tdrish By the time Shocker came around way back in 1989, it was clear that Wes Craven was getting burnt out on all his hard work. This movie does have a lot of creativity, and other key factors that help make it a good movie, however,there are other key elements that drag it down to hell. My first complaint with Shocker...way too many special effects. I'm talking special effects, after special effects, to more needless special effects, to the fact that it's just pure silliness that Craven finds the need to abuse all these special effects. Examples include hero Jonathan Parker falling into a bed full of water ( a dream sequence never explained), to psycho killer Horace Pinker coming to life as a human recliner ( you think that's funny, you have to actually see it!) Shocker is not a bad movie to watch, it's certainly not boring, however, Craven has several other titles, earlier titles I may mention, that are worth having a look before you dive into this fest. I'm strongly advising this for fans only. If you've never watched a Wes Craven movie, I strongly recommend Invitation To Hell or A Nightmare On Elm Street. This one came a year after The Serpent And The Rainbow ( my personal Craven favorite!), and it's literally night and day compared to Shocker. Shocker also lacks a whole lot of logic, but if you're not an over thinker like me, you just may be lucky enough to over look it. I think it's quite funny, just to point out, that the cops in this movie cannot seem to find Horace Pinker, the killer, despite the fact that he's driving around in a TV repairman truck with his name clearly visible right on the side of the truck. They have to depend on someone who is...actually dreaming about the killings before they even happen. ( What is it with Craven and the whole dream thing, anyways?) Surprisingly violent for a Wes Craven film, this one also takes a broad approach into the mind of serial killer, before and after his death on the electric chair. When he is executed, well, they just did him a favor. Now he's a disembodied entity, going through power panels, and even using other people to inhibit through an actual possession. ( Possessing a child? You just lost a star, Wes!) A whole lot of silliness in this one, especially towards the end of the movie, when they're feuding through different TV channels, different TV shows, and different movies. ( Sound different? IT IS!) It's slick, silly, unique, but it lacks a whole lot of scares that we're so used to with a movie written and directed by Craven...it's almost a letdown. Rest In Peace Wes Craven...you are truly missed by many ( and I'm one of them.)

ivo-cobra8 Shocker (1989) is a master of horror Wes Craven's underrated excellent horror flick, that I do believe is a classic and I love it to death! It is my third favorite Wes Craven's horror flick. This movie is a memories on my childhood, I grew up watching this movie as a kid. The same thing that was with the Chinese director John Woo by me, I had no idea who was Wes Craven or that it was directed by him. The only movie I memorized by Wes was Scream, which become my favorite film when I was 15 years old, I watched Scream with my mom and even my mom liked Scream. I found out a year later about this film Shocker, but version I had on VHS was extremely horrible lousy picture quality and awful audio. The subtitles were extreme lousy dubbed so I couldn't watch this film. Now recently I got this film on Blu-ray and I really had a blast watching this horror film! A Nightmare on Elm Street and New Nightmare are my favorite Wes Craven's horror films that I love to death and Shocker is my third favorite horror film is my number 3 Wes Craven's slasher horror flick, that I love to death! This amazing stylish horror film from the late 80's is about a diabolical mass murderer who harness electricity for unimaginable killing powers. Why I love this film? because Horace Pinker is a bad ass, kick-ass villain! The film simply reminds me on A Nightmare on Elm Street the original flick. Btw I hate horror idiotic icon Michael Myers from Halloween franchise, I hate him and I hate Jason Voorhees the same as Myers, but Horace Pinker could kick both of their assess! I love this film because in any horror film that I remember the main hero of the whole film is a kick ass guy who is likable decent male hero character trough whole film! In every horror film that I remember the main hero is always some stupid girl, but Wes tried something else which it worked.You have a great horror, likable characters, a lot's of action, a lot of fantasy in it and a lot of fun. This is Peter Berg's best film in his whole career which is an awesome classic! Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) from A Nightmare on Elm Street is my favorite number 1 horror icon heroine but Jonathan Parker is my favorite number 1 horror icon which I love him to death.I love the music scores from Megadeth and The Dudes of Wrath, I love soundtracks No More Mr. Nice Guy and shocker to death.My favorite scene is when Horace Pinker (Mitch Pileggi) posses the body of 9 year old girl and drives an excavator and try's to kill Jonathan which that scene was incredible awesome! Horace posses the body of Lt. Don Parker (Michael Murphy) and hunts down Jonathan (Peter Berg) and shots with a gun on him, missing him and they both fight face off on a tower when they both climbing up and Don Parker kick's him away.Ghost Alison Clemens (Camille Cooper) kick's Horace's spirit away from Jonathan.Jonathan face's off Horace him self and fight's him off and finally beat's him in his own game, like Nancy did and he survives.The cast is very solid in here: Mitch Pileggi gave a solid performance, Peter Berg's best underrated role, Camille Cooper is very underrated and excellent actress in here.You also have Ted Raimi in here and Heather Langenkamp in a cameo scene as Horace's Victim.Wes Craven did amazing job as script writer and director you have a solid script and awesome dialogue in the film.R.I.P. - Wes Craven (1939 - 2015) I really miss you and thank you for all the Freddy movies, thank you for all horror franchise and movies like are: A Nightmare on Elm Street, New Nightmare, Scream, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Shocker and The People Under the Stairs. I love you so much I wish you could done more horror movies I really love them.Overall: I love Shocker to death and it is my third favorite Wes Craven's horror film! The rating is a 10/10 for me.Shocker (also known as Wes Craven's Shocker) is a 1989 American horror film written and directed by Wes Craven. It stars Michael Murphy, Peter Berg, and Mitch Pileggi as the evil antagonist Horace Pinker 10/10 Grade: Bad Ass Seal Of Approval Studio: Universal Pictures, Alive Films Starring: Michael Murphy, Peter Berg, Cami Cooper, Mitch Pileggi, Sam Scarber, Richard Brooks, Ted Raimi, Heather Langenkamp, Lindsay Parker, Janne Peters Director: Wes Craven Producers: Warren Chadwick, Wes Craven, Bob Engelman, Peter Foster, Shep Gordon, Barin Kumar, Marianne Maddalena Screenplay: Wes Craven Rated: R Running Time: 1 Hr. 50 Mins. Budget: $5.000.000 Box Office: $16,554,699

