In the story of Troma's huge movie collection, Combat Shock appears as an oddity. First of all, it's not funny, I found it pretty cleverly made and you don't get the psychotronic feeling that you usually get viewing Troma movies.
Beeing a compulsive buyer, I get anything I can find with the Troma label. When I saw that one, I had never heard about it before, so I watched it with fresh eyes.
I must admit that the plot, though interesting, is losing itself into too many various directions. First of all, you understand that the main character is in Vietnam during the war on a killing rampage. He eventually gets captured, then tortured for two years and finally released to get cured in a hospital. Returning to America, he is believed dead by everybody and lands in a particularily dirty appartment in NY ugly suburbs. We then meet his wife and mutant baby (fake looking but disturbing). He has struggle giving back some money he borrowed to street criminals. At the employement office, he is told he will never find a job. To make a long story short he is lost. Finally he kills his family before commiting suicide.
Some scenes are particularily interesting to analyze :
1) At the beginning he kills a viet woman before being captured and the same scene is repeated at the end when he kills his wife except that the viet woman has been replaced in his souvenirs by his wife. This is a very strong flashback and a very tortured way to make us understand that war is everyday in our present lives and that we always fight against an enemy whatever it is.
2) The waiting line at the employement office scene may seem very long to some. I think that it is on purpose to make you deeply feel the frustration of waiting inline for some improbable recompense at the end. There is a very important event here, a woman on a motorbike offers him a ride which he refuses. Like M. Giovannazo wanted to show us that sometimes you want to stay in your own problems even when a solution to is offered to you.
3) The revenge scene, in which the hero kills the men who were after him for money is also to be notified. The guy takes his revenge on life by eliminating his first and most important problem. However we do understand that revenge or rebellion rarely makes things better. That's why the only solution offered to this character is death, and cleansing before departure by killing his family members.
Some others scenes are here only to add to the atmosphere like the drug or the streets scenes. I must admit that they were not absolutely necesary to the understanding. Which is why I would not rate this flick to the highest level, and also because there are minor plotlines that had nothing to do with the rest and that were not exploited properly.
I know it's often been compared to Lynch's Eraserhead or to Taxi Driver. Well I don't know why, I find Combat shock to be darker and much more nihilistic though not as well done.
If you liked Combat Shock, you will probably love the two movies I named below.
I think everyone should give it a try, at least anyone able to bear the viewing of the gore scenes at the beginning.
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