Janet Stewart (Anabel Shaw) has been on a psychological roller-coaster ride as of late. Her husband Paul is a presumed dead P.O.W. - only recently did she learn that he is in fact alive and coming home. She checks into the hotel where they've agreed to meet, but he's not there. Has someone played a cruel joke on her? As she anxiously awaits his arrival in her hotel room, she overhears a marital spat going on in a nearby room. It sounds intense (it's about the husband being unfaithful) so she peeks out. Just as she does, the man (Vincent Price) bashes his wife in the head with a candlestick! (It's 1946, so it's hidden behind a curtain. But you get the gist.) The next morning, Paul shows up, but instead of a happy reunion he finds Janet in a catatonic state. He quickly calls a doctor, who finds her to be in a state of shock. Luckily, an expert in the field, Dr. Cross, is staying in the hotel. Unbeknownst to anyone (except for Janet), the doctor is the very same man who drove her to her condition when she witnessed him murdering his wife!
Dr. Cross takes Janet to his private sanitarium outside of the city. There, he learns that she witnessed his brutal crime. He has been able to cover up the murder by staging a accident, but one eyewitness could make it all unravel. Dr. Cross is torn with guilt. Will he be a good doctor and nurse Janet back to health? Or will he use his knowledge of the inner-workings of the brain to manipulate her into thinking she's crazy? Or if that fails, will he take the encouragement of his nurse Elaine (also his mistress) and take even more drastic steps?
This premise is actually pretty creepy to me. I've always been really unsettled by the idea of being totally helpless and under the control of another person - even more so if that person is a doctor who knows exactly how to mess you up. I would imagine this would be even more troublesome in the 40's when so much less was known about the science of the brain. For me, this psychological fear is in many ways scarier than a slasher or some crazy monster. So I think I'm a little predisposed to liking Shock.
I mean, it's not some kind of classic. It kind of just repeats the same ideas about the abuse of power and manipulation over and over again. Get ready for several variations on Dr. Cross convincing Paul that "this is the best treatment" and him responding "Gosh, I don't know, but I guess you're the expert." And if the general concept doesn't work for you, you'll likely be a little bored. But overall, it moved along nicely enough (it's only 70 minutes) and has an enjoyable noir-ish tinge to it at times. And, it's got Vincent Price.
Who, once again, is the man here. This is the earliest movie I've seen him in, so it was fun seeing him as a younger man. He was my age here! Dr. Cross is not a mustache-twirlingly evil character - in fact, his crime was committed in the heat of the moment, and he feels very guilty about it. Initially, he is against interfering in Janet's recovery, until his mistress/nurse Elaine (who is as close to a bad-guy as we get) convinces him otherwise. So Price has a bit more of a layered performance here.
Everything else in the film is just fine. The other performances are okay - maybe a little "Golly Gee!" for my taste, if that makes sense. But it's 1946 so you've got to cut it some slack. The look and feel of the film are pretty workman-like. There is a neat sequence early on in the film where director Alfred Werker visualizes Janet's anxiety. She's alone in her hotel room and having some sort of panic attack. All of a sudden the view goes all hazy and then the objects in the room are totally out of proportion to her size - it looks pretty neat. I wish we got more flourishes like this - visually the rest of the film is pretty bland.
But, for the budget pack (50 Tales of Terror) it was decent. The concept of digging around in someone's brain (metaphorically) is disturbing even today. I think it's mostly Vincent Price that makes this watchable - take him away and it'd be hard to recommend. But ultimately, young Price and a short runtime? Gets a pass from me.
I would hesitantly recommend this film
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