Product Details

• Actors: Peter Berg, Mitch Pileggi, Michael Murphy, Cami Cooper, Theodore Raimi
• Directors: Wes Craven
• Writers: Wes Craven
• Producers: Wes Craven, Marianne Maddalena, Barin Kumar
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: March 16, 1999
• Run Time: 110 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0783232101
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,017 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Shocker" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Wes Craven's horror pictures always have a few wild ideas knocking around inside them, and this 1989 slashfest is no exception. The electrocution of a mass murderer turns into a kind of cosmic jump-start: evil Horace Pinker is reborn as an elusive electronic phantom, capable of leaping from one body to another. (This trick is also used to good effect in The Hidden and Fallen.) Pinker's a stinker, and Craven was clearly trying to set up another franchise villain in the vein of his Nightmare on Elm Street champ, Freddy Krueger--perhaps a bit too baldly. However, amidst the mayhem, the film's real subject is the poisonous presence of mass media, as Pinker (played by The X-Files' Mitch Pileggi) insinuates himself as a free-floating spirit run amok in television itself. In its own pulp way, Shocker gets at the heart of media-culture inanity quicker than a ten-week college class on the subject, and although Craven occasionally lapses into generic bloodletting, he always snaps right back with some crazy angle on the TV nation. The hero is played by a young Peter Berg, the Chicago Hope star who would go on to direct his own shocker, Very Bad Things. Shocker failed to catch on with audiences (somewhere there's a warehouse full of unsold Horace Pinker action figures), but it's definitely worth a look for horror fans. --Robert Horton

Product Description

Michael Murphy, Peter Berg, Cami Cooper. A tale of terror surrounding a young athlete who has a bizarre connection through his dreams to a demonic killer who uses forms of electricity to heinously kill his victims. 1989/color/110 min/R/widescreen.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Truely one of Wes Craven's best films! August 11, 1999

By A Customer

Format:VHS Tape

I love the movie Shocker and feel it deserved a second chance. Though the serial killer character of Horace Pinker is not Freddy Krueger, he still is just as terrifying and the films is just as good as Craven's A Nightmare of Elm Steet(and definitely better than its sequels). Mitch Pileggi of X-Files gives a wonderfully scary performance as Tv repairman/serial killer Horace Pinker. I think it definitely deseres a look by Craven and just plain Horror fans alike. So in response to Mr. Horton's review above, I would love to get my hands on some Horace Pinker action figures. What a great idea!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Electrifyingly good. May 29, 1999

By A Customer

Format:VHS Tape

Some people are disappointed with this, but I can't understand why. Alright, so Wes Craven had set out to create a new Freddy, but so what? The film is an excellent joining-together of interesting characters, imaginative special effects and a crackingly good script.

A serial killer is stalking the city. After an accident on the rugby pitch a teenaged boy has a dream in which he finds that the maniac is none other than local TV repairman Horace Pinker. When Pinker is put to death on the electric chair, he is able to return to life through anything with electrical systems including the TV and the human body.

Gripping, well-paced thriller. Horace Pinker himself is such a different character from Skinner in the X-Files that it's hard to believe it's the same actor. Pinker is certainly one of the better of the thousands of film psychopaths and this film is certainly a cut above most of the uninspiring Freddy sequels. A wonderfully dark and sombre soundtrack is the cherry on the proverbial bakewell.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Bloody Marvelous May 2, 1999

By James Wotzko

Format:DVD

Shocker should be viewed for what it is - plain, old-fashioned cheesy horror fun! This is a great DVD to take to a movie night, or to watch with your girlfriend - i reckon she'll be grabbing onto you for most of its duration! The problem is, most people seem to take this movie too seriously. I give it 5 stars for being cheesy, and for making me laugh... BIG TIME!!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I thought it was an awsome movie April 1, 1999

By A Customer

Format:VHS Tape

The story line was great and it kept me jumping. The TV clips it showed put together w/ the sound track was well put together. I definately could watch this movie again.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Awsome 80's horror flick. Loads of fun & great music score! March 30, 2004

