A group of thinly-written stereotypical characters is cruising some tropical islands aboard an old yacht which belongs to a nutty Captain (John Carradine).
At night the holidaymakers' fragile vessel is hit by a 'ghost ship' and promptly starts sinking, forcing everyone to get into a dingy and seek help on the nearest island, where a former Nazi (Peter Cushing) is living in 'voluntary exile'. Soon creepy goggled zombies come out of the sea and begin picking off the living one by one.
The best scenes of SHOCK WAVES seem to be wonderfully atmospheric silent film. Uniformed automatons wading through the water and doomed characters wandering about the deserted island.
Lack of a strong identification point really hurts the film.
Despite being introduced as protagonist, the lovely Brooke Adams remains a peripheral character throughout the film, with very few lines given to her.
Luke Halpin's character is also not much of a hero. Just think: in the beginning of SHOCK WAVES he's the only guy on deck at night. A gorgeous bikini-clad girl joins him and attempts to chat him up. So what does Luke do? His response to her advances is: 'I love the middle-of-the-night watch... it gives me a chance to be alone'. He might as well have just told her to beat it and try her luck with the Captain.
Peter Cushing gives a wonderful performance as the SS Commander, although his attempts at German accent aren't entirely successful.
A film that deserves to be seen again and again for its effective simplicity.
I didn't even see this for the first time until last year and I liked it quite a bit. Not great overall, but there are some truly wonderful moments in the film and I love the super grainy look of the movie. The atmosphere, like you said, is the key to victory here. Also, lots of parallels between this and TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE if you think about it.
ReplyDeleteI, too only recently saw SHOCK WAVES for the first time. Agreed, not a masterpiece. This sort of simple, unpretentious film-making tends to win me over. I believe the ultra-grain (which I also have a thing for) is there because the original negative for SHOCK WAVES has been long lost. So they mastered the DVD from the best print they could find. It adds to the feel of the film instead of detracting from it, doesn't it.
ReplyDelete...and I have to confess to not having seen any of the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE films ;)
ReplyDeleteMaybe I need to revisit Shock Waves, I don't remember it being much good, but it is all over the horror movie blogosphere with nearly 500 hits in the last month from Google blog search.
ReplyDeleteHi Michael!
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't mean to force this film on anybody. SHOCK WAVES worked really well for me on intial viewing. I thought it was extremely effective, utilizing minimal resources to create unique atmosphere. On repeat viewings the film felt a bit too thinly-written. But stylistically I still love it. Aaron already mentioned the heavy grain in the comment above. That, coupled with some precise framing, makes SHOCK WAVES worth revisiting for me. And I'm glad it's not a universally accepted classic, like, say Carpenter's HALLOWEEN or Hooper's TCM. SHOCK WAVES, with its undeniable flaws, is slightly off the beaten track, which is why it's not been discussed to death yet.