Too much of everything

Let's be realistic.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

"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.

Dora Baldini (Daria Nicolodi), her husband Bruno Baldini (John Steiner) and her son Marco (David Colin Jr.) move to a huge house that belongs to her. Dora lived in this house with Marco and her former husband, who was drug addicted and committed suicide. The house is empty since them and Bruno, who is a pilot, has decided to move to the place claiming it is close to the airport. Soon Marco is possessed by the ghost of his father and Dora is haunted by the house. She tells to Bruno that they need to leave the house and she is afraid of her son, but he believes Dora relapsed since she had a breakdown when he husband died. Why the vengeful spirit is seeking revenge?"Schock" is a scary and creepy story of possession and haunted house. The direction of Mario Bava is capable to make a great low-budget film with a simple storyline. Daria Nicolodi has a convincing performance in the role of a traumatized woman that is haunted by the ghost of her former husband and discovers the motive in the end. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Schock"

After moving into an old house with her family, a mentally unhinged woman begins to increasingly suspect her former husband still haunts the property and tries to save her son from his presence.Overall this was an incredibly enjoyable and exciting effort with a lot to like. One of the best qualities here is the incredibly strong central premise of being stuck in the old house and why it was designated to return there, having such a strong connection with the location that's spelled out here in the convoluted back-story that grows increasingly more disturbed with each layer effectively making the stay there quite unwelcome in the first place and readily setting this one up right from the start. The way this one really digs into the psychosis of it all, that back-story giving a plausible excuse for all manner of really inventive scares from a hallucinatory attack by a floating razor-blade that follows her every move, a series of visions about a strange brick-wall that appears out of nowhere and the growing fascination her son has with either molesting her or her personal undergarments that altogether combine into a classy yet effectively sleazy affair in the greatest Italian traditions. The use of the child being possessed and whether that in itself is simply another form of her overall madness really makes for quite an intriguing premise throughout this that really makes the most of the time given to it with a rather intense and quite shocking series of events that may or may not be all in her head that continues on here and really helps to make the first half all that much more chilling as it lets the story unfold. When the second half really lets loose, this one tends to favor the action as the centerpiece is a massive ghostly attack throughout the entire house as it continually hurls furniture and belongings at her from an unseen force while demonic howls and screaming continually make their way throughout the scene which is long, intense and quite chilling overall which sets up the best part of this one. While this one did have a few small flaws, the only really damaging part is the factor of the first half here being a bit more relaxed in pace as the majority of the events play with her psychosis to the point that those are the only points of interest and that leads to a somewhat plodding, lumbering march to get going. It's all quite fun, but it doesn't match the relentlessness of the later half of the film and is really all that holds it back.Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Language, Nudity and intense child behavior.

It has been said the Mario Bava is a better director than Dario Argento, but he does have the great scripts that Argento has. This final film of Bava shows his directorial talent and the script is really good also.It is a perfect Halloween film full of suspenseful music and creepy sounds, a great set, and just three main characters.Here, Bava has Argento's former partner, Daria Nicolodi, in the main role. She has appeared in many of Argento's films: Mother of Tears, Opera, Phenomena, Inferno, Suspiria and Deep Red. She even wrote Suspiria for Argento.Nicolodi is magnificent as a woman going mad.