By P. Krug

Format:DVD

Whenever I see a film that's lots of fun but reletivly obscure I feel kind of sad, in a way, as I feel such a film deserves better recognition. That's how I felt when I saw this film. It was Wes Craven's attempt to create a new horror movie franchise as he did with A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, with Horrace Pinker, a very Freddy Kruger-esque villian. Since everyone, even people who never watch horror movies, have heard of Freddy Kruger but Horrace Pinker is a much more obscure name, this film failed to catch on. That does make me sad, in a way, but then again if this movie had been a hit like ELM STREET was, they probably would have made a slew of sequels and Pinker would have become every bit as invincible as Freddy. I've always felt a sense of hopelessness when I'm watching a slasher movie series and the undead killer keeps coming back to life. Much as I do love this movie, I appreciate the fact that, from a story telling perspective, this is a stand-alone film.

Ahem. Anyway, the plot: Horrace Pinker is a T.V. repairman by day, serial killer of whole families by night. He also walks with a limp (we find out later in the movie why that is). High school football player Jonathan seems unconnected to all this, until he has a dream where Pinker murders his family, and then finds out that it has really happened, leaving only Jon and his police leutenant foster dad left. Jonathan's dreams lead police to finding out the killer's identity, but that doesn't save Jon's girlfriend Allison, whom Pinker later kills. Finally Pinker is captured and sentanced to death by electric chair...and the film's second act begins. You see, Pinker practices black magic, and after his execution he becomes an evil spirit with the ability to jump into other people's bodies...

I love pretty much everything about this movie.... It's got an awsome 80's metal sountrack that you can really bang your head to, some really cool kill scenes and gore (the lip-chewing scene is probably the most shocking thing in the film) the killer is certainly Freddy-like in many ways, yet still different, in that he invades people bodies rather than their dreams. The good characters are also interesting enough and easy to root for. I especially liked the bit where Allison's ghost comes back to warn him that Pinker may be dead but isn't gone. I also like the thing where Pinker practices black magic, thus giving us an explanation as to how he's able to come back after death; Freddy was able to, apparently, just because he wanted to badly enough. I love the film's climax, and one other thing.

(WARNING! MAJOR PLOT SPOILER!)

I like how this film DOESN'T have one of those "Oh my God the killer/evil spirit's STILL ALIVE!" endings. Pinker is vanquished at the end, and since there were never any sequels, we know he's been permenantly laid to rest. If you like horror movies check this one out! Read more ›

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Finger licking good July 28, 2003

By Tim

Format:DVD

Shocker says "finger licking good" after he bites off the fingers of a security gurard. Now thats comedy!!!

The Shocker gets the power to move his soul into different people's bodies. It becomes humorous when he goes into the bodies of a female doctor, and the body of a 10 year old girl. He also gets the power to tellepot through electric wires.

This movie is good old-fashioned bloody horror, without the million dollar special effects that you see in movies nowadays.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Guilty Pleasure to say the least! January 7, 2005

By Zack H.

Format:DVD

I thought, since I loved the Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream series, maybe Wes Craven would impress me again. Certainly, he did. This film is about a killer who is electrocuted, and he finds out how to come back to life and tries to murder the football player who turned him in to the police. Awesome. Really awesome.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Roland September 18, 2004

By Gunslinger

Format:DVD

This movie was well worth the money i spent.The overall movie was great,the soundtrack is really good,and the picture quality looks really well for an 80's movie.Not much gore except for a couple of scenes,but still a great movie to own.The madman in this film,Horace Pinker played by (Mitch Pileggi)plays a great murderer.The highschool kid Johnathan Parker (Peter Berg), can be dull at times,but still doesnt do too bad. I've watched this movie a couple of times,and will probably watch it again in the future.If your thinking of getting it,its well worth your time and money.On a scale of 1-10,i would give it a 9.