--- title: "Shock Corridor: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/shock-corridor/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/shock-corridor" critics_score: 69 critics_reviews: 9 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Shock Corridor (1963): what the critics said Critics' score 69 from 9 reviews: 7 positive, 1 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics take to Shock Corridor for the same reason: Fuller’s direction. The reviews describe the film as forceful, unrelenting and furiously energetic, and the praise clusters around its look, the stark black-and-white photography, the corridor’s hard lines, and the hallucinatory sequences in which the reporter’s mind gives way. Several treat those freak-outs as the point, reading the asylum as a picture of the social madness of its era, and one suggests it as a good place to start with Fuller. The reservations are widely shared but mostly forgiven. Nearly everyone concedes that the premise asks for a good deal of disbelief, that the plot does not hold together, that the sets are cheap and the dialogue often ludicrous; most decide the energy carries it. The one firm dissent comes from Variety, writing on release, which finds the social commentary swamped by sensationalism and the direction heavy-handed. The spread is narrow apart from that, running from good to very good. ## The AV Club — Keith Phipps Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 26 January 2011. Phipps praises the two films as a forceful double feature, with Shock Corridor only slightly overshadowed by The Naked Kiss. He singles out Shock Corridor’s hallucinatory sequences for capturing the social madness of its era. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-naked-kiss-shock-corridor-1798167051) ## Empire — Kim Newman Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 21 March 2007. Newman finds the film compelling and unrelenting, with its murder mystery working as psychological drama. He singles out its stark black-and-white style and bravura freak-outs. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/shock-corridor-review/) ## Radio Times — Tom Hutchinson Rating 4/5. Hutchinson finds the film’s outrageous premise and plot discrepancies overcome by Fuller’s forceful direction. He singles out the stylish photography, while noting it worked more elegantly in The Magnificent Ambersons. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-7il29a/shock-corridor/) ## Slant Magazine — Bill Weber Rating 4/5. 18 January 2011. Weber finds Fuller’s film a strange, harrowing, and singular vision of social psychosis. He especially praises its striking imagery, including the corridor’s linear patterns and the storm reflecting the reporter’s deteriorating psyche. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/shock-corridor/) ## The Guardian — Derek Malcolm Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 8 July 1999. Malcolm finds the film lurid and preposterous, yet an astonishingly energetic work and a good introduction to Fuller. He praises its brave, direct, furious filmmaking despite its tatty sets and often ludicrous dialogue. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/1999/jul/08/4) ## The New Yorker Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). The capsule presents the film as a frenetic, politically charged masterwork. It praises Fuller’s use of internal monologues and optical effects to evoke the patients’ delusions. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/shock-corridor) ## Time Out — TM Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). The review suggests the film’s premise may require some disbelief, but finds it wonderfully Fullerian. It singles out that premise as its praise. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/shock-corridor) ## The New York Times Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 8 August 2008. The page identifies a review, but its text is inaccessible, so the critic’s verdict cannot be established. No specific praise or complaint is available from the supplied page. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/08/arts/08iht-fmreview8.1.15076105.html) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1962. The review finds the film’s social commentary undermined by sensationalism, pretentious dialogue, and heavy-handed direction. It particularly objects to the sordid shock passages, while noting that the performers labor valiantly in vain. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1962/film/reviews/shock-corridor-1200420348/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/shock-corridor.md