Part of a mini-surge of psychiatric films in the mid to late 1940s (Spellbound, The Snake Pit), Shock stars Vincent Price as a psychiatrist who murders his wife and then becomes the treating physician for the only witness to the crime.  He first attempts to get her to forget what she saw and later tries to convince everyone else that she is insane.  In the end he can’t bring himself to kill her and he ends the film in the custody of the police.

Shock is a mixed bag.  Vincent Price is excellent as the psychiatrist.  He is calm, deliberate, and manages to gain our sympathies as we realize that the murder was a crime of passion.  His girlfriend, played by Lynn Bari, emerges as the evil force that drove him to violence and our antipathy shifts towards her.  As a look back into the history of psychiatry, there are some interesting moments where they administer insulin shock therapy and use hypnosis to change memory.  However, there are significant flaws.  Anabel Shaw is not convincing as the witness in shock (which would be called acute stress disorder today) and many of the other actors are likewise forgettable.  The story isn’t very involving and there is limited visual interest.  It is recommended primarily to Price fans and those with an interest in psychiatric films. ✰ ✰ ½.

MJM  10-07-2011