Shocker (1989)

Director:

Wes Craven

Writer (WGA):

Wes Craven (written by)

Release Date:

27 October 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

On October 2, at 6:45 AM mass murderer Horace Pinker was put to death. Now, he's really mad.

Plot:

After being sent to the electric chair, a serial killer uses electricity to come back from the dead...

Plot Keywords:

Electric Chair | Back From The Dead | Serial Killer | Electricity | Lifting Person In Air

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

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
Sue Ann Harris	...	Waitress
Eugene Chadbourne	...	Man in Bar
Jack Hoar	...	Sergeant
Stephen Held	...	Rookie
Richard J. Gasparian	...	Cop #1
Joyce Guy	...	Cop #2
Joseph Roy O'Flynn	...	Priest #2
Linda Kaye	...	Woman at Stairs
Vincent Guastaferro	...	Pastori
Janne Peters	...	Doctor (as Janne K. Peters)
Bruce Wagner	...	Executioner
Marvin Elkins	...	Guard #1
Christopher Kriesa	...	Guard #2
Bob Swain	...	Priest #1 (as Bobby Lee Swain)
Michael Matthews	...	Evil Mouth
Ricardo Gutiérrez	...	Guard Sergeant
Ernie Lively	...	Warden
John Mueller	...	Fireman
Jonathan Craven	...	Jogger (as Jonathan Christian Craven)
Lindsay Parker	...	Little Girl
Dendrie Taylor	...	Young Mother (as Dendrie Allyn Taylor)
Kane Roberts	...	Road Worker
Stephen R. Hudis	...	Officer Robinson
Gary Davies	...	Cameraman (as Gary Michael Davies)
Christopher Keyes	...	Bruno
Timothy Leary	...	TV Evangelist (as Dr. Timothy Leary)
Marji Martin	...	Woman Couch Potato
Ray Bickel	...	Man Couch Potato
Mark Slama	...	Kid with Crow Bar
Karl Vincent	...	Kid with Mask
Wes Craven	...	Man Neighbor
Holly Kaplan	...	Woman Neighbor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brent Spiner	...	Talkshow guest (uncredited)

Directed by
Wes Craven

Writing credits (WGA)
Wes Craven		(written by)

Produced by
Warren Chadwick	....	associate producer
Wes Craven	....	executive producer
Robert Engelman	....	co-producer (as Bob Engelman)
Peter Foster	....	co-producer
Shep Gordon	....	executive producer
Barin Kumar	....	producer
Marianne Maddalena	....	producer

Original Music by
Michael Bruce
Alice Cooper
William Goldstein

Cinematography by
Jacques Haitkin

Film Editing by
Andy Blumenthal

Casting by
Gary M. Zuckerbrod

Production Design by
Cynthia Kay Charette

Art Direction by
Randy Moore

Set Decoration by
Naomi Shohan

Costume Design by
Isis Mussenden

Makeup Department
Dee Dee Altamura	....	makeup artist: second unit (as Rosalia Altamura)
David LeRoy Anderson	....	key special makeup (as David I. Anderson)
Lance Anderson	....	special makeup designer
David Atherton	....	special makeup lab technician
Scott Coulter	....	special makeup lab technician
Jeffrey S. Farley	....	special makeup lab technician
Dan Frye	....	makeup effects technician
Laura Gorman	....	hair stylist
Laura Gorman	....	makeup artist
Roger McCoin	....	special makeup lab technician

Production Management
Warren Chadwick	....	post-production supervisor
Barin Kumar	....	unit production manager
Rick Reynolds	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robert Engelman	....	first assistant director
Mark S. Glick	....	second second assistant director
Stephen Lofaro	....	first assistant director: second unit
Stewart Lyons	....	first assistant director: second unit
Jeffrey Wetzel	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Marc Baird	....	storyboard artist
Gene Bishop	....	lead man
Jonathan Bobbitt	....	set dresser
John Cales	....	carpenter (as John C. Cales)
Rebecca Carriaga	....	set dresser
David B. Clark	....	paint supervisor
Glen Consbruck	....	carpenter
Keith Cox	....	carpenter
Dave Florence	....	carpenter
Hal B. Forsen	....	carpenter
Gary Gagliardo	....	lead carpenter
John M. Holliday	....	carpenter
Thomas D. Krausz	....	carpenter
Randy Moore	....	art director: second unit
John S. Reynolds	....	carpenter
Michael Sapp-Chun	....	swing

Sound Department
Marty Church	....	adr mixer
Robert Friedman	....	foley artist
Darrell Hall	....	assistant sound editor
Wayne Heitman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Michael P. Redbourn	....	supervising sound editor
George W. Scott	....	boom operator
Richard Shorr	....	sound effects
Richard Shorr	....	supervising sound editor

