DVD Announcement: Combat Shock

Whereas the gore in slasher flix usually amused me, the gore in COMBAT SHOCK (1986) repelled me. In a good way. Example – picture the self-surgery scene in THE TERMINATOR minus the robotic parts. It wasn’t just the gore department that I got more than I bargained for – the film oozed dingy dread from its every film spec. And I’m pleased to be informed it’s heading to DVD in prime fashion.

Also, great that Buddy G’s MANIAC 2: MR. ROBBIE (minus the MANIAC 2 tag, probably for legality or creative reasoning) is being put out there on this and THE LAST HORROR FILM DVD, makes it that much harder to ever become lost footage again.

TROMA TO RELEASE 2-DISC NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN DIRECTOR’S CUT OF NIHILISTIC MASTERWORK WITH A ‘TROMASTERPIECE TREATMENT’

COMBAT SHOCK
2-DISC NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN DIRECTOR’S CUT

Street Date: 7.28.2009 – List Price: $19.95

AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY

“Raw, nightmarish and absolutely devastating. Ranks among the most uncompromising and powerful indie films of the ’80s.” MITCH DAVIS (Director, Fantasia Film Festival)

“Combines the New York City angst of Taxi Driver, the gritty nihilism of Fassbinder and the unfiltered dementia of Eraserhead… one of the great cult films of the 1980’s.” STEVE PUCHALSKI, SHOCK CINEMA

“Makes you want to slit your wrists.” JOHN MCNAUGHTON (Director, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer)

Troma Team Video is proud to present the 2-Disc Never-Before-Seen Director’s Cut of Buddy Giovinazzo’s dark, nihilistic masterwork ‘Combat Shock’. Combat Shock has remained hidden in the underground video universe for more than 25 years, and has now fully ripened to disgust, revolt and depress a new generation of indie film viewers. Released theatrically in 1986, the film was dismissed mostly by mainstream critics, but scarred the retinas of the indie cult/horror counterculture and is now regarded as one of the supreme classics of 1980s underground cinema. Inspired by true ghastly headlines about tormented war veterans, Giovinazzo centers his story on Frankie Dunlan, a Vietnam veteran whose life is a festering sewer of poverty, hopelessness and violence.

His wife is pregnant and hungry. His one year old son is sick and horribly deformed from exposure to Agent Orange. His family is being evicted from their rundown apartment. He roams the streets looking for work. His childhood friend is a strung-out junkie. He sees underage prostitutes working the streets. Yet he doesn’t give up hope. Maybe there’s a job at the unemployment office. Maybe his father will help. As Frankie returns home, he finds a way out of the horror – desperate times call for desperate measures.

‘Combat Shock’ culminates into one of the most lurid and yet melancholic endings ever committed to celluloid.

“An angry, grueling, brutal, and uncompromisingly pitch-black work.” CINEFANTASTIQUE

Included in this fully comprehensive package will be the heavily sought-after, never-before-seen original cut of the film entitled American Nightmares, which is viciously more repulsive and grim than any other available version. Giovinazzo enthusiasts and cult film fanatics alike will celebrate this highly anticipated set, which also features ‘Post-Traumatic, an American Nightmare’, a new featurette which contains interviews with Giovinazzo contemporaries lending their praise and critical analyzes of Combat Shock. Present in the featurette is John McNaughton (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer), William Lustig (Maniac), Jorg Buttgereit (Necromantik), Jim Van Bebber (Deadbeat at Dawn, The Manson Family), Roy Frumkes (Street Trash), Mitch Davis (Fantasia Film Festival), Joe Kane (The Phantom at the Movies), Rick Sullivan (The Gore Gazette – his first interview in 20 years!), David Gregory (Severin Films), and the star of Combat Shock, in his first interview ever, Rick Giovinazzo. The set will also include, an audio commentary with Giovinazzo and Buttgereit, an all new interview with Giovinazzo conducted by Lloyd Kaufman, three never-before-seen short films, a look at the locations from Combat Shock as they appear today, original press and photo galleries, new liner notes written by Steve Puchalski of Shock Cinema, and other highly anticipated material which we have yet to announce.

“Explict ugliness and revolting realism.” VARIETY

Combat Shock’s underground success and Buddy Giovinazzo’s unflinching artistic vision eventually led to his remarkable 1996 sophomore feature, No Way Home, starring Tim Roth, James Russo and Deborah Kara Unger. Giovinazzo is also an accomplished novelist, whose literary works have been championed as the 90s answer to Herbert Selby Jr. (Last Exit to Brooklyn, Requiem for a Dream). Currently, Giovinazzo lives and works in Berlin where he is continually directing and producing films for the German market which has embraced his unique output. Life is Hot in Cracktown, based on his own powerful, disturbing novel of the same name, is currently playing the festival circuit and is distributed by Lightning Media.

2-DISC TROMASTERPIECE DVD INCLUDES:

• American Nightmares (100 min): The Never-Before-Seen Director’s Cut
• Combat Shock (90 min): The Troma Theatrical Cut
• Audio Commentary with Director Buddy Giovinazzo and Jorg Buttgereit
• Optional Spanish Language Track
• Post-Traumatic, An American Nightmare (40 min): A look at Combat Shock’s Everlasting Underground Following and an Examination of ‘Nihilistic Cinema’ featuring all-new interviews with: Rick Giovinazzo, John McNaughton, William Lustig, Jorg Buttgereit, Jim Van Bebber, Roy Frumkes, Mitch Davis, Joe Kane, Rick Sullivan, David Gregory and more!
• All-New Interview with Director Buddy G Conducted by Lloyd Kaufman
• Never-Before-Seen Short Works by Buddy Giovinazzo: Mr. Robbie, starring Joe Spinell (Maniac), More to be announced!
• Hellscapes (10 min): A Look at the Locations from Combat Shock as they appear today
• Original Press and Photo Gallery
• Original Theatrical Trailers

Film Trailer: