The Vietnam War is arguably one of the most controversial wars in history. From 1955 to 1975, American troops were sent in to fight against the Vietcong. By the end, more than 3 million people lost their lives in the conflict, including over 58,000 American troops. But for the survivors, the worst was not over for them. After the war, many American troops started experiencing shell shock, aka Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This led drug abuse, depression, and an overall detachment from reality. There were even cases of veterans committing suicide. Soon after the war, filmmakers started exploring what such a conflict could do to someone. Films like The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now were among the first. Then, in 1984, aspiring filmmaker Buddy Giovinazzo brought us a film showing how a Vietnam veteran tries and fails to reintegrate into society with disastrous results. That film was Combat Shock.
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The film centers around Frankie Dunlan (Rick Giovinazzo), a Vietnam veteran who is struggling to make ends meet. He has been out of work, his wife Cathy (Veronica Stork) is stuck at home taking care of their deformed baby, and they are about to be evicted. We learn through flashbacks that Frankie had been held captive and tortured for months before being taken to a hospital. While he was physically fine, he was and still is emotionally scarred from what he experienced. Back home, things are even worse: he goes to the unemployment office only to be told that there are no jobs for him, he owes money to a mob boss who won’t take no for an answer, and a childhood friend of his has become a junkie. This ultimately leads to Frankie spiraling out of control until he just can’t take it anymore.
Without a doubt, Combat Shock is one of the bleakest and most shocking films of its kind. While it does have similar elements to Taxi Driver, the two are quite different. As dark and gritty as Taxi Driver is, Travis Bickle still saves the young girl, lives and has his job, and ends up with the love interest. Such is not the case with Combat Shock. It starts out bleak and depressing, and it stays that way. Even though the film is clearly low-budget and not the most well-made, this actually works to the film’s advantage. The gritty and grimy look really captures just how bleak the situation is. Plus, the performances here, especially from lead Rick Giovinazzo, are excellent. Just from his facial expressions, you can see the pain and anguish Frankie is going through. The music is also top-notch, capturing just how isolated and alone he feels.
This film has an interesting production history behind it. Director Buddy Giovinazzo grew up in a family of musicians, though he was more interested in film. Since youth, he was always fascinated by classic horror films like Frankenstein and The Wolf Man. He was captivated by the sympathetic monster or the man becoming a monster against his free will. For his first film, he wanted to examine what it would be like if someone had a day where everything that could go wrong does. Filmed for very little money over the course of a few years, Giovinazzo struggled to make his vision a reality. The film was eventually picked up by Troma, the studio behind The Toxic Avenger, Class of Nuke ‘Em High, and Troma’s War amongst others. Unfortunately, they had to cut the film for an R-rating and was marketed as more of an action film.
In spite of this, Giovinazzo has nothing but nice things to say about Troma and understands why they had to cut the film. In fact, Troma president Lloyd Kaufman didn’t want to have the film cut at all. Sadly, with the way the market is, audiences wouldn’t have been ready for a film like this if it were marketed correctly. Thankfully, more and more people have seen it and recognized it as one of the better films from Troma. It’s a very atypical film from the studio known for their over-the-top gore, gratuitous nudity, and generally comedic tone. Not only is this a film that explores how someone’s life can go downhill so fast, Combat Shock also shows how passion and talent can create such a breathtaking film.
