“Prepare Yourself.”

“A nightmare of homicidal hallucinations and demonic possession.”

Dora, her husband Bruno and their curly-haired-David-Letterman-toothed-son Marco, move into a house to start a new life.  The problem is this is no regular house.  Dora once lived in the house previously with her first husband, until his untimely suicide.  Starting over her new life, Dora returns to the house with her son and newfound hubby.  Shortly after settling in, Dora’s picture perfect beginning starts to crumble when she notices Marco acting very strange.

Marco’s bizarre behavior continues and when Dora alerts Bruno of the matter he simply disregards it as Marco, simply being a regular kid, doing regular kid things.  Dora then begins having homicidal hallucinations.  When Marco’s antics escalate into him acting like an odd demented little pervert, Dora sees fit to take him to a psychologist.

The shrink comes to the verdict that Marco is a normal child and that he merely seeks the love and attention of his parents.  The hallucinations continue to terrorize Dora’s mind, and she slowly begins to recollect the past during the time of her husband’s suicide.  Doing so sets free an evil presence in the household, a horrible secret resurfaces, resulting in a bloody finale.

Daria Nicolodi (Mother of Asia Argento), stars as the sexy Dora, a wife and mother trapped in a Hellish world of hallucinations and terror.  Daria Nicolodi is best known for her roles in Argento films such as Deep Red, Phenomena, and Tenebrae as well as being the co-writer of Suspiria.  Her character Dora is well acted, and with every turn her character is terrorized to our deviant delight.  John Steiner (Salon Kitty) does a good enough job as the very supportive husband and stepfather with his portrayal of Bruno.  David Colin Jr., plays Dora’s son Marco, and while not as favorable as trademark Italian child actor Giovanni Frezza, does a convincing job as a kid messed up my some evil shit.

Shock or Beyond the Door II (the title I prefer), holds it’s own with a fare share of blood and gore, but not as much as some of Bava’s previous work.  Some notable moments to be seen are a razor blade to fingers, a lacerated throat and death by pickaxe.  As for the sleaze department, there are some brief bits of nudity, as well as the connotation of Marco having sexual feelings towards his mother; watching her as she showers, and cutting up her panties.

Shock is another in a long line of great Italian horror releases from Anchor Bay; it's a shame they only seem to be interested in re-releasing these films as double features now instead of getting the rights to new ones.  Shock is a cascade of fright, and once it gets going keeps the viewer contained.  There are truly some frightening scenes that keep you drawn into the story with the occasional mix of gore.  This wasn’t Mario Bava’s best film, but being his last it was a great end to his career.  Even though the extras are lacking, fans of Bava (either one of them) should check this out.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
- 10 Minute Interview with Lamberto Bava - Trailer and Television Spots In the 10 minute interview with Lamberto Bava, he recollects working on several pictures with his father Mario and discusses his involvement in Shock (shooting some of it) and his association with Francesco Barbieri.  Additionally, the Italian trailer for the film includes English subtitles.  The American Beyond the Door II TV spots are also present.
RATING:
VIDEO: 1.85:1 Anamorphic
AUDIO: Dolby Digital 2.0 – English, French, Italian
DVD: Anchor Bay Entertainment
MOVIE: "Shock"