There are better ways to win a Pulitzer, Johnny.

Shock Corridor. A romp along the superhighway to insanity, this piece sits on the high altar of films depicting journalistic aspiration. Contemplate a black-and-white Bob Woodward with a stripper girlfriend. The reporter for a generic newspaper decides to admit himself to an insane asylum so that he can investigate the death of patient. All this to win the Pulitzer. While seemingly an air-tight plan, we soon learn that insanity, in fact, is contagious.

However, this plan goes awry when the director decides to abandon plot altogether and instead present a seemingly unending parade of vignettes depicting the insane. There's a man who thinks he's a Confederate officer, and another who is obscenely fat, stuffs gum in his mouth, and sings opera. There's a black Ku Klux Klan member as well as the usual catalogue of catatonic hall-standers, screamers, and even a merciless band of nymphomaniacs who nearly rape our protagonist.

After what seems like hours of treading water with useless character development, we finally return to the task at hand -- attempting to locate the murderer. After suffering through all that needless footage, we are pained to discover that the secret to closing the case is merely asking the three patients who witnessed the murder, "Who did it?" Case closed.

However, it's too late. The journalist has lost his mind. The results likely would have been different had the author allowed him to ask this simple question sooner, instead of dragging both him -- and us -- through unnecessary caricature.

In addition, I was highly distracted by a lack of continuity in the brutal skirmish between the Pulitzer hopeful and a male attendant. The leg of a table appeared askew in one shot, then perpendicular in the next. This lack of attention to detail brings to question the film's Criterion Collection status. Also, there are several scenes of Japan shot in color on what appears to be a home video camera. Given the fact the film takes place almost solely within the walls of an 'institution,' I have no idea why these even exist.

However, there are several memorable quotes and no dearth of questionable language. Nymphos, whores, and impotence included.