Combat Shock (2015)

Excellent but underrated film

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The effectiveness of "Combat Shock" just goes to show that the movies which the notorious Troma company picks up for distribution are typically better than their own productions. The movie is not what this viewer would consider "enjoyable", but that's entirely the point. This is gut wrenching, raw, uncompromising, brutal stuff that unfortunately feels all too real. Clearly filmed on a shoestring, this only enhances the impact of the material, as we are witness to a variety of extremely down and out Staten Island citizens, with one person in particular serving as the focus. He's Frankie (Rick Giovinazzo, brother of the writer / director Buddy Giovinazzo, and also composer of the music), a man with a mind that's steadily deteriorating. He can't forget his haunting Vietnam War experience, and now he lives in squalor with a nagging wife (Veronica Stork), and a deformed child who has taken ill. He can't find work, is about to be evicted from his apartment, and is in debt to a gangster (Mitch Maglio), to boot. The story is largely confined to a single day as Frankie wanders the streets, sometimes with a purpose (such as going to the employment agency, or placing a desperate call to his father), sometimes not. Along the way he meets assorted other people living miserable lives. When he finally gives in to temptation and commits a crime (believing that being in jail isn't the worst situation in which he could find himself), he's presented with what will truly turn out to be his means of release. If you know going in that this movie is going to be a walk on the dark side of life, you may figure out where this is all going, but that still doesn't make the ultimate resolution any less tragic. The characters, by and large, aren't all that sympathetic, but remain compelling, flaws and all. The acting is often as rough as one could expect from something of this budget, but Rick G. gives a really heartfelt effort, and he and Buddy G. pull no punches when it comes to the cold hard reality of any moment. The pacing is very deliberate, as one will notice, all the way from start to finish; Buddy G. lets each scene play out for as long as possible, and the camera never flinches from the horrors that occur. This is far and away one of the grimmest productions with which Troma ever associated, a long way from the camp and schlock of their in-house projects. By the time this is all over, it would be very hard not to feel *something* as the end credits start rolling. This is the kind of thing one would cautiously recommend unless the prospective viewer can appreciate bleakness in their movies. Eight out of 10.

This is a difficult one to review because it's so slow to today's standards and it really looks low budget. But the movie had such a history that it really became a cult flick. It was Buddy Giovinazzo's first flick and he financed it himself. Nobody would take the picture to promote and distribute, not even Troma. He went to Troma but it never ended on the desk of Kaufman. One year later he went back and Kaufman liked it but then it was called American Nightmares, a title he didn't like and he changed it to Combat Shock trying to clock in on the success of Rambo and Chuck Norris. Sadly it didn't work out that way. The promotion looked like a Vietnam flick but it wasn't and it failed at the box office so it played at 42nd street. Another problem was that the place it was shot, Stanton Island, didn't like the way it was shown but it wasn't exaggerated. It just looked that way. And not only that, most of the people found it a really boring flick. But people talked about it...I admit, it is a slow builder and it is sometimes boring but it was made in the Reagan era and New York was bankrupt. By adding an ex Vietnam soldier story it did gives it a uneasy feeling. The flick starts with some real footage of the Vietnam war, then we see how he is trying to survive in New York without money and we do see the decay of the suburbs and drug fiends. Of course the acting is really bad but what did gives it a cult status is the end of the flick. The gruelling ending made it notorious. It isn't brute or whatsoever but it do stick with you. I can understand that a lot of people will hate this but I didn't like it either while watching it but the end makes it indeed one to watch. The effects used do add something towards the uneasy feeling. Cult indeed. And do see the wink towards Eraserhead...Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

If you want to see a very effective, considerably penniless drama filled with horror and despair you can't go past the Troma released "Combat Shock". Looking at the cover artwork, it doesn't do it any justice because it's far more than just an exploitative actioner but a thoughtfully raw and unsettling psychological character piece on the struggle to cope with the hardship of unflinching reality that faced Frankie a Vietnam Vet returning back to a decayed society that just doesn't care. It's a dog eat dog world. Other than the nightmares and flashbacks that plague his mind, he finds himself still battling a war and trying to survive along with his wife and baby son (which is a disturbing sight); only the jungle this time is in his own backyard. An urban jungle --- where pimps and thugs rule the nest. Nothing seems to go right, even when he tries it goes from bad to worse with no real luck and the powerfully downbeat finale is hard to wipe from your mind. It's as depressing as you can get, because the story actually gets your into this character's mindset making you feel every bit of pain and torture. There is some action and violence, but like I mentioned earlier it's more than just that. Ugly to look at with its seedy shot on locations, but the script emotionally unfolds slowly and remains captivating in its bleak intensity. Sometimes it might lull about with the spaced-out central character's aimless wandering, but it grimy edginess just sticks with you. Although the accompanying electronic score does amplify some oddly sounding cues. Performances are credible and Ricky Giovinazzo moodily solitude turn is picture-perfect as Frankie. Director/writer/producer Buddy Giovinazzo straight-up compact handling is tough and unsparing, making the production a true labour of love. Primitive, but challenging entertainment."I can't go home empty handed tonight"

"I can never tell where one torture ends and the other begins."Extremely depressing parable of human misery, poverty, and drug addiction on the rotted, deteriorating streets of Staten Island where we follow a day in the life of a deeply troubled Vietnam vet who may or may not have slaughtered an entire village during that conflict and how such horrifying memories torment him. The urban squalor and his own life's difficulties(..finding a job, being evicted, dealing with a pushy, constantly bitching wife, a hungry handicapped infant, owing money to drug- pushers) resemble the nightmarish terrors of his past in the war. His descent into madness will more than likely leave you truly unsettled and repulsed, it's not a pretty picture at all. Ricky Giovinazzo, as the vet who roams throughout the decaying filthy streets, is unforgettable in the lead. Director Buddy Giovinazzo paints a very distressing, uncompromising portrait of an urban hell where the undesirables wander in an aimless, squalid existence thanks to a country that has abandoned them. The final ten or so minutes, once Ricky G uses a stolen gun that had fallen from a woman's purse he had lifted(..she had stolen it from a dead junkie), will probably, unless you have an incredible tolerance for disturbing behavior, stun even the most hardened viewer into silence. The added Vietnam war footage(..proposed by Team Troma producers Kaufman and Herz)actually enhances the film, I think.A definite word of warning, the film's final minutes contain brutal acts of truly destructive violence of an unpleasant nature. Besides the final scene, there's a very troubling sequence where a sick junkie, unable to find specific drug paraphernalia, opens a sore on his arm with an extended coat hanger so he can pour heroine into his system for a fix. The film features Ricky G meeting such people as a young girl being used by a pimp as a hooker(..this scumbag is the type who orders them around, often resorting to slapping among other acts of violence to keep his girls in line), and a drug-pusher with two thugs who abuse junkies for kicks(..what happens to these foul miscreants will probably be met with applause).The grit, grime, graffiti and garbage of the unflattering Staten Island locations chosen for the film leave a lasting impression of hopelessness and dispair. The diseased baby(..a victim of Ricky G's effects from Agent Orange)is truly a haunting creation(..it's whining especially grating) and the squibs used when the gun violence erupts(..not to mention the bloody carnage of torn apart corpses in the Vietnam scenes)are quite impressive considering the very miniscule budget.