Review: Combat Shock (25th Anniversary Edition) (1986)

Buddy Giovinazzio's Combat Shock is fucking depressing! It's gritty, realistic, and sad. Buddy G. has made a great film, but one that also makes you want to run head first into the nearest brick wall. The movie takes place after the vietnam war. Frankie is a man who has come back from the war, to his normal life after imprisonment, exposure to chemicals, torture, and more. He lives with his wife and his deformed son in an apartment he can't cover the rent for. His family is starving, and he is about to get evicted. The movie is pretty much a day in the life of Frankie, while he tries to find a job, deals with drug dealers and other homeless veterans. While going through all of this, he is haunted by flashbacks of the horrors he expirienced in Vietnam. We see him as he begins to slowly lose his mind. Combat Shock has nothing uplifting about it, which I think is one of the best things about it. It kept the straight sad, gritty feel throughout the entire movie. From Vietnam to New York. The movie opens up with Frankie Vietnam, coming across a Vietnamese woman, so in fear of not knowingwhat to do, he puts a bullet in her stomach and runs away. Throughout the movie he is put into situations he doesn't know how to get out of. He is just a simple guy who has nowhere to go. Everywhere he does go, he is shat on. He even finds an eleven year old prostitute that he tries to help (Yes it sounds like Taxi Driver, but has no connection whatsoever) and gets the shit kicked out of him. Throughout the movie there is also not a bright color to be seen. The contrast is very low and the main colors to be seen are grey and black. The locations that the movie is shot at are pretty much rotted away. The movie really shows how disgusting the world can be. Now one thing I also have to bring up is the last ten minutes of the film, which are so well played out. The movie is actually very slow but all the slow moving scenes are worth sitting through for the finale of the film. Overall, I would give the film itself about a 7/10. While it's a great film, it makes you feel like absolute shit by the end. Not some something I would want to watch again, or at least by myself. This is worth picking up though. Troma has given us the 2-Disc Uncut 25th Anniversary edition as the 4th film in the Tromasterpiece Collection. The DVD comes with two versions of the movie, the theatrical cut, and the directors cut (which in this version is titled American Nightmares). It also comes with a commentary with Buddy Giovinazzio and Jorg Buttgereit (Who has directed some of my favorite films like Der Todesking, Schramm, and Nekromantik). The second disc is packed with interviews, trailers, and etc. I would highly recommend picking up this set, the film is great, and the extras are amazing. I hope to check out more releases in the Tromasterpiece collection.