"LIKE A BULLET TO THE HEAD...
Giovinazzo's world is horrific and the movie's conclusion will never be forgotten."
-Film Journal

“Combines the New York City angst of Taxi Driver, the gritty nihilism of Fassbinder and the unfiltered dementia of Eraserhead... ONE OF THE GREAT CULT FILMS OF THE 1980s."
SHOCK CINEMA

“Makes you want to slit your wrists!”
JOHN McNAUGHTON (Director, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer)

“RAW, NIGHTMARISH & ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING...ranks among the most uncompromising and powerful indie films of the '80s.”
MITCH DAVIS (Director, Fantasia Film Festival)

These were some of the quotes that got me incredibly pumped to see the movie Combat Shock. Like any Chewer, I love weird movies. And fucked up movies. And especially weird fucked up movies. And especially especially older weird fucked up movies I've never heard of. So it was with much excitement that I tracked this hidden gem down and gathered some like-minded friends together for the sole purpose of watching Combat Shock. And then...

The movie sucked.

The film was written, edited, produced and directed by Buddy Giovinazzo. And it stars his brother Ricky, who also did the "score." Here's Wikipedia's summary:

"The plot of the film takes place in Staten Island, and follows an unemployed Vietnam veteran living in total poverty with his nagging wife, his deformed baby due to Ricky having been exposed to Agent Orange that the US was spraying as a defoliant over Vietnam, and junkie friends. Unable to get a job and surrounded by the depravity of urban life and crime, he begins to lose his grip on sanity. The ending is as extreme as it gets."

About seven minutes into the movie, while my friends and I were already enduring the second pointless walking montage set to tonally inappropriate and obnoxious synth music, my friend Dan called out, "Wait... is this gonna be one of those movies where absolutely nothing happens and all the crazy fucked up shit is in last five minutes?"

Yup.

Hearing the director of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer say that Combat Shock - “Makes you want to slit your wrists!” - I must assume he meant from fucking boredom.

I do feel bad giving the film too much shit; it was very low budget. But I just don't get all the hype here. Despite the seedy cinematography and authentic locations, there was nothing believably gritty about the film. The deformed baby is portrayed by a shitty puppet, which would be fine (even great) if the movie was supposed to be funny. But it's not. And that kinda symbolizes the film's problem - it's hard to take the drama seriously when everything is so cheesy. Watching the drug addicts and embarrassing gangster thugs in the film I felt like I'd accidentally popped in a movie my friends and I made in high school. There might as well have been a 14-year-old pretending to be the President.

It does indeed have a messed up ending, but I'm not sure it is "as extreme as it gets," and even if it is, by the time the ending arrives you'll be too happy it's almost over to be disturbed by anything.

I like supporting small films, so I'm not gonna say don't see Combat Shock, but don't buy it on a whim and definitely don't gather a crowd with promises of a revelatory viewing experience.