Shock (1977)

(AKA: Beyond The Door II)

My rating - 8/10

(click on images below for larger versions)

A woman who's drug addict husband committed suicide moves back to the house she used to live in with him with her new husband and son. Soon after her son starts acting strange and she begins to hallucinate, having visions of her dead husband. She begins to think her son may be possessed him as she's slowly driven to the brink of insanity.

The last film from director Mario Bava is a great supernatural horror with an amazing performance from the late great Daria Nicolodi as Dora. David Colin Jr is also very good as the young son who goes from playful hijinxs to creepy obsession to outright evil as he torments his mother, steals her underwear, places razor blades inbetween the keys of the piano and floats across the room to show her a disturbing drawing he's done. It's also great to see John Steiner as Bruno.

Lots of creepy scenes and one genuinely awesome jump scare that got a lot of people when I first saw this in a packed cinema, and it's a still a cracker now so I won't spoil that one. The gore is quite light but we still get a nasty pick axe in the chest, a throat slashing and a couple of rotting hands appearing to torment Dora. Great acting and a wonderful score all add to this little gem.

I highly recommend this one to all fans of supernatural and/or Italian horror.

SCREEN SHOTS

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