Combat Shock (Buddy Giovinazzo, 1986)

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JamesNguyen · #1 Post by **JamesNguyen** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 7:18 pm

Any fans of this film here? Truly a brutal, nasty nihilistic film. Troma is re-releasing the film in July with pretty interesting bonus material - interviews with Richard Stanley, Jorg Buttgereit, John McNaughton, Scott Spiegel, William Lustig, etc. Could potentially be a really awesome release.

greggster59 · #2 Post by **greggster59** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 11:26 pm

What a crazy film. Taxi Driver meets Eraserhead. Made for about $10,000, it angered the Staten Island, NY Chamber of Commerce for BG's choice of locations after he assured them he wouldn't portray the island borough in a bad light.

Vietnam was set in the weeds on the periphery of the the now closed Fresh Kills garbage dump. The small prison box that Ricky Giovinazzo's character was kept was in someone's backyard.

Buddy has a new film due out if they can get a distributor called Life Is Hot in Cracktown. It stars Superman!

JamesNguyen · #3 Post by **JamesNguyen** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:45 am

greggster59 wrote:Buddy has a new film due out if they can get a distributor called Life Is Hot in Cracktown. It stars Superman!

Actually Lightning Media (yes, the old VHS label) picked up Life is Hot in Cracktown and I hear its opening in Los Angeles soon.

I'm a lifelong supporter of Combat Shock. It has undeniable, disturbing impact. I do agree that Combat Shock is a fusion of Taxi Driver and Eraserhead, but I believe it also has elements of Abel Ferrara and even Cassavetes to some extent. The film is kind of a collision of the best of New York indie underground. A very under-appreciated film with an unspeakable ending. Can't wait to pick this up!

greggster59 · #4 Post by **greggster59** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 2:55 am

I'll be picking it up, no doubt.
I have hopes that No Way Home will be put on DVD someday. A very underrated effort by Giovinazzo.

I once read a script of his that was so twisted I'm glad it was not made.

JamesNguyen · #5 Post by **JamesNguyen** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 3:17 pm

greggster59 wrote:I once read a script of his that was so twisted I'm glad it was not made.

What was the title of the script? Depravity Street?

greggster59 · #6 Post by **greggster59** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 4:03 pm

JamesNguyen wrote:
greggster59 wrote:I once read a script of his that was so twisted I'm glad it was not made.
What was the title of the script? Depravity Street?

In fact it was. Nasty!

Have you seen this?

JamesNguyen · #7 Post by **JamesNguyen** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 2:09 am

I actually hadn't seen that yet!! Incredible. I hope this release generates bigger awareness for this film -- more people need to see it!

Antoine Doinel · #8 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 11:33 am

Fantasia festival in Montreal will be screening Giovinazzo's own 16mm work print of Combat Shock and hosting the world premiere of Life Is Hot In Cracktown.

JamesNguyen · #9 Post by **JamesNguyen** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 2:18 pm

Antoine Doinel wrote:Fantasia festival in Montreal will be screening Giovinazzo's own 16mm work print of Combat Shock and hosting the world premiere of Life Is Hot In Cracktown.

I will definitely be in attendance for this! Only an 8 hour drive. Do you know if Buddy will be there?

Antoine Doinel · #10 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 11:24 am

Life Is Hot In Cracktown is going straight to DVD.

dadaistnun · #11 Post by **dadaistnun** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 2:06 pm

Dave Kehr raves in the NYT. (Further comments on his blog.)

Tribe · #12 Post by **Tribe** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 5:30 pm

Wow, I had never heard of this until I saw Kehr's review in the Times today...and there already is a thread here...I take it this is worth seeing then? I love gregster59's remarks: "Taxi Driver meets Eraserhead!" Can anyone here add some more substance to the merits of this?

Oedipax · #13 Post by **Oedipax** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:11 pm

Don't go in expecting too much - it's not as successful an arthouse/exploitation hybrid as, say, the early works of Ferrara, but it has its merits and is totally worth seeking out. The only other thing I would add is that in addition to the Taxi Driver / Eraserhead comparisons, the film very consciously references/mirrors Suicide's "Frankie Teardrop," which should give you a better idea of what to expect.

oldsheperd · #14 Post by **oldsheperd** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:16 pm

Interesting bringing up "Frankie Teardrop" by Suicide. I have yet to see Combat Shock but the synopsis of this film come to mind whenever I play that song.

Tribe · #15 Post by **Tribe** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:55 pm

I'm sold on it guys...just ordered it from Amazon.

JamesNguyen · #16 Post by **JamesNguyen** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 12:18 am

I got the 2-disc Special Edition DVD... INCREDIBLE. The extras are worth the price alone. So glad to see that Kehr dedicated a feature article to this film, Combat Shock has finally received the widespread attention and praise it deserves.

Tribe · #17 Post by **Tribe** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 12:07 am

Astounding movie...even brilliant in spots. Wow...I'm very impressed with this movie.

But...awful transfer, am I right? The movie is good enough that one can overlook that, still very disappointing in that respect.

JamesNguyen · #18 Post by **JamesNguyen** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 9:17 pm

I think this may be one of the only films where it has more of an impact the shitty it looks. Hell, viewing this on a b/w tube TV would be preferred. The transfer on the DVD is adequate for this film.

Tribe · #19 Post by **Tribe** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 9:58 pm

JamesNguyen wrote:I think this may be one of the only films where it has more of an impact the shitty it looks. Hell, viewing this on a b/w tube TV would be preferred. The transfer on the DVD is adequate for this film.

I suspect, you being a fan, you might be rationalizing this. I don't buy that a film, in order to have more of an impact, that it should be viewed on a shitty transfer.

EDIT: And I'll bet you the director never intended this be viewed via a poor transfer. Now, I understand if this is the best possible under the circumstances...I've watched good movies with worse transfers (after all, it's the movie that counts). But I did anticipate a much better transfer for this...and it's a tribute to the power of this movie how good it is notwithstanding.

JamesNguyen · #20 Post by **JamesNguyen** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 5:57 am

I suspect, you being a fan, you might be rationalizing this. I don't buy that a film, in order to have more of an impact, that it should be viewed on a shitty transfer.

To clarify, I don't think Combat Shock needs a clean, better transfer to have more of an impact.

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