Tango and Cash Oh yeah! Four terrible movies in a row - all thanks to my curiosity and iTunes rentals. "Shocker" was the 4th one.I wasn't expecting "Citizen Kane," but nothing whatsoever in this movie made sense. Well, maybe some parts did but I couldn't watch more than 30 minutes of it. It's just such a stupid movie, and I tried to hang in there for the camp and the B-movie pathos, but it was too bad. Awful movie, very surprised it has a 5.3 instead of a 3.5 rating.Football players hurts himself. Then he is able to see the future. Bingo! The worst serial killer in American history is in jail, on death row - and they allow him to have candles, a television, and somehow jumper cables or something in there! Bingo!! Cha-ching!! Because that makes sense.My favorite part of the first 30 minutes though was when 7 or 8 policemen chase the physically handicapped villain. He burns past them like Usain Bolt. Cha-ching!! Dear lord, I wonder what absurdities come in the next hour of the movie. I use "wonder" loosely, however, because I will never watch this piece of trash again. I paid $3.99 to rent it - worst money I have ever spent.You guys really like this movie? Like actually like it? It was unbearable to me after 20 minutes, one of the dumbest things I have ever seen. Forced myself to watch another 10 minutes, and I was done."Shocker" - you are a very, very, very bad movie.

TheRedDeath30 I honestly believe that Wes Craven may be the greatest horror director of all time. It's not necessarily one movie that cements that view for me, but when looking at the career as a whole, I don't think you can match up any other director who has created as many true horror classics as Craven. In any career, though, there are bound to be a few missteps and SHOCKER just might be one of Craven's biggest, in my opinion.The movie is really just a half-hearted concoction created from bits and pieces of Craven's previous hits, in an obvious attempt to create another franchise. The seams really start showing in this creation, though, as I find that the weaknesses far outweigh any highlights.The movie centers on a young man, played by Peter Berg. Of course, it is a mite different to see a male lead in one of these films. Almost immediately we're reminded that this is the man who created Freddy as we're already in a dream world. Seems our young hero can "see" a serial killer committing his monstrous crimes. The plot takes an obvious course from there to the hero eventually assisting his cop foster father in bringing in the villain.We're already about halfway through the runtime when the plot switches altogether. The killer is executed by electric chair, but through some poorly explained "black magic", he becomes some sort of malevolent force, able to pass from body to body to continue his bloody killings until we get to the inevitable final showdown between hero and monster.The worst flaw, for me, in this movie was the script writing. I'm a big horror fan and, trust me, I get it....these movies are going to have some chinks in the armor. We're not supposed to think too hard, but this movie is a lesson in hackneyed plot design. Every twist and turn in the plot is precipitated by some thrown together coincidence. People and items just happen to be in the right places at the right times, and are connected to just the right people, so that the plot can continue along its' merry way without the writer having to put too much effort into explaining it all. That includes one of the most vital cogs in the whole design, the explanation of how this "transformation" was possible. You don't have to explain too much to me in a horror film, but give me some reason to believe in this monster's existence.As a Craven film, this plays out a bit like a remix of his greatest hits. It's as if he took all of the ingredients that made his previous movies successful and threw them in a blender. People seemed to like dreams in EM ST, so let's have a hero who sees the killer in dreams. His early films like LAST HOUSE and HILLS HAVE EYES were notoriously nasty slashers, so let's throw in some gruesome murder scenes. He had just done black magic in SERPENT & RAINBOW so let's pepper in some of that too. The list goes on. It started to feel like more effort went into finding success than creating success.I guess I don't have too much positive to say and that's a shame because Mr. Craven is a genius who has certainly created some of my favorite films ever, but I just wasn't impressed with this one.