don2507 If you ever get a chance to see this film on TCM or Netflix, then by all means give it a chance. You might find it as entertaining in a low camp sort of way as I did. Its writer-director Samuel Fuller was known for making low-budget films with controversial themes, and the film is described as a thriller, but I found it (presumably) inadvertently funny. The acting is way, way over the top, and the plot is crazier than the patients depicted in the film's mental hospital. The recurring voiced thoughts of our journalistic hero, feigning mental illness and "working" undercover, so to speak, in the mental hospital to solve a murder committed in the hospital and achieve acclaim, are comically histrionic. I cannot believe the serious-minded and socially-conscious Fuller set out to make a satire, or expose the treatment of the mentally ill, or explicitly parade their delusions and idiosyncrasies for our amusement; instead, to this viewer, the film is less a thriller and more a kind of low camp amusement.How else are we interpret the crazy scene where our hero searching for clues to the murder ends up in the "nympho" ward where they interrupt their art therapy to attack him amid his ferocious screams (and we see on the walls the results of their art therapy: pictures of naked men). On the other hand, one of the attendants is taking sexual advantage of "feeble-minded women" in the kitchen. And our hero's girlfriend expresses her anxieties that if he solves the crime he'll emerge from the hospital reasonably sane, but if he doesn't solve it, he'll descend to a permanent "depressive psychosis" (or was it "catatonic schizophrenia", they seem to mix the diagnostic disorders in this film frequently). Oh, what our ambition will make us do!

Woodyanders Driven Pulitzer prize-seeking reporter Johnny Barrett (a fine performance by Peter Breck) fakes being unhinged so he can be committed to a mental health hospital in order to investigate a baffling unsolved murder. However, Barrett risks his own sanity in the process of doing this. Writer/director Samuel Fuller uses the gloriously lurid and improbable, yet still gripping story as a means to explore the various ways social pressure can drive a person insane, the fine line that separates madness from sanity, and the bitter price one must pay for ruthlessly pursuing a self-aggrandizing single-minded goal. Moreover, Fuller certainly doesn't skimp on the requisite sleazy thrills: We've got a sizzling striptease cabaret number, a hysterical attack by predatory man-hungry nymphos, and a colorful array of flaky inmates. The enthusiastic cast attack the tabloidy material with considerable gusto: Constance Towers as Barrett's concerned girlfriend Cathy, Gene Evans as the infantile Boden, James Best as delusional farmboy Stuart, Hari Rhodes as the bitter and disillusioned Trent, Larry Tucker as gentle opera-singing giant Pagliacci, Chuck Roberson as friendly orderly Wilkes, and John Matthews as the earnest Dr. L.G. Cristo. The ironic ending packs a devastating punch. Stanley Cortez's sharp black and white cinematography boasts lots of striking stylistic flourishes. An enjoyably delirious marvel.

Boba_Fett1138 There are plenty of other movies out there, set inside of an insane asylum but yet still this movie manges to come across as something special.It's hard to say what to think about this movie and how to rate it, since it's really doing its own thing. Even though this is 1n 1963 movie, it doesn't in the slightest feels or looks like a 1963 movie. It reminded me more of a good 1940's film, with its atmosphere and approach to its film-making. Of course the fact that the movie is shot in black & white, also adds to this.It's mostly being a very minimalistic movie with its settings and writing. It's the sort of movie that slowly progresses, which I believe, suited the movie its premise perfectly, as the main character is slowing descending into madness. It's all somewhat predictable to be honest but it still is great to see how it all plays out in the movie.The movie is all about its atmosphere really. It really succeeds in getting a tense and unusual sense across. The movie is doing still plenty of original stuff with its story, also by inserting a more thriller type of plot line into it. It all basically makes "Shock Corridor" a great watch, though I'll admit that this movie is not just for everybody. It might be a bit too slow and unusual for that at times. But I strongly believe that the vast majority of those who watch this movie will not be disappointed by it.Well worth checking out, if this movie sounds and seems interesting to you.8/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Jackson Booth-Millard I knew absolutely nothing about this film until I spotted it listed in the book as one of the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, so that was a good enough reason for me to try it, from director Samuel Fuller (Pickup on South Street). Basically Johnny Barrett (Peter Breck) is the ambitious Daily Globe journalist intent on getting a Pulitzer Prize solving the murder of a man named Slone stabbed to death with a butcher knife in the kitchen of a mental hospital. The police have been unable to solve the mystery as the only three witnesses are insane interns, so to get close to the truth, with support of his boss 'Swanee' Swanson (Bill Zuckert) and psychiatrist Dr. Fong (Philip Ahn) he enters the hospital as a patient. With the help of his stripper girlfriend Cathy (Constance Towers), originally against the idea, she pretends to be his sister, and ensues that he is her brother having incestuous feelings towards her. Now a patient declared insane and in the asylum, and sharing a room with opera obsessed Pagliacci (Golden Globe nominated Larry Tucker), he works his way around, while at the same having mental treatment, and one by one he approaches the three inmate witnesses aware that they all have their moments of sanity. First is former soldier Stuart (James Best) who believes he is in the old confederate army, and the only clue Johnny gets from in his five minutes or so is that the killer wears white trousers. Second is former black university student Trent (Hari Rhodes) who is confused into thinking he is white and wanting to get rid of other black people, i.e. becoming racist and forming his own KKK (Ku Klux Klan), and his clue in the moment of sanity is that the killer is not a patient but an attendant. When Johnny is visited by Cathy she knows that his being in the mental hospital is getting to him, he is slowly truly going insane himself, i.e. believing she really is her sister, and we see this in the asylum too when there are moments he loses his voice and of course his mind. Finally the third witness, former physicist Dr. Boden (Gene Evans) who has developed the mind of a child, in his moment of sanity gives the journalist the answer he wants, Slone's killer's name, it's Wilkes (Chuck Roberson). But with Johnny's mentality collapsing he momentarily forgets this information when he tries to tell the head of the hospital, but Wilkes finds out that he knows his secret. In the end, after a big fight and a confession from the killer, Johnny is allowed to write his expose and he does win the Pulitzer Prize, but is immediately returned to the institution having completely gone insane and become a catatonic schizophrenic. Also starring Paul Dubov as Dr. J.L. Menkin, Neyle Morrow as Psycho, John Matthews as Dr. L.G. Cristo, John Craig as Lloyd and Frank Gerstle as Lt. Kane and Rachel Romen. If you took One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, and mixed it with elements of The Departed and Shutter Island, then this is exactly what comes to mind. Breck gives an extraordinary performance as the undercover writer with his mental state deteriorating, Towers has her small moments, and all the actors playing the insane characters, notably Tucker, are amazing. The script and direction by Fuller is superb with all the right styles to create both disturbing and gripping moments, it holds you like a really tight straight jacket would, it is such a brilliant psychological drama that I would definitely recommend. Very, very good!