Shock (1977 film)

Infobox Film
name = Shock


image_size =
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director = Mario Bava
producer = Turi Vasile
writer = Lamberto Bava Dardano Sacchetti
narrator =
starring = Daria Nicolodi John Steiner David Colin Jr. Ivan Rassimov
music =
cinematography = Mario Bava
editing =
distributor =
released = ^ITA August 12, 1977
runtime = 90 min.
country = Italy
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
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website =
amg_id = 1:5280
imdb_id = 0075651

"Shock" (also known as "Schock", and "Beyond the Door II") is an Italian horror film directed by Italian horror director Mario Bava. This was Bava's last film before he died of a heart attack in 1980. The film starred Dario Argento's girlfriend Daria Nicolodi, John Steiner, and David Colin, Jr.

Plot

Dora Bladini, her son Marco, and her new husband Bruno Baldini move into Dora's former home, from her first marriage, after Dora is released from a mental institution following the mysterious death of Dora's abusive first husband. With her husband away as a commercial airline pilot, Dora is left along with her son Marco, and her shattered memory of the events of her husband's death, caused by extensive electroshock treatment she received while institutionalized. Her insanity grows when she believes that her son has become possessed by the ghost of his deceased father, leading to Dora learning the truth about her first husband's death: she murdered him after he forcibly injected her with heroin and LSD. When she contacted Bruno for help, he arranged for her dead husband's body to be dumped out in the ocean while arranging for Dora to be placed in an insane asylum, as the drugs injected into her caused her to have a nervous breakdown. Killing her new husband, Dora is compelled by her husband's ghost (and her guilt) to commit suicide. The ending shows Marco, the sole survivor, having tea with his parents' ghosts (who are invisible).

Cast

* Daria Nicolodi - Dora Baldini
* John Steiner - Bruno Baldini
* David Colin Jr. - Marco
* Ivan Rassimov - Dr. Aldo Spidini

"Beyond the Door II" ?

For it's US release, Film Ventures International decided to rename the film "Beyond the Door II", under the guise of it being a "sequel" to Ovidio G. Assonitis's 1974 "Exorcist" rip-off "Chi sei?", renamed "Beyond the Door" for US release. The reason for the change was the fact that the two films starred child actor David Colin Jr., as a boy possessed.

In spite of this false rebranding of the film through its renaming, Film Ventures International was quite faithful with its English dubbing of "Shock". Lamberto Bava's script was adapted quite faithfully and unlike "Lisa and the Devil", did not include any reshoots or omission of footage, making it one of the few films by Mario Bavo to appear in the US intact.

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