Shock Corridor

Director Sam Fuller's movies often were labeled too edgy and unseemly, with the ability to simultaneously grab and repel the viewer. Seen as Hollywood's tough guy, his style was most evident in his breakneck storytelling and central characters who defy easy categorization. In Shock Corridor, undercover reporter Peter Breck gets himself committed to a psychiatric ward to flush out a Pulitzer Prize-worthy story. Cinematographer Stanley Cortez shot the film entirely indoors in ominously lit rooms and corridors, and editor Jerome Thoms amps up the hysteria with quick cuts that create a montage of disturbing behavior, violent outbursts, and dream sequences.

Shock Corridor was added to the National Film Registry in 1996.