Lloyd Kaufman, the president of Troma Entertainment (and director of many of their productions), refers to Buddy Giovinazzo’s Combat Shock as one of the Troma Masterpieces. This despite the fact that Combat Shock is far more depressing and lacking the mounds of “Tromatic” goofiness that fans have come to love and even expect in a Troma film. But it definitely has the Troma “do it yourself and do it cheaply” spirit. Though shot on a paltry $40,000 budget, it is one of the most intense and gut-wrenching cinematic experiences you’ll ever have.

Combat Shock is the heavy-handed story of Vietnam veteran Frankie (played by director Giovinazzo’s brother Ricky) and his grueling descent into madness a la Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle. Like Bickle, Frankie also decides to use the pin-point viciousness learned in Vietnam to clean the gutter trash of the streets of New York. Also like Taxi Driver, you can’t take your eyes off the screen, even though you know it’s only going to get worse. Despite all the similarities, Giovinazzo did not out and out copy Taxi Driver but rather used it as an excellent influence.

Frankie is constantly plagued by war-time flashbacks, but that’s not the worst of it. Thanks to Agent Orange, Frankie’s baby is a rubber-headed, deformed mutant (who looks like a cross between a Roswell alien and Eraserhead) and his wife is a boring, nagging bitch. His boyhood pal shoots up into the giant tracks on his arms. He’s dead broke and jobless, the loan sharks are after him, and his father denies his existence. When Frankie finally cracks, the brutally shocking ending makes a fine cap to this truly disturbing film.