Shock Corridor (1963)

Director: Samuel Fuller

Starring: Peter Breck, Constance Towers, James Best, Harri Rhodes, Paul Dubov, Larry Tucker

Certificate: 15

Genre : Drama

Awards: None

Shock Corridor is a a film by Samuel Fuller starring Peter Breck as Johnny, a journalist who wants to solve a murder that took place in a mental asylum. In order to do so, he has to go undercover as a patient and try to question the witnesses. However, due to the inmates being insane, it's hard to get a proper answer out of them. The state of Johnny's mentality also slowly begins to deteriorate.

The actual murder case is really not the main theme here as we never get the full details or the killers motive. Instead, the film focuses on Johnny and his fellow inmates including a chilling performance by Harri Rhodes as a black man who believes he is a KKK member and starts race riots in the hallway.

Johnny's mentality is also a fascinating as his voice over always delivers a calm and thoughtful voice while his outward voice and actions start doing stranger and stranger things.

Shock Corridor is a really good film that may not leave much mystery to how it ends, but it's enthralling to watch the madness unfurl.

*****Brilliant