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, Mitch Pileggi, John Tesh

1 nomination.

Cast

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

supernatural power | serial killer | electric chair | electrocution | demon | 

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Taglines:

Now he's gone really 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:

Raleigh Studios - 5300 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$16,554,699

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alive Films, Universal City Studios, Carolco International N.V.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mitch Pileggi appeared in character as Horace Pinker to promote the film on a special Halloween episode of MTV's Headbangers Ball (1987).

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Goofs

Camera and sound crews' shadows visible during football game.

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Quotes

Lt. Don Parker: Jesus. That chair really kicks ass.

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Connections

Featured in No More Mr. Nice Guy: The Music of Shocker (2015)

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Soundtracks

Shocker
Performed by The Dudes Of Wrath
Written by Desmond Child, Jean Beauvoir and Guy Mann-Dude
Paul Stanley and Desmond Child (lead vocals)
Guy Mann-Dude and Vivian Campbell (guitars)
Rudy Sarzo (bass)
Tommy Lee (drums)
Background vocals by Kane Roberts, Louis Merliono, Desmond Child and Michael Anthony

User Reviews

Good action movie!

Shocker is one of my favorite serial killer movies. At first glance it might look like a standard hack and slash movie though it has some of those elements, it isn't. There is some originality to this movie and the characters aren't your run of the mill dumb high school students. Oh, they're in high school, they're just not dumb. The "Shocker" played well by Mitch Pileggi of X-Files fame is a lot better than Freddie Kreuger or Jason Vorhees. He has a reason for killing that I won't give away. Not all of the students are killed if you can believe it and the ones that make it deserve to. There is a very good scene involving the killer and hero as they fight across multiple TV channels that I've never seen done before this movie. There is comedy in this movie but not much. It is not a "scary" horror movie. It is more of an action move that is done well. Catch it or rent it if you can.

Rayvyn