Film Review: Shock (1977): Bava’s Last Film

Shock (1977), directed by Mario Bava; starring Daria Nicolidi, John Steiner, and David Colin Jr.

Shock is Mario Bava’s last film: he died three years later. (It's not his last directing credit, though, which was for an episode of an Italian miniseries in 1979). It’s a hit 'n miss film that’s worth watching for the master’s fancy-dancy camerawork, but it doesn’t achieve the dizzying heights of his Sixties classics like Blood and Black Lace or Black Sunday.

While the title of Shock sounds like one of Bava’s intricate slasher epics, it’s actually a haunted house movie. It begins in the classic haunted house movie tradition, with a family moving into a creepy old house.

Actress and screenwriter Daria Nicolidi (aka the former Mrs. Dario Argento IRL) plays the family's mother, Dora; John Steiner is the father, Bruno, and David Colin Jr. is a little boy named Marco. Later, we learn that Bruno isn’t Marco’s father, but his stepfather -- a development that’s important to the unfolding plot.

The opening sequence displays the great Italian horrormeister’s old virtuosity. The camera shoots through a massive cobweb at an indistinct scene of men moving around in a room. A hand-brush sweeps the cobweb away and we see the men of the family setting up furniture in their new home.

Bava loses no time in letting us know that there’s a ghost afoot in the house. While Dora is otherwise occupied, a giant marble sculpture of a hand moves on its shelf and points an accusing finger as she leaves the room. Later, Marco begins exhibiting strange behavior that’s uncomfortable to watch. He begins acting erratically and he also makes sexual advances toward his mother (yes, these scenes are very icky.) He also asks a lot about his real Dad and how he died.

Daria experiences strange visions and nightmares that involve drug needles, a box cutter, a brick wall, and a piano. Many of these visions are masterfully done, such as when the piano lid slams up and down rapidly like a huge, snapping mouth. To make matters worse, Bruno is an airline pilot who leaves Daria alone with Marco for long stretches at a time, which increases her vulnerability and paranoia. Daria begs Bruno to let them leave the house, but he keeps putting her off in a mysterious way.

At a housewarming party thrown by the couple, two guests gossip that Dara’s first husband was a drug addict who committed suicide. This is the explanation that everyone accepts, but Daria’s visions and nightmares suggest another fate for her first husband.

At the end if the film, after numerous creepy incidents involving Marco acting possessed and ghostly visions,Daria has an epic Jack Torrance meltdown and rampages through the house while being tormented by an unseen force. At the climax, the audience finds out what really happened to the first husband and why Bruno doesn’t want to leave the house.

Part of this film was directed by Bava’s son Lamberto, which may explain a certain amount of un-Mario-ness, such as the unexpected color palette. The colors are somber and subdued, so viewers shouldn’t expect the scarlet reds, violent purples, and strong teals of Blood and Black Lace or some segments of Black Sabbath. The single exception is Marco’s fire-engine-red swing in the back yard of the house, which plays an important role in the plot. And -- of course -- all of the blood.

Aside from the unevenness of the direction, Nicolidi’s performance as a distaff Torrance is somewhat histrionic and over-the-top. She starts out acting like a hysteric and then just gets more screechy and hysterical by plot’s end. There’s no subtle growing paranoia or instability, a la Catherine Deneuve in Polanski’s Repulsion (1965). The histrionics become almost unbearable at the denouement.

For all of its flaws, Shock still has plenty of the old Bava black magic and is worth watching. It’s a decent farewell to this very influential horrormeister. This film is currently streaming at Amazon, free to Prime members.