One night in a hotel, a psychiatrist murders his wife and the only witness to the crime, a woman staying in an adjacent room, goes into a state of catatonic shock as a result. The nefarious doctor then takes her under his wing in an attempt to silence her.Shock is probably most significant now for boasting an early star billed performance from Vincent Price. This was in the years before he would become an acting superstar, most famous for giving deliciously hammy performances in a large number of horror films. In this one he is much less over-the-top but it suits the movie. This is a film-noir which is a psychological thriller rather than a horror film. It's quite a lean movie with little wastage and a trim running time, which I consider to be a good thing. Price is very good value, even in a more underplayed role, while the story-line is interesting enough. Beyond the early appearance of a soon-to-be major actor, there is nothing especially stand-out in Shock but, equally, it is a pretty solid and effective little thriller which is well worth your time.

I don't need to tell anyone how great Vincent Price is... most of us already know and he will not disappoint his audience in this film. This one is really a good crime-thriller.The whodunit and why is revealed early in the film but it's how the story plays out gives the viewers most of the thrills. There is a sinister atmosphere something 'shocking' that will keep you interested from start to finish.The movie has a Hitchcock feel to it - so if you like any of the Alfred Hitchcock movies then you just might like the film "Shock".7/10

A very young Vincent Price before he turned to over the top horror movies.It's a silly little movie with very late 40s / early 50s psychological tripe.Some of it is reminiscent of Hitchcock in the direction. None of the acting is especially good. Price really wasn't a great actor. The other characters are horrible. Not really a good movie.The plot Dr. Cross, a psychiatrist, is treating a young woman, Janet Stewart, who is in a coma-state, brought on when she heard loud arguing, went to her window and saw a man strike his wife with a candlestick and kill her. As she comes out of her shock, she recognizes Dr. Cross as the killer. He takes her to his sanitarium and urged by his nurse/lover, Elaine Jordan, gives Janet an overdose of insulin. But he can't bring himself to murder her in cold blood and asks Elaine to get the medicine to save her. She refuses, they argue, and he strangles her. He saves Janet's life, but now faces two murder charges.

And of course, he WAS punished but it was all so anti-climactic. Vincent Price strolled amiably off screen with District Attorney O'Neill (Reed Hadley) when it was all over, and the lack of a final explosive confrontation took a lot of the steam out of the finale. Up till then, Dr. Richard Cross's (Price) crime served as a back drop in a tense psychological game in which he and conniving mistress (Lynn Bari) sought to convince Mrs. Janet Stewart (Anabel Shaw) that she was slowly losing her mind. The theme was well established in the early Forties with a couple of treatments of "Gaslight", and the soft spoken, genteel manner of an actor like Price was quite suitable for his role here. Ultimately though, the picture misses the mark somewhat as Price's character goes bonkers a second time and chokes out his paramour. At that point, both the viewer and the good doctor realize that it's close to curtain call. With a little better writing, he might have gotten patient Edwards to take the fall and gotten away scot-free.