Shock

 I'm way more familiar with the work of those who built upon Mario Bava's career than with the work of the man himself, which is something I really should remediate. Looking up his last movie, Shock (directed with the help of his son Lamberto) seems to be regarded as a relatively minor work.

 That... sounds about right. It's still pretty good, though!

 Dora (Daria Nicolodi), her young son Marco (David Colin Jr.) and husband Bruno (John Steiner) move back to the house where Dora lived with her first husband, who went missing at sea seven years ago. Strange things start happening almost immediately, especially around young Marco, who keeps finding his way into the basement and acts strangely around a suspiciously bricked-off section of a wall. This is despite the us being shown that Bruno zealously keeps the basement locked and even lies to Dora that he doesn't know where the keys are.

 It soon becomes apparent that Marco is, if not possessed, at least being influenced by the ghost of Dora's deceased husband. This is at its funniest when, while Dora is getting it on with Bruno in the floor below, Marco suddenly sits up in bed and start screaming Filthy! Filthy! Filthy!. It's at its most disturbing when, while roughhousing, Marco gets on top of Dora and starts making making sex grunts. Along with A Christmas Horror Story, this is the second movie I see in the last few days that has a pre-teen get extremely oedipal. I regret nothing!

 In any case, while there are some jump scares (a couple of them pretty effective!), it's all mostly within the realm of plausible deniability as to whether something supernatural is going on or not... especially when we see Bruno surreptitiously spiking Dora's drinks. As things go on some doubt is cast as to what really happened between Dora and her first husband, too, as she seems to have blacked out everything that happened (electroshock therapy is mentioned). The film keeps its cards close to its chest up to the finale, which wraps up the mystery a bit abruptly but in a fairly satisfying way.

 The soundtrack, by the band Libra, is an extremely '70s funky prog deal that's jarring enough to earn a few laughs, but nevertheless scores a creepy calliope-like refrain whenever the ghost seemingly exerts its influence over Marco, and a lovely piano main theme for the movie.

 Effects are kept at a minimum - this is a very low budget movie with very little in the way of gore, but most of them are pretty effective and in a couple of cases, very ingenious. The cinematography and editing can get pretty drab except for a few standout sequences. The script, which went through a few iterations over almost a decade, is reasonably put together. Its story is compelling enough, and though there are some minor plot holes and clichés, it sets up recurring visual images - like a deeply ugly porcelain hand sculpture, which will be echoed by repeated hallucinations of a ghostly zombie hand - beautifully.

 The acting is great - particularly Dora, who is often heartbreaking in her vulnerability. She also gets a couple chances to look into the camera and say 'Marco!' with relish, which is the sort of script/acting choice that never fails to amuse me.

 Shock is an old-school slow burn that's a bit too subdued for its own good, and a little too artless at times. It's got a handful of truly great imagery and sequences, though, and its story remains compelling throughout. It might not be as visually polished as I expected but I enjoyed it.