Shocker (1989)

After being sent to the electric chair, a serial killer uses electricity to come back from the dead and carry out his vengeance on the football player who turned him in to the police.

Director:

Wes Craven

Writer:

Wes Craven

Stars:

Michael Murphy, Peter Berg, Mitch Pileggi

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Murphy	...	Lt. Don Parker
Peter Berg	...	Jonathan Parker
Mitch Pileggi	...	Horace Pinker
Sam Scarber	...	Cooper
Camille Cooper	...	Alison (as Cami Cooper)
Ted Raimi	...	Pac Man (as Theodore Raimi)
Keith Anthony-Lubow-Bellamy	...	Football Player
Heather Langenkamp	...	Victim
Virginia Morris	...	Diane
John Tesh	...	TV Newscaster
Jessica Craven	...	Counterperson
Emily Samuel	...	Sally
Richard Brooks	...	Rhino
Peter Tilden	...	Reporter
Bingham Ray	...	Bartender

Storyline

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...

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Plot Keywords:

electric chair | football player | serial killer | back from the dead | soul | 

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Taglines:

Mass murderer Horace pinker was put to death. Then he really got mad.

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 October 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Shocker: No More Mr. Nice Guy

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$16,554,699 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alive Films, Carolco Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In Jonathan's second dream, he looks up at a street sign and sees the street names Maddalena and Wagner. Marianne Maddalena was a producer of the film, and the actor playing the executioner was Bruce Wagner.

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Goofs

When Jonathan and his father are in the bar, footage of a live Alice Cooper concert appears on the TV in the background. The song, however, is "Love Transfusion" by Iggy Pop.

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Quotes

Reporter: Holy shit! It's him, Horace Pinker! What are you staring at? Get the camera on him!
Horace Pinker: Special bulletin, huh? I'll give you a show.

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Connections

Referenced in Fallen (1998)

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Soundtracks

"Sword & Stone"
Performed by Bonfire
Written by Desmond Child, Paul Stanley and Bruce Kulick

User Reviews

A great mix of action, comedy, romance, fantasy, horror and suspense

I simply can't understand, why did everybody vote this movie so bad? Personally, I liked it more than every one of the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" series. I know that the Nightmares have a better story (at least the 1st one), more gore and a better villain. Good old Fred Krueger is far more interesting that Horace Pinker, I can't argue with that. But "Shocker" has all the action and humor that misses on "A Nightmare on Elm Street". The characters are quite interesting, specially the lovely Cami Cooper's Alison. Great action and fight scenes, pretty good gags, touching romance, creative TV fiction and horror, less gory but with some good suspense makes "Shocker" a great movie to see, but without linking to the Nightmare series.