a creepily transgressive update of the haunted house movie, full of psychosexual thrills, trippy dream sequences and sustained dread, all plunging a curious young child into a game of very adult preoccupations and perversions.

essentially a modern updating of the traditional Gothic potboiler, it fits neatly into Bavas extensive body of work, which repeatedly played with the gray area between reality and illusion

Shock represents a master craftsman working at the end of his career under atypical circumstances who managed to turn in a thoughtful, creepy movie in an age of bombastic set pieces and excessive gore. Give Shock a chance and it will reward you.

The awful emoting by David Colin Jr. as the boy remains a constant problem.