{"id":6434,"date":"2009-11-30T22:34:57","date_gmt":"2009-12-01T06:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/?p=6434"},"modified":"2010-02-09T21:52:06","modified_gmt":"2010-02-10T05:52:06","slug":"shock-corridor-samuel-fuller-1963-usa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/?p=6434","title":{"rendered":"Shock Corridor (Samuel Fuller, 1963): USA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Tim Barnes<\/a>. Viewed on DVD.<\/p>\n

\"Shock<\/p>\n

I was\u00a0very surprised\u00a0that Shock Corridor<\/a><\/em>, a mostly black & white film made in 1963 was actually quite scandalous to my insensitive and \u00a0technology ridden 21st century\u00a0 mind. It it by no surprise, however, \u00a0that such a movie\u00a0was directed by Samuel Fuller (1912-1997), one of the most influential filmmakers who\u00a0made a point\u00a0to delve into\u00a0the uncomfortable areas of politics and culture.<\/p>\n

The movie centers around John Barrett (Peter Breck), an undercover journalist doubling as an incestuous lunatic in an asylum to solve a murder mystery.\u00a0 Now that’s a Freudian dilemma if I’ve ever heard one! Especially since his wife, Cathy (Constance Towers),\u00a0an erotic dancer is forced to play along as his sister and\u00a0file charges to have him committed.\u00a0He intermingles with the likes of\u00a0 a man\u00a0who thinks he’s a confederate soldier, and Trent (Hari Rhodes) a\u00a0stern\u00a0 African American schitzophrenic who preaches the gospel of the Klu Klux Klan. The main hallway of the building is referred to by the doctors as the “street”,<\/em>\u00a0Barret thinks of it as a “magical highway to the\u00a0Pulitzer Prize.”\u00a0His roommate, Pagliacci (Larry Tucker) , is a large bearded man with the voice and figure of Pavarotti who gives him his first set of clues . The psychological aspects of this film are\u00a0truly impelling. Barret has nightmares regarding his wife, but so ambitiously wants to be recognized that he puts everything , including his sanity on the line.\u00a0\u00a0“When you’re asleep”\u00a0, Pagliacci, tells him “no one can tell a sane man from an insane man.”<\/p>\n

Sho<\/em>c<\/em>k Corridor <\/em>is a great example of a film shot on a low budget with heart and style. Fuller utilized sound and image in unconventional ways. When members of the Asylum begin to have vivid memories, the footage suddenly shifts to color.. a very jarring effect. Also, Fuller utilized voice over and music as counterpoint between the insanity of a given person’s mind and the reality surrounding them. When Barrett’s large roommate begins singing in the middle of the night, the music switches to booming operatic music for Pagliacci’s close ups, and returns to ambient sound within seconds\u00a0as it\u00a0cuts back\u00a0to wide. Peter Breck does an incredible job of acting by the standards of the time. His gradual turn to seeming insanity is a treat to see. It is a guilty pleasure of many movie goers to see a character go crazy.\u00a0The film doesn’t skim lightly over the topic of race or sexuality either. In one scene, Trent gives an incredibly emotional monologue and really stabs directly into the heart of the issue. “And the irony of it is that many Negroes are mulatto” says Trent\u00a0“and integration is well established down south.”\u00a0 These to me were the most shocking moments.. the moments of pure reality.<\/p>\n

\u00a0This movie is easily comparable to One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest<\/em> <\/a>and The Shining<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0And there is hardly a doubt in my mind that both drew inspiration from Corridor<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0But with all the gritty psychological aspects of the film, there are also well balanced lighter moments. For example there is a scene where Barret accidentally stumbles into a room full of attractive nympho’s who impulsively attack him with immense sexual vigor whilst singing “My Bonie”. It is definitely a must see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Tim Barnes. Viewed on DVD. I was\u00a0very surprised\u00a0that Shock Corridor, a mostly black & white film made in 1963 was actually quite scandalous to my insensitive and \u00a0technology ridden 21st century\u00a0 mind. It it by no surprise, however, \u00a0that such a movie\u00a0was directed by Samuel Fuller (1912-1997), one of the most influential filmmakers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-films"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6434\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}