Customer Reviews

Shocker [VHS]

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

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!

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.

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!!!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

Even with the title SHOCKER, it has nothing to do with the rating of the film! I like it. Sure, it's not the best thing Wes Craven has done, and it's very hard to scare me at all, and nothign about this film is scary to me, probably not to anyone else either. But I think it is a pretty cool movie.

Horace Pinker I think his name is? Is played by the bauld guy from X-Files (Skinner) who is a phychopath, killing not just people but entire fammilys, and some how a kid is having dreams of seeing him doing the murders, and eventualy helps in the capture and arrest of Horace.

But Horace has made a pact with the devil or somthing? and when Horace is sent to the electric chair, it dont kill him. Horace becomes a ....well, a spirit type/electrical/ghostly kind of monster who has the ability to jump into other peoples bodys! Which pre-dates that idea in "Jason goes to hell" But the cool stuff is the FX, there not super great, but there fun to watch as Horace is able to get into TV's and shows and things. I really think it's a pretty funny horror-ry/comedy.

It probably wont be for all tastes, I really like the soundtrack in the movie too. bit of Hard Rock and Metal went pretty good with it. I'm not sure if i'd recomend it to you or not? If you havent seen it, and happen to see it , then I urge you to consider giving it a glance.... But I guess it depends on everyones personal likes and dislikes really.

The bonus features are nothing to praise. Just some production notes, biographies, and trailers... be cool if there was some deleted scenes or somthing? even an Audio commentary maybe? But if you wanna see a slahery kind of flick that isnt just a mistery guy walking around cutting people up, and want to venture to a funny sort of wacko who becomes an electrical ghost type of guy, then give it a rent if you can find it?

This 1989 horror flick directed by Wes Craven (Last House on the Left, Hills Have Eyes, Nightmare on Elm Street) is far from Craven's finest hour, but it is still worth a look for horror fans. The story revolves around a serial killer (Mitch Pileggi, Skinner from The X-Files) who is re-born as a spiritual, electrical force which can jump from one body to another. His target: a young athlete (Peter Berg from TV's Chicago Hope and the director of The Rundown) who shares a link with the killer. Full of uneven pacing and more than a few loose ends, Shocker still manages to be entertaining despite it's faults, and thanks to the oddball, colorful casting and Craven's directing, Shocker avoids being the piece of horror shlock it seemed destined to be. The film is backed by a rocking metal soundtrack, highlighted by Megadeth's headbanging cover of Alice Cooper's "No More Mr. Nice Guy".