Boobirt Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Sabah Hensley This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Loui Blair It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Red-Barracuda One night in a hotel, a psychiatrist murders his wife and the only witness to the crime, a woman staying in an adjacent room, goes into a state of catatonic shock as a result. The nefarious doctor then takes her under his wing in an attempt to silence her.Shock is probably most significant now for boasting an early star billed performance from Vincent Price. This was in the years before he would become an acting superstar, most famous for giving deliciously hammy performances in a large number of horror films. In this one he is much less over-the-top but it suits the movie. This is a film-noir which is a psychological thriller rather than a horror film. It's quite a lean movie with little wastage and a trim running time, which I consider to be a good thing. Price is very good value, even in a more underplayed role, while the story-line is interesting enough. Beyond the early appearance of a soon-to-be major actor, there is nothing especially stand-out in Shock but, equally, it is a pretty solid and effective little thriller which is well worth your time.

arfdawg-1 A very young Vincent Price before he turned to over the top horror movies.It's a silly little movie with very late 40s / early 50s psychological tripe.Some of it is reminiscent of Hitchcock in the direction. None of the acting is especially good. Price really wasn't a great actor. The other characters are horrible. Not really a good movie.The plot Dr. Cross, a psychiatrist, is treating a young woman, Janet Stewart, who is in a coma-state, brought on when she heard loud arguing, went to her window and saw a man strike his wife with a candlestick and kill her. As she comes out of her shock, she recognizes Dr. Cross as the killer. He takes her to his sanitarium and urged by his nurse/lover, Elaine Jordan, gives Janet an overdose of insulin. But he can't bring himself to murder her in cold blood and asks Elaine to get the medicine to save her. She refuses, they argue, and he strangles her. He saves Janet's life, but now faces two murder charges.

JohnHowardReid Top-billed Vincent Price gives a characteristic performance in this well-directed (Alfred Werker) noir, filmed on a top budget ($375,000) by 20th Century Fox. True, eager-beaver Frank Latimore is somewhat miscast as a returned soldier. He seems too fresh-faced and innocent to have taken an active part in the army, unless he spent the war as a paper-shuffler in Washington or some other safe posting well behind the lines. Fortunately, his role is comparatively small and it's his movie wife, well-played by little-known Anabel Shaw, who takes center stage. Also on hand in the femme department is Lynn Bari (here cast as Price's even more villainous assistant), and some great character actors including John Davidson giving the best performance of his entire career as a berserk mental patient. Admittedly, noirish lighting helps, but Davidson's sequence is really chilling. He takes the spotlight right off Vincent Price who seems just a bit too relaxed at times with a murder conviction staring him in the face. Oddly, a good print of this movie is available on numerous bottom-price DVDs. Presumably, 20th Century Fox forgot to renew their copyright and the movie fell into the public domain.

dougdoepke The movie had all the makings of an expert thriller, but somehow peters out near the end. Psychiatrist Cross (Price) kills his wife in a fit of violence. The trouble is Janet Stewart (Shaw) sees him and goes into shock. And guess who they send her to for treatment. Will she survive, especially since the Doc has a nurse (Bari) more calculating than he. Great suspenseful premise, putting the mouse under protection of the cat. Director Werker adds a number of effective noirish touches, including a can't-quite-get-there dream sequence. It's also Price at his most restrained, years before his stock and trade as a leading Hollywood ham. The relatively unknown Shaw is also excellent during her non-comatose moments. Doc Cross is an interesting character. He's quite rational except for moments of violence that appear more impulsive than calculated. He's really rather weak, unable at times to control his emotions, an oddity for a head doctor. The real force is nurse Jordan, cold, calculating, with an obvious sexual hold over Cross. In short, she's a spider woman, seeking to replace Cross's murdered wife. I think the movie would have more impact if she were given more screen time. As things stand, she remains something of an unrealized background figure. The ending seems pretty bland and abrupt, without the imagination of earlier parts. It's almost like the script, cast, and film stock, were suddenly in short supply. Nonetheless, if the movie doesn't quite fulfill its premise, it does manage a number of imaginative moments, at a time when Hollywood seemed fascinated with mental illness and the emerging science of psychiatry.