so honestly for how Good this film is I'm not saying it's like an amazing film or anything, but I think it's a good film I enjoyed it for how good it is. It's crazy to consider how fast it was pumped out So I you know taking that into account. It makes it seem even better The script was actually loosely based on a book by Hilary Waugh called The Shadow Guest But Siketti has said in interviews that the script was a lot inspired by the works of Stephen King Which I guess you can kind of see some of that when you're watching it Okay, so getting in the actual film itself the great music in the beginnings is the type of music I expect from these older Italian horror films. It's Mismatch for horror films. It's upbeat. It's kind of funky and fun, but I love the music. I love it The basement or as they call it the cellar in this looks properly creepy for a film That's going to be a haunting film anytime in any horror film Especially a haunting one when someone goes into the basement or cellar It should look creepy and this looks appropriately creepy Obviously, they spent a lot of time focusing on the brick wall But not only that in the beginning. They really focus also on kind of the furniture and kind of giving you that Full view of what's down there and the kid. It's interesting because the kid What's his name in this Marco actually? Comments on how much he likes the furniture in the cellar and it's interesting because that furniture ends up coming into play in the end of the film when Dora that's her name. I keep wanting to call it Daria because that's her actual name the actress Dora when Dora is up against that brick wall and They all the it's kind of everything's all the antique furniture is kind of like closing in on her So it's interesting that was talked about in the beginning and then brought later None the less by the conduit the kid who's the conduit for Carlos Spirit coming back and haunting Dora Baba really likes camera movements from one area of the room to another That's one thing I've noticed through a lot of his films is he likes to you know Start the scene over here and then rotate to over here where something else is going on. He does that a lot I think it works a lot of the time But it can give you a little bit of like a motion sickness Going on from time to time the other thing he really likes doing is rotating the camera around characters And it's not always like rotating from like the side to the front. It varies Most recent he's done it in Bay of Blood. He's done it in whip in the body and he did it in this film shock And sometimes it's you know from the front of the face and rotating to the back of the head Or sometimes it's from the back of the head and then rotating to the front of the face It's just the thing he does like there are these kind of Directorial things that baba just does and those are two of the things that I've kind of noticed It's all about the camera movements, but I like the way he directs. I really do Bruno talking about leaving for a business trip sets the stage for Dora and Marco To be alone in the house for things to really start happening Now initially when that Bit of knowledge was dropped that he's leaving and it looks like he was an airplane pilot for a living You think he's going to be gone for a while and you think that I thought at least that all the events of the film When the haunting that was happening were going to happen while he was gone They didn't though, which is good because you know getting another character involved is always a good thing in my opinion Leaves more possibilities open What was happening when Marco was playing with his mother and then they rolled over and he was on top of her And it's like he kind of had her arms pinned and he was making like this kind of like Kind of noise It sounded oddly sexual I was very uncomfortable with that And I was like is this carlo coming through and feeling some sort of like sexuality with Dora at the moment or Is this just Marco trying to like fight off carlo taking over his body? Because there are those moments throughout this film where it's You can tell it's clearly like this is Marco right now having control of his body Now this is carlo having control of Marco's body And they actually do a good job of making kind of visual cues out of that a lot of the time Case in point, you know, they'll show the wall And then they'll show Marco and that's kind of indicating that You know carlo is in control at the moment or they'll show the other thing is that swing hanging from the tree They'll show that and then they'll show Marco Marco and that's indicating that you know He's you know, he's not in control anymore. It's carlo But the other thing is they do a good job with kind of behavioral changes To let you know when it's actually Marco or when it's actually carlo So I thought that was pretty carefully done and it works But I still don't know what was happening in that scene with Marco on top of his mom making weird noises weird Um Bava always shoots scenes of bodies of water. That's another thing It's like he in every single film he does he has to shoot on the edge of a body of water And he does that here like I said Bay of blood whipping the body Um, I don't remember about blood and black lace And I'm just naming all the bava films I've seen at this point But I'm gonna keep going and I'll comment on this stuff when I do the other other reviews if they're in there Love the shot When Marco goes and starts looking out the window at night at the swing That's hanging from the