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'Combat Shock's' cult status surprises former Staten Island filmmaker
Posted by jpyates August 30, 2009 09:00AM
Photo courtesy of Buddy GiovinazzoBuddy Giovinazzo, Ron
Cosentino and Brandon Routh on the set of Giovinazzo's new film, "Life is Hot in Cracktown."
25 years after making movie, Buddy Giovinazzo is still stunned by its success
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In the early 1980s, student filmmaker Buddy Giovinazzo wrote and
directed a feature film about a grievously damaged Vietnam veteran who snaps and executes his wife
and infant son.
Twenty-five years later, "Combat Shock" has a cult following and, in some circles, it's considered a
classic of 1980s movie making.
Re-released this month, the deluxe anniversary DVD includes the original film, a director's cut (titled
"American Nightmares") and interviews with Giovinazzo and some of his admirers.
After a stint teaching film at his alma mater, the College of Staten Island, the Port Richmond native
moved to Berlin, Germany, in 1998.
He loves Berlin ("Anything goes here. It's anarchy! I love that."), where he writes and directs his own
projects and directs for television.
Giovinazzo's new film, "Life is Hot in Cracktown," based on his own 1993 novel, is on the European
festival circuit. The American DVD was released earlier this month.
Last week via e-mail, he recalled making "Combat Shock." Many scenes were shot in Port Richmond,
where the protagonist lives in squalor. For the Vietnam flashbacks, he used some bad-smelling
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