Shock Corridor (1963)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Tim S

  
  I've been a stranger to the work of Samuel Fuller, but I'm planning to change all of that as soon as I can get my hands on some of his other films. Shock Corridor tells the story of a reporter trying to get the big scoop by going undercover as a patient at a mental hospital… More
  I've been a stranger to the work of Samuel Fuller, but I'm planning to change all of that as soon as I can get my hands on some of his other films. Shock Corridor tells the story of a reporter trying to get the big scoop by going undercover as a patient at a mental hospital where the truth about a murder rests within the residents, all in an effort to get the coveted Pulitzer Prize award. I was absolutely floored by how good this film is. It gets right in your face with issues that would have been nothing more than subtleties in other films by other filmmakers at the time, yet there's a cleverness to it and the film has more to say than just addressing the issues themselves. Peter Breck gives a great performance, as does Constance Towers. We spend the entire film getting to know all of the patients and the staff at the hospital, and it never gets boring - not ever for a minute. You're constantly engaged in what's going on as Peter Breck's character slowly descends into madness, but you're barely aware of it as the film goes on. I'd love to see Samuel Fuller top this film, and judging by his reputation and the film's merit alone, I believe he can do just that.

• Randy T

  
  Welcome to the bizarre world of Samuel Fuller - where a black man is the Imperial Wizard of the KKK and being locked in a room full of hot nymphomaniacs is a 'bad' thing.

• Greg S

  
  A journalist has himself committed to a mental institution to try to solve a murder. This mix of lurid melodrama, heavy-handed symbolism (America in 1963 is an insane asylum!), and nympho assaults shouldn't work at all, but Sam Fuller's passionate direction turns it into… More
  A journalist has himself committed to a mental institution to try to solve a murder. This mix of lurid melodrama, heavy-handed symbolism (America in 1963 is an insane asylum!), and nympho assaults shouldn't work at all, but Sam Fuller's passionate direction turns it into something maddeningly entertaining.

• Ken S

  
  I have one word for you "Nymphos"

• Michael G

  
  A fantastic movie that gets nearly none of the recognition it deserves. The musical number, the color flashbacks worked into black and white monologues and the dreams were all fantastically done. The acting almost rivals the direction even with some really heavy-handed dialogue. An… More
  A fantastic movie that gets nearly none of the recognition it deserves. The musical number, the color flashbacks worked into black and white monologues and the dreams were all fantastically done. The acting almost rivals the direction even with some really heavy-handed dialogue. An amazing premise with plenty of random and uneasy moments that never allows you to lower your guard (despite his easy-going nature, I waited for Pagliacci to go batshit on Johnny) and the scene with the nymphos scared the living shit out of me. Every moment you wait to see Shock Corridor is a complete and total waste of time.

• Cindy I

  
  Saw this a long time ago, but can't remember if I liked it. Better see it again before I rate it. UPDATE: Finally got a chance to seee this again, and I was NOT disapponted. It's my first Samuel Fuller film, and if the others are of this quality I can't wait for the… More
  Saw this a long time ago, but can't remember if I liked it. Better see it again before I rate it. UPDATE: Finally got a chance to seee this again, and I was NOT disapponted. It's my first Samuel Fuller film, and if the others are of this quality I can't wait for the rest. Peter Breck plays a journalist on the big story that will win him a Pulitzer. He has himself committed to a mental hospital to get a story about a patient murder, and finds that he is slowly coming just as unhinged as the people he is observing. While some of the film is dated, in particular the scene with the "nymphos", and some is just offensive -- Dr. Cristo's implication that Cathy is bringing on John's "Illness" by encouraging John's incestuous behavior, for example (reminds me of all those years of women being blamed for bringing on rapes by being too seductive) -- for the most part, the film is extremely well-done. The scenes of Stuart and Trent's revelations about the origins of their respective mental illnesses were moving at times, and special props have to go to Larry Tucker as wife-killer "Pagliacci." I've never seen this guy before, and he was great. He had this weird half-happy fat guy/half-nutso serial killer laugh that really got me. I would have liked him to have more screen time. In bragging on the supporting players, I don't want to take away from Breck himself. He did a good job in general, and a great job in a couple of scenes where he has started cracking. I get the impression that Sam Fuller had a real problem -- as everyone should -- with the Southern racial attitudes of the 1950s and 60s. Both Stuart and Trent's illnesses stemmed from experiences they had in the South -- Stuart being raised by bigoted Southern parents, Trent being the only black student in an all-white Southern university. Someone more versed in Fuller can probably fill me in on this. A couple of things -- besides the stuff I already mentioned -- that I wasn't fond of were 1) the ending, which seemed a little Twilight-Zoney and tacked-on, and 2) I've never been a fan of Constance Towers (she reminds me of a second-rate Joan Crawford for some reason). I've always found her performances kinda flat, and she fits that bill here with one of the lamest-ass stripteases I've ever seen. One thing that gave me pause -- Even though the film was made in B&W, the mental patients dreams were in color. I dream in color. Coincidence?