tree and it blurs his face and brings the swing into focus But you still see his blurred image on the other side of the window Not only does it look really cool, but that's one of those visualizations I was talking about where it's showing carlo's taking over like it's taking the focus off of actual Marco And it's focusing on one of the things that's representing carlo now, which is that swing So it's like here we go It's like as the focus goes out Marco's losing control and as the focus comes in on the Swing carlo has control very interesting because then that's when he goes and starts like the hand starts groping Dora when she's in bed and that's that's another thing that shows up visually a lot is The hand like a hand is very important to signify carlo in this but also to signify the The moment when the murder had actually happened which we you know figure out much later Is it dora actually killed carlo and that kind of starts with like a hand coming out And her I guess he was shooting her up because he was a drug addict So I guess he was like shooting her up with heroin or something and they make a point of Having that hand statue involved and her putting her arm near it and he kind of injects her So there's a lot focusing on the hands whether it's like I was talking about the hand groping her in bed Or when she falls and the rake cuts her She sees it as a bloody hand grabbing her ankle or in the end one of my favorite shots where You know that I think it's like an armoire kind of opens up in the box cutters there And then all of a sudden the box cutters in a hand coming out of the shadows and coming towards her And I'll talk about that shot again because there's something else about it that I really liked But yeah, so There's a lot of cool directorial and cinematography stuff in this When marco says mama, I have to kill you that is a creepy moment But it's also a quirky one because of the line delivery of the kid is weird and then he just like runs off So like it's kind of creepy. It's kind of scary, but then it's also kind of quirky and wacky and weird I like that mix to be honest, especially when I'm watching older films The reveal of dora having had some sort of treatment cast her in a suspicious light for other characters This kind of creates that whole Unreliable narrator type thing not for the audience in this instance necessarily because you're seeing what she's seeing Although there are moments where you kind of wonder is she actually seeing this or is she losing it? Especially after they kind of bring up the having had treatment situation But it's talked about amongst characters So you get the idea as an audience member that Other characters are really going to question What dora may be telling them saying oh well this happened haunting wiser this ghost and this happened That they would just naturally be like you're crazy Whatever, I mean even bruno who was in on the whole thing as we find out much later Kind of gross when marco peeps on his mom in the shower And then steals her panties and then like rips up her panties and puts them back A little uncomfortable Having you know some sort of like sexual something through the kid. It's it's uncomfortable, but you know this was the 70s There was a lot more like anything goes on film in the 70s in the 80s as well, but I think even more so in the 70s They do a good job of indicating when marco is in control and or Karlo is like I was saying the visual stuff would also behavioral shifts, which you can definitely tell It's kind of cool and weird when when you see the moving light in the shape of bruno who was cut out of the photo That moment where um, it's obvious. Well, it becomes obvious that Marco has cut bruno out of the family photo But you you get there by seeing just like the shape of a person of like a man You know in a in a light kind of like panning across the room and then it comes into the frame where you're seeing marco Holding that Cut up picture shining a light through it and you realize that's what did it. That's a cool visual moment. I really like that Real effective moment when the hand with the box cutter comes through the door That's another moment. That's another thing of these the hands always coming up You know not only does the hand with the box cutter happen at the end like I was talking with like that armoire But when someone's coming through the door and she tries to block it with I think another armoire The hand makes it through and it's got the box cutter That's a creepy moment Especially because it's like coming at the camera basically Which it does that with the armoire as well and bava's done that A decent amount in films at least he did it in the whip in the body as well with like things coming at The screen and I like that it's cool. It gives it more depth, but it also makes it feel Like you're more like in it like you're there and so I like that interactive nature of of those shots Good reveal with how dora killed carlo and then how bruno was involved in the cover-up So I thought the only twist would be dora finding out that she actually killed carlo But then they throw in that twist of bruno knowing about it finding her after it happened And then just being like well, you know, you didn't even really know what happened And I love you and I want to protect you so I'm going to take this body I'm going to wall it up behind some brick and we're just going to live here Basically, uh, which is crazy to me. It's crazy. Um Especially with everything that goes on and like even when she was