Terror Lives Beyond the Door

Shock
AKA Beyond The Door 2
1977 | Color | 133 min | 1.85.1 | R | Mono | Horror | Laser Film

Director:

Mario Bava

Writer: 

Francesco Barbieri

Stars: 

Daria Nicolodi

John Steiner

David Colin Jr.

A couple is terrorized in their new house haunted by the vengeful ghost of the woman's former husband who possesses her young son.







So was Mario Bava's final film about a haunted house scary? Read on if you dare!

We all know that Bava is one of the many masters of horror had as delighted us with great artistry like Black Sunday and Blood and Lace. I was pretty excited to watch Shock. This was one of those movies I knew nothing about going into it and was pretty excited to sit back and enjoy. The style in which this movie was directed you can see being used by directors of today.  The cinematic look gives you a cold chill at the right times giving you breathing taking and unraveling moments throughout the movie. 

Daria Nicolodi was both fantastic and a little rushed at times but her performance is heart-stopping and sucks you into the reality inside her head. She is quite the scream queen. But there are times when she feels forced or rushed almost like the first take was not good we need to do it again but we are running out of time. Still when she is Bat Shit Crazy she, you believe it and it chills you to the bone!

As for David Colin Jr. well this was his second and last film if that tells you anything. Not that it was all bad but come on now! His dad possesses him and he just could not pull off the creepy factor for me. I do wonder though why he left the film business did this film scare him for life? He was offered Beyond the door 3 but turned it down. Now he works as an economist in Washington DC.

Let's talk about my favorite part of the movie its soundtrack! I Libra (Yes from the Goblins would Bava have it any other way?) give us and unnerving background score that creeps me out!! The use of a child's piano to a scratched record coming from the basement was perfect for this ghost story. Now it is not perfect the score itself comes off as just a little too much of a 70's rock sound that really can pull you from the moment's that are a little less on the scary side. But that piano tho man I can still hear it in my head!

As for the gore, it's you know a little lite and flaky around the edges. This is about a haunted house with just the right amount of blood. The scares come from inside your head try to see what is not there in the first place.

Sadly, in the end, this movie fell short for me. The idea behind it was good but so many things take you out of it  with the result of a  psychological horror film about the maddening effects of guilt, or is it a supernatural thriller filled with shocks and otherworldly ghouls?  When one has learned to expect great things associated with the name Bava, Shock comes as a disappointment.

2 Bloody Brains