Where to watch Shocker
2 Stars
A murderous TV repairman, Horace Pinker is killing people in a small town left, right and center. He eventually finds the home of Lt. Parker, who is investigating his crimes, and savagely murders Parker’s wife, son and daughter. His other son, Jonathan has a strange connection to Pinker through his dreams, and he directs his father to Pinker’s business, where a small group of officers enter. Pinker escapes in a horrific spree, killing four officers and then targeting Jonathan’s girlfriend, Alison. Another dream leads Jonathan and his dad to a residence where they catch Pinker in in the act of kidnapping. Pinker is arrested after a fight with Jonathan and sentenced to die in the electric chair. When executed, Pinker – who supposedly had given his soul to the devil in exchange for the power to come back as an energy source – takes over people’s bodies and continues committing murders, until Jonathan devises a plan to bring Pinker into the real world, and then cut off his power source…
No matter how you may feel about Wes Craven’s Shocker, most would agree that it is not suitable for a ten-year-old. That’s exactly how old I was when my Aunt took me to see this horror flick. Right on, Sylvia! For me, being ten years old was the perfect age to experience Craven’s sci-fi slasher, which aimed to start a ‘Nightmare’-type franchise for Universal Pictures. Shocker may have been a critical and commercial dud, but it made a memorable impact as a genre-bending film. I wasn’t sure if the film deserved praise or if I was just sentimental about my first gore fest. So, it was time for a revisit.
Mitch Pileggi scared the shit out of me when I was a kid in the role of Horace Pinker, and it’s still a menacing and mischievous performance from a capable actor. The problem with Shocker, and there are numerous, is that the body swap gimmick sidelines Pileggi from the second half of the film. Venerable character actor Michael Murphy is great in a supporting role as the detective who is also a foster parent to Peter Berg’s character. Murphy is so grounded and believable that he seems out of place in this hookum.
Shocker was brutal and unnerving to the pre-adolescent version of me; the adult me wasn’t nearly as moved or impressed. The movie’s first act is entertaining, but a sense of monotony sets in during an extended chase scene at a park that is narratively repetitive and visually uninteresting. Shocker’s less-than-expected box-office result canceled any plans for sequels, which, in retrospect, was a fantastic thing for Craven, freeing the director up to make the markedly better The People Under the Stairs and the modern masterpieces Scream 1 & 2.
Directed by: Wes Craven
Written by: Wes Craven
Starring: Michael Murphy, Mitch Pileggi, Peter Berg