Directed by Samuel Fuller
With the help of his girlfriend Cathy and Dr. Fong, a psychiatrist, ambitious journalist Johnny Barrett poses as a madman in order to be admitted to a mental institution where a bloody murder has been committed.
Peter Breck Constance Towers Gene Evans James Best Hari Rhodes Larry Tucker Paul Dubov Chuck Roberson Neyle Morrow John Matthews Bill Zuckert John Craig Philip Ahn Frank Gerstle Rachel Romen Barbara Perry Marlene Manners Linda Randolph Lucille Curtis Jeanette Dana Marie Devereux Karen Conrad Allison Daniell Chuck Hicks Wally Campo Ray Baxter Linda Barrett Harry Fleer
Shokkikäytävä, Chok korridor, Delirio de pasiones, Reportagem de Choque, Straightjacket, The Long Corridor, El corredor sin retorno, Il corridoio della paura, O Corredor do Silêncio, Schock-Korridor, Corredor sin retorno, Шоковый коридор, 恐怖走廊, Chodba šoků, 충격의 복도, Paixões que Alucinam, ショック集団, Şok Koridoru
USA New York City / New Jersey 
Spain Madrid 
UK London 
Poland American Film Festival USA 
Italy 
Mexico 
Norway 
France 
Japan 
Denmark 
Netherlands 
Finland 
Germany 
Portugal Denmark Finland France Germany Italy Japan Mexico Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Spain UK USA 
Late in Shock Corridor, in a rare moment of lucidity, Boden (Gene Evans), one of the mental patients Johnny Barrett (Peter Breck) tries to crack in order to solve a mystery, draws Barrett a portrait. It sets Barrett off: That's not me, he argues. I draw what I see, Boden says.
We don't see the drawing. We don't need to—we've already been acquainted with the gist of the image. This is a film filled with grotesque impersonations of almost everyone in it, everyone who's rotting from the inside out, in almost every scene. Look at the long, vibrant shadows and horrible silhouettes trailing every placid, sedate man in the asylum like the residue of his raging inner self. Barrett's reaction…
the eeriest and most effective use of a silhouette(s)
An ambitious fame-chasing reporter pretends to be insane so he can infiltrate a mental hospital and attempt to expose an unsolved murder in the hopes of winning a Pulitzer at the behest of his own vanity - alright, sounds good. Pretty sure I’ve seen something like this several times before, whether it be some intense psychological fuckery like Shudder Island or some farcical gag like Ace Ventura, but I’m always down for another stroll over the cuckoo’s nest. Should be relatively straightforward, right?
Bruh…this could’ve been simple. It could’ve just been a standard psych ward investigation. It could’ve turned the patients into campy horror caricatures. It could’ve included some standard wacky twist where the sane and the insane have switched places…
"I used to work in the female wing, but the nympho ward got too dangerous for me."
With a handful of Samuel Fuller's films now under my belt, I can wager with a measure of confidence that this untamable auteur was a visionary of sorts in addition to likely being certifiable—perhaps something like the cinematic equivalent of an art brut savant. At any rate, his tempestuous 1963 Shock Corridor is as fervent a melodrama as one is likely to encounter.
The script (by Fuller—who himself had a background in journalism) follows the single-minded exploits of investigative reporter Johnny Barrett (Peter Breck) in headlong pursuit of his cherished Pulitzer Prize. Determined to solve the open homicide of a patient from a…
”you’ll never get out, johnny. not really.”
Man, this is crass. A gut-punch – much less a crime mystery than a full-blown mind fuck, blending the unease of satire with the creeping dread of noir and psychological horror. It hits hard. Not just because of the screams, the sudden distorted jolts of color, the taboos, or the way it bounces between pulp trash and commentary – but because independent filmmaker Samuel Fuller knew exactly what he was doing. Shot in just 10 days, Shock Corridor barrels through the long, echoing halls of national trauma like it's got no time to waste. The atmosphere he summons – with shadows slashing across walls and silence cracking into manic outbursts – is pure…
Half exploitation film, half moody noir, often very goofy and very much in need of editing, but fearless and stylish and bizarre. Also taught me the important lesson that mental illness is highly transmissible, so try not to hang around insane people unless you've had your shots.
Action! - Three Auteurs: The Narrative Tabloids Of Samuel Fuller
As I have mentioned in the past, Samuel Fuller is a filmmaker who has always been interested in showing the psychology and internal conflict of his characters and translating those feelings to the screen. In this particular case, this element has not been more prominent than with this psychological drama that has overtones of horror.
The film that introduced me to the director is still one of his best. There is no denying that his experimental style and the occasional overacting can be a bit irritating to some, even taking them completely out of the story. Considering the era in which it was made and all that, I personally enjoyed…
"And, when we're asleep, nobody can tell a sane man from an insane man, huh?"
Is there a more visceral window into mental illness? It's pulpy and overwrought, in the best Samuel Fuller way, but that's why it's so effective. Peter Berk screaming "Something do something about my head! My head! It hurts" is like a knife slicing through your brain. I can't imagine anyone watching Shock Corridor and not have a creeping shiver roll up their spine. The only people who thinks they're completely sane are the ones who never were.
Milos Forman's ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOS NEST was to be a huge success in 1975. Samuel Fuller's SHOCK CORRIDOR wasn't to score that kind of love 12 years earlier and was even banned in England until 1990. Here as well the evil, grueling and psychologically violent nature is closely linked to the grotesque humor that a film set in a mental asylum almost inevitably has to radiate.
The journalist Johnny (Peter Breck) has himself admitted to a psychiatric hospital because he wants to solve a murder case in order to win the Pulitzer Prize - not exactly unselfish and highly ambitious. Our protagonist - in a bit of a noir style - is not morally flawless, but instead develops…
Pulpsmith Sam Fuller tackles socially divisive subjects like ingrained and institutional racism and xenophobia, the arms race, sexuality and psychology with hallucinatory surrealism and razor-sharp dialogue in the sensational B-picture Shock Corridor. The film follows Pulitzer Prize aspirant Johnny Barrett (Peter Breck), a journalist hellbent on solving the case of a mysterious asylum murder—from the inside! He has himself committed, much to the vocal disapprobation of his reluctant accessory and girlfriend, Cathy (the inimitable Constance Towers as a burlesque stripper with a heart of gold). Once established in the hospital, Johnny must play a series of bizarre and psychologically-altering cat-and-mouse games to lure out the truth from his fellow patients, each episode a setpiece of melodrama and spectacle.
Hari Rhodes…
Criterion Collection Spine #19
Talk about your work driving you nuts!
"Right about now is when he's supposed to ask me if I hear voices ... Do you hear voices, John?"
A supposedly sane reporter puts his mental stability to the test by conning his way into a psychiatric ward in order to expose the truth behind an unsolved murder. Writer and Director Samuel Fuller's psychological thriller Shock Corridor, was a refreshing change of pace from the typical Criterions I watch, with its B-movie approach to an art film.
"Born phonies, all you newspapermen."
(Quick Hits) ... Spoilers:
- Early on we get the sense that our main character Johnny Barrett might already be a little crazy, as we get…
Don't waste one sane moment.
