Combat Shock

Combat Shock follows Frankie Dunlan, a Vietnam veteran living in a rundown part of New York roughly fifteen years after his return from the war. Haunted by his time as a prisoner and by the violence he witnessed and took part in, he shares a grim apartment with his wife Cathy and their infant son, who was born deformed. Unemployed and short of money, Frankie spends his days searching for work and navigating a hostile city, encountering an old friend who has become a drug addict and a gang of creditors pursuing him.

Buddy Giovinazzo wrote, directed and produced the film, his first feature, released in 1986 and followed in his filmography by The Unscarred. Rick Giovinazzo, credited here as Ricky Giovinazzo, plays Frankie, with Veronica Stork as Cathy and Mitch Maglio, Asaph Livni, Nick Nasta and Michael Tierno among the supporting cast. Lloyd Kaufman produced alongside the director, and Troma Entertainment was among the production companies behind the low-budget drama.

Made for very little money, the film drew a modest audience over the years, reflected in an IMDb rating of 6.2 from around 3,700 votes and a TMDB rating of 6.4 from a much smaller number of votes. A critics' rating of 5.1 from five reviews places professional assessment lower than the audience scores on the two sites. Its combination of war trauma, urban poverty and horror elements has kept it a point of reference among viewers interested in independent genre cinema.