Is this movie any good??
I love troma movies but ive never seen this one. I was just wondering is it worth buying?
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this movie is excellent..extremely disturbing...way better than Taxi Driver which it seems to imitate...fun movie...definitly worth buying...definitly buy from Troma this month and get a free poster
thank you, I am going to order it right now.
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Not everyone has the same taste in movies...I personally enjoyed it.
shareI'm curious about this movie, too. The majority of the comments left by IMDb users are positive, but at the same time, it only has a 5.6 rating. I also don't trust Troma's taste in movies, and that's not because I don't like low budget movies. I like movies such as Bad Taste. I just don't know what to make of Combat Shock. I'm afraid to waste money on buying it.
shareTo answer your question, Oltre, I recently rented it from Netflix and I didn't really find it to be very good. I think it's a bit overrated because of the ending. The movie itself is really really low-budget. Acting is bad as is just about everything else. I think on one level the the quality of the movie actually lends itself to the point of the film because it really puts off a "seedy" feel and leaves you wanting to take a shower. But I really wouldn't reccomend the film because of this.
Another film I rented along with this one was Deathdream (Dead of Night) which is also a Post-Vietnam Horror movie and it is by far the superior film. If your looking for something in the Post-Vietnam vein of horror movies I would reccomend Deathdream alot more than Combat Shock. Everything about Deathdream is much much better done. The acting, the production, the script, and the social commentary on the war all better in Deathdream.
Hope that helps.
Thanks, balrog. I'm just wondering if Combat Shock has any artistic merit at all, or if it's just another bad Troma flick (lame violence, and even lamer humor). I like really, really low budget movies, such as Bad Taste, The Evil Dead, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, El Mariachi, and so on. I even like Lucio Fulci (Zombi 2 and The Beyond). I can enjoy a movie like The Beyond for the cinematography and the music (and, of course, the gore). Is Combat Shock a movie that has anything going for it other than the ending? Is the ending even any good?
shareI'd say it's just another bad Troma flick. There's really no artistic merit outside the obvious theme that the Vietnam War was destroying peoples lives long after the war was over. But that much is obvious without even having to see the movie.
I wouldn't really say that Combat Shock is on par with the movies you mentioned, in quality or in production values. Even movies with shoe-string budgest like Bad Taste and El Mariachi seem to have more going for them than this.
There's really no script to the film at all. The main character just wanders around. The ending is shocking I suppose if you didn't know it was coming. But it's nothing to write home about.
I was looking foward to the movie too, especially when I heard it had a creepy ending. But the movie just ended up being over-hyped, at least I thought so.
Of course I can spoil the ending for you if you really like. If your really interested in the film give it a rent, I know the DVD has an audio commentary, maybe at the very least you'll be able to get something out of that. I didn't bother to listen to it.
I know what the ending is. It sounds interesting, but I could see how it wouldn't save the movie. I would give the movie a rent if I could, but the Blockbuster near me doesn't have it (not much of a surprise there). Thank you for your comments. I don't think that I'll go out of my way to see this one.
shareThis movie is way diffrent than any other Troma movie ive seen before. If your expecting "lame humor" and "lame gore" this isnt the movie for you.
We came to smash everything and ruin your life. God sent us.
If you are expecting the outrageous camp, of typical Troma vehicles, you are not going to get it here.
"Combat Shock", takes itself very seriously, but is filled with terrible acting and terrible production values. The movie, desperately wants to be disturbing, but every aspect of the execution is far to feeble, for you to be effected.
It throws, a few innovative stylistic devices into the mix, such as projecting images of Vietnam flashbacks onto the main character's face. However, these look more like a bunch of kids running around in there backyard, play acting at being soldiers. The mutant baby, is memorable, but is very reminiscent of "Eraser Head". This limited bag of tricks cannot save, an otherwise, badly made and pretentious movie. Yes, it imitates "Taxi Driver". But "Taxi Driver" has a great script, beautiful photography, and acting and directing of two talents in the peaks of their careers.
As an exercise, in a ultra low budget film making, it gets points for effort, but beyond that it really isn't worth it. I'd put this at the bottom of the list in the Vietnam vet, goes crazy sub-genre.
Personally i hate ALL Troma films, luckily they operate far better as a distributor than they do as a production house, and they pick up some interesting films such as this one. Combat Shock isn't a Troma film though i heard Kaufman may have helped somewhere along the line. It's definately worth getting, it works as an antithesis of Deadbeat at Dawn.
So the Troma dvd is cut? So much for being called a Directors Cut. I heard there was footage of blood oozing out from under the oven door, however this isn't in the dvd which is a shame, that is if the footage exists.
God knows why this isn't in the dvd considering what is in there, namely juicy close ups of the baby getting shot and the OD scene. The fact that these scenes are present makes me wonder about the veracity of the baking scene rumours.
I worked on the film.
It was a college thesis made for under 25,000...
It was picked up by troma, and they added the beginning stock footage.
BTW, the rights revert back to Buddy next year...
we'll see what happens about a special edition release.
See my tribute page at:
http://2droogies.com/combat.htm
I never said that I wanted "lame humor" and "lame gore." I said exactly the opposite. I said that if Combat Shock is a typical Troma flick, then I don't want to see it. I understand that Combat Shock takes itself a lot more seriously than other Troma flicks, but it sounds like it still has many Troma qualities. Those qualities being: Everything looks unbelievably cheap, amateur (I'm being kind) performances, stupid script, etc.
Like I said, I love low budget movies, but only if they have something worthwhile to offer. Many of the user comments on this site led me to believe that Combat Shock was a must-see movie, but after hearing more about it, I don't think that it's too far removed from what Troma usually releases.
I'm not trying to slight the efforts of those who made Combat Shock. I respect anybody who goes out there, gives it their all, and finishes the movie that they set out to make. It must've been a grueling process, and it's a tremendous accomplishment.
I just watched it. It's definitely worth a rental, but yeah, it doesn't really fit in with Troma flicks like Nuke 'em High and Chopper Chicks in Zombie Town. Like another poster was saying, it takes itself seriously. Personally I thought it was very successful at conveying a squalid, cramped, grim atmosphere. Some of the performances were a little weak, and the baby wasn't really believable to me, but overall I thought it worked well. You need to be able to sit through long stretches of not much happening, though; after the initial scenes in Vietnam there isn't much "action" until the last act. That was fine with me, your taste may vary. I'd definitely put this on the list of worth-seeing low budget movies though.
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