• Brian R

  
  Very powerful stuff. The storytelling, the acting, the mood, the visuals. Again, very powerful controversial stuff. Samuel Fuller is a filmmaker (like Martin Scorsese, Quientin Tarantino) isn't afraid to take risks and in this case it's all in "Shock Corridor" the… More
  Very powerful stuff. The storytelling, the acting, the mood, the visuals. Again, very powerful controversial stuff. Samuel Fuller is a filmmaker (like Martin Scorsese, Quientin Tarantino) isn't afraid to take risks and in this case it's all in "Shock Corridor" the story of a man who goes to mental hospital who pretends to go mentally insane to get information from the patients he conversates with in order to get a Pulitzer Prize. What I admire is Fuller's bold messages, an inmate who uses racial slurs to show America's insane obsession with racism, a prostitute who has a heart of gold, and finally the corrupt system of the beast (corruption in society, greed, media, politics) it's all there and it's all evident, inside of an insane asylum. Great stuff by the master director Samuel Fuller.

• Anastasia B

  
  What can you write on Samuel Fuller's work without looking like a moron? I don't want to resort to academic criticisms which sound empty to people who haven't studied film, but can FEEL when a film is good or bad. Samuel Fuller's films ARE "bad". But… More
  What can you write on Samuel Fuller's work without looking like a moron? I don't want to resort to academic criticisms which sound empty to people who haven't studied film, but can FEEL when a film is good or bad. Samuel Fuller's films ARE "bad". But his art is THE RE-DEFINITION of bad. His films work their way into your mind like a worm. If I had to compare him to someone, I would compare him to Trier and Bergman. His work reminds me of both, in terms of emotional impact, of the way he paces his films, of the cruel insight he has on reality's worst aspects. Fuller's films are a life-time experience. I don't think anyone should let critics and academia lead them on this and tell them how and what they should think of a film, what's more this one. Just get there yourself and (unlike his characters) remember the way to get back...

• Eduardo C

  
  From "The Manchurian Candidate" to "Night of the Living Dead", so many films from the turbulent 60s reflect the conflicts, confusion, instability and turmoil of the era in which they were made. Few, however, managed to do it as literally "Shock Corridor".… More
  From "The Manchurian Candidate" to "Night of the Living Dead", so many films from the turbulent 60s reflect the conflicts, confusion, instability and turmoil of the era in which they were made. Few, however, managed to do it as literally "Shock Corridor". When a reporter decides to infiltrate a mental hospital in order to solve a murder and win a Pulitzer, he finds himself in a condensed microcosm of the United States: a madhouse where bigotry, a failed civil rights movement, war and the threat of nuclear annihilation have come to define its patients/citizens. As our lead gets closer to the murderer, he begins to lose his mind. The film makes no apologies for its crude, B-movieness (on the contrary, it is proud of its roots) or lack of subtlety. There is no doubt this was a labor of love for Sam Fuller, its writer-director, who had something unequivocal to say and made no bones about it. The film is well acted, well written and works quite well both as a fun genre picture and as something more.

Read all 9 featured audience ratings