Shocker (1989)
- Cody Iden
- Oct 14, 2021
- 3 min read
Release Date - October 27, 1989
Synopsis:
After being sentenced to the electric chair, a serial killer uses electricity to come back to life in order to get his revenge against a football player who turned him into the police.
Directed by - Wes Craven
Written by - Wes Craven
Produced by - Bob Engelman, Peter Foster, Barin Kumar and Marianne Maddalena
Cinematography - Jacques Haitkin
Music by - William Goldstein
Distribution Company - Universal Pictures
Cast:
Michael Murphy - Lt. Don Parker
Peter Berg - Jonathan Parker
Cami Cooper - Alison Clemens
and Mitch Pileggi - Horace Pinker
Richard Brooks - Rhino
Vincent Guastaferro - Pastori
Sam Scarber - Coach Sidney Cooper
Theodore Raimi - Pac Man
Dr. Timothy Leary - Television Evangelist
Kane Roberts - Road Worker
Run Time - 1 hr. 50 min. Rated - R
Budget - $5 million Gross - $16.6 million
Review:
Shocker starts off very strong with a series of grisly serial killings committed by the film’s main villain, Horace Pinker, played by Mitch Pileggi who does a great job in the role. The rest of the cast is pretty good, especially future-director Peter Berg as the film’s lead. Had the filmmakers stuck to a more straightforward serial killer film, this would probably have been a great movie, but after the first 45 minutes the entire tone of the film switches from a dark and violent slasher flick to a more campy and silly supernatural tale that suffers from a lack of any clear rules to govern the story. Even the villain goes from being a creepy psychopath to an over-the-top horror villain that spouts goofy one-liners. This is all done to lead into a bloated, special-effects heavy finale that sees the main hero follow Pinker into the world of television which leads to an entertaining sequence as the two characters cross through various programs including scenes from Leave It to Beaver and the 1931 Frankenstein film. But it ultimately leads into an unsatisfying conclusion that sees a once despicable villain trapped by the powers of a remote control. Wes Craven set out to make this movie as a response to what he saw as poor sequels to his original A Nightmare on Elm Street, but by the time we get to the end of Shocker it seems that Craven fell into some of the same problems that were plaguing the Elm Street films, namely a villain who was more at home reciting corny dialogue than racking up a body count. Despite this the film is still worth a look as the first half of the movie is really well-made, the soundtrack is enjoyable and the special effects are very well done.
My Score: 73
Plot - 7 Cinematography - 7
Attraction - 8 Editing & Special Effects - 8
Theme - 7 Sound & Music - 8
Acting - 7 Directing - 7
Dialogue - 7 Enjoyability – 7
Trivia:
Originally conceived by Wes Craven as a response to the poor quality of the A Nightmare on Elm Street sequels.
The last of four films to feature a killer that comes back to life after being sentenced to the electric chair: Prison (1988), Destroyer (1988) and The Horror Show (1989) all preceded it.
Heather Langenkamp, the star of the original A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) has a brief cameo on TV as Horace Pinker’s first victim.
Other cameos include Dr. Timothy Leary as a TV evangelist, John Tesh as a TV anchorman, Wes Craven as a neighbor and Kane Roberts, better known as Alice Cooper’s guitarist, played the road worker that Horace Pinker possesses in one scene.
The jogger that Horace Pinker possesses is Jonathan Craven, son of director Wes Craven.
Peter Berg who plays the film’s main character, Jonathan Parker, later became an accomplished director known for Friday Night Lights (2004), Hancock (2008), Battleship (2012), Lone Survivor (2013), Deepwater Horizon (2016), Patriots Day (2016), Mile 22 (2018) and Spenser Confidential (2020) many of which star Mark Wahlberg.
Availability:
Watched in October, 2021
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