Combat Shock
Director: Buddy Giovinazzo
Year Released: 1984
Rating: 1.0
Feel-bad, nihilistic Z-movie follows a Vietnam Vet from 'the shit' (actually the woodlands of New York) to his home, with his unemployment, dirty clothes, his nasty wife, his mutant baby and the creeps he owes money. Although the actual point is semi-valid - the government did abandon its men following the war, and the psychological and physical effects of the war (thanks to Agent Orange) were very real - the picture is too crude, cheap and sensational to make much of the topic. I wrestled with whether or not this can be deemed 'offensive' (I confess that I'm the offspring of a Vietnam Vet), but I settled on merely 'insensitive' instead - I don't think Giovinazzo was trying to make a movie that's either subversive or politically motivated but rather just another cheap exploitation flick.