talking about it being a suicide And everyone's talking about it being a suicide like I don't know why you would choose to move into the house Where your ex lover committed committed suicide and then the other thing is this like did the police not really even look into anything Because it seems like if they would have done any real detective work, they would have had questions about You know, they're at there the whole thing like where's the body and he's just like, oh, he just went out You know bruno says basically he was just like he went out to see and killed himself And they're just like, okay. He's a drug addict. So fine. You know, he's erratic, of course He's a bad guy whatever like that's the only way I guess you could explain it is that they're just like He's not a good guy. Whatever. We don't care. I don't know But good reveal of dora and bruno's roles in carlo's death And it kind of like shifts how you feel about carlo as the spirit from being like, oh He's clearly evil and trying to exert control over her Which is something that happens in the bava film the whip and the body quite a bit It's it's all about, you know, the spirit coming back for control, but um It totally shifts and you start to feel like well, you know, he was done wrong and I don't feel as bad for the spirit Maybe they're gonna get the hairs and they do get theirs Uh and dora just ends up adding another body to the pile Well, two bodies if you count hers then when she commits suicide Uh, and then I had a question before she killed herself. I questioned myself I was like, are we gonna then have bruno come back as a spirit now to and haunt her? Because that would be a crazy if they would have left it there It would have been a crazy sequel to be like now she's still in the house and she's haunted by carlo And bruno spirits and then maybe like the spirits fight each other at the same time. That would be a cool concept I like that idea go me There are some great transitions Uh in this film in the end like one of my favorites is when car marco's running at His mom in the hallway and then like he goes out of frame and then carlo pops up right in front of her and like grabs her That was an awesome transition. That was really cool And then the other one being I got was talking about the before the hand with the box cutter in the armoire Because it's like coming at the it's coming at the camera and then it cuts and it's Um, it's dora's hand coming out of frame and she has the box cutter And then that's when she kills herself that transition very smooth looked really good And it creates this moment of like, oh my gosh, she's holding it and then you see And you're like, oh Pretty good And in the end dora actually died of suicide, which they had said carlo did Technically of suicide, uh, although you could argue that, you know carlo made her do it or she was pushed to do it or maybe he even possessed her to do it Um, but also she was killed in the same manner that she killed carlo So it was this whole kind of thing where as The whole story kind of starts off off screen It ends in a way and then marcos just having a tea party I guess with the spirits of his parents, maybe I don't know Uh, if you already talked about watching it as a sequel to beyond the door, uh, imagine things in this film from marcos perspective Um, specifically marcos perspective when marcos in control of his own body It would be crazy because you have to consider that like when he's possessed by carlo Obviously, he doesn't know what he's doing because he denies, you know, having drawn that one picture He denies a lot of things so and and he's believable with it So like you can tell that like he doesn't know what's actually going on when he's not in control of his body So just think about this movie through his perspective and what it turns into is his mother losing it Not only losing it and seeming out there, but getting abusive with him at times Verbally and a little bit physically because she does slap him at one point But anyway that said that's all I have to say about the film. Um, I think I covered it pretty well I enjoyed this I really did and it was one of those films where it did stagnate a bit at times and I was kind of like But the twists in the end kind of like bring it right back and you don't care as much about the more stagnant parts of it And it's only like an hour and a half So so out of five stars with half stars in play. Where do I put this one? I can't go super high But I'm gonna give it a very solid three and a half stars at the moment I do like it and I would recommend it to some people It's a it's a fun flick And it's good to see that this being bava's last film that he went out in a good way in my opinion I don't know if it was popular at the time or not, but me watching it now I appreciate that his last feature length film was a good film So anyway, give me your thoughts. Let's have some comments down here. What do you think about shock by mario bava? What do you think about bava films in general and what are some of your favorites? Let's talk about that But do me a quick favor hit that subscribe button That is your best way to repay me if you like any video I've ever done is quick and painless for you and I really really do appreciate it So I'm trying to grow the channel here Also, hit the notification bell because that way you'll know when I'm putting up new videos Or doing live streams or any of that But yeah, regardless, I thank you for taking your time to watch this and until next time keep it brutal Thank you