Well I suddenly feel all depressed and I have no idea why!
Combat Shock (1986)
Directed By: Buddy Giovinazzo (short film: Maniac 2: Mr. Robbie)
The Prologue
Well I broke down and busted into my Christmas stash of movies, I figure it’s better to knock one off ahead of time rather than be swamped with reviews later. And as luck would have it I picked out Combat Shock (aka American Nightmares). A movie that was picked up by Troma and released again this year under Troma’s Troma Retro label.
The two disc set comes with both the original “Combat Shock” version as well as the director’s cut “American Nightmares” with the film as director Buddy Giovinazzo made it. It also has a more appropriate DVD cover than the original film had.
The Movie
They say don’t judge a book by it’s cover but the same can be said about movies as well. Had you been around when this film first came out or saw the original DVD or VHS cover later on you were lead to believe this movie was like a Missing In Action from hell type movie..but it isn’t. Combat Shock isn’t as much about war as it about the struggles someone who has been through hell has to deal with once they return from the war. And rest a sure our main man Frankie here has been through hell and with a demanding wife and a mutated son he’s not much better off back home.
Set in a very depressing looking area of New York, we follow Frankie as he just tries his best to hold his grip on his sanity and feed his family, and trust me he is failing on both accounts. See, everybody in town is looking for work. Everybody has debts to pay off (including Frankie) to some very not nice people, so the odds are stacked against everyone. Frankie has a choice to make, and in the end you may not agree with what he decides.
I’ll be honest folks, I didn’t know really what to expect with Combat Shock. I didn’t know if it was a war movie or what but what you end up getting is a very dirty and depressing movie. And when I say dirty I don’t mean it in a obscene way, I mean you just want to take this film and wash it because it just has a very unclean look. It moves slow, it picks it’s spots to drop the shocking images that it does at times have, but it does it all soo subtly it’s kinda spooky.
It’s not much of a “horror” film, I’d say it’s more like a mix of Eraserhead (they do have the mutant baby in common) and Taxi Driver. But it just seems to scrap the bottom of the scum of the earth barrel a lot more than either. You won’t feel all jolly after watching Combat Shock and that’s the point.
The Conclusion
It may be a Troma film but you won’t see nudity and comedy. However, that being said it’s a movie that only a company like Troma would put out. It’s good for a watch but it will suck the life right out of you.
I’d suggest once viewing it to be sure you have nothing sharp or loaded laying around close by.
The Rating (6.5/10)
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