Special Effects by
Larry Fioritto	....	special effects
Christopher Gilman	....	special effects makeup
David L. Hewitt	....	special effects
Robert Phillips	....	special effects lead (as Bob Phillips)

Visual Effects by
Alan Barnett	....	digital visual effects (as Alan k Barnett)
Allen Blaisdell	....	visual effects on-set coordinator
Jonathan Craven	....	visual effects coordinator
Joshua Cushner	....	motion control operator: The Chandler Group
Roger Dorney	....	visual effects: Apogee, Inc.
Charles A. May	....	visual effects technician and motion control assistant (as Charles May)
Jeffrey A. Okun	....	visual effects wrangler (as Jeff Okun)
Mark V. Phillips	....	visual effects assistant (as Mark Phillips)
Samuel E. Recinos	....	technical animation supervisor
David J. Williams	....	visual effects
Mark Zerate	....	digital visual effects (as Mark Zarate)
Tom Jensen	....	additional first assistant camera: visual effects unit (uncredited)
George Muhs	....	visual effects (uncredited)
Kathleen Quaife-Hodge	....	special effects animator (uncredited)
Robert Yamamoto	....	visual effects editor (uncredited)

Stunts
Charlie Brewer	....	stunts
Tony Cecere	....	stunt coordinator
Laura Dash	....	stunts
Oscar Dillon	....	stunts
Dane Farwell	....	stunt double: Peter Berg
Greg Gault	....	stunts
Jeff Habberstad	....	stunts
Ed Hamilton	....	stunts
Stephen R. Hudis	....	stunt driver: tanker truck
Gary Jensen	....	stunts
Karen Laine	....	stunts (as Karen F. Laine)
Al Lee	....	stunts
Dennis Madalone	....	stunts
Dennis Scott	....	stunts (as Dennis R. Scott)
Charlie Skeen	....	stunts
Patricia Tallman	....	stunts (as Pat J. Tallman)
Tim Trella	....	stunts (as Timothy P. Trella)
Steve Vandeman	....	stunts (as Steve P. Vandeman)
Lee Waddell	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Mac Ahlberg	....	director of photography: additional photography
John Bertram	....	gaffer: second unit
Randall P. Bittle	....	grip: second unit
Allen Blaisdell	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Alan Brownstein	....	gaffer
Stephan Collins	....	first assistant camera: second unit
Rudy M. Fenenga Jr.	....	first assistant camera
Robert N. Gersicoff	....	first assistant camera
Peter Iovino	....	still photographer
Tom Keefer	....	key grip
Chris Moseley	....	first assistant camera: second unit
Randy Nolen	....	Steadicam operator (as Randy Nolan)
Mark O'Kane	....	Steadicam operator
Randall Ott	....	electrician
Steve Reinhardt	....	best boy electric
Tony Varuola	....	best boy electric
Michael Winterburn	....	electrician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Kimberly Adams-Galligan	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Mark G. Coleman	....	post-production coordinator
Jonathan Craven	....	post-production apprentice editor
Mato	....	color timer

Music Department
Desmond Child	....	music supervisor
Stu Goldberg	....	composer: additional score
Laura Perlman	....	music editor

Transportation Department
John P. Menese	....	driver

Other crew
Bill Aylesworth	....	production office runner
Susan Bierbaum	....	script supervisor
John Bryant	....	video research
Toby Forlenza	....	assistant to director
Lori Gerson	....	script supervisor: second unit
Eric J. Goldstein	....	production assistant
Dan Gorman	....	assistant location manager
David Grace	....	production assistant
Kevin Hudis	....	fuel truck
Stacy Ivers	....	publicist
Kevin King	....	financial controller
Hugh Ross	....	production assistant
Tony Schwartz	....	production assistant
David Topor	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Alive Films
• Carolco Pictures

Distributors

• Finnkino (1990) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Scotia International Filmverleih (1990) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Constantin Film (1990) (Austria)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• MCA Home Video
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (DVD)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Oy Europa Vision AB (1991) (Finland) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures

Special Effects

• Chandler Group, The (motion control)
• Polycom Group (digital visual effects)
• Apogee Productions (as Apogee, Inc.)
• Perpetual Motion Pictures
• Hollywood Optical Systems
• Cinema Research (as Cinema Research Corp.)
• Pacific Title and Art Studio
• Planet Blue
• Available Light Productions (special visual effects) (as Available Light Ltd.)

Other Companies

• ABS Payroll & Production Accounting Services  
• C & D Ink and Paint  photo roto (as C & D Inking)
• Cimarron/Bacon/O'Brien  main title logo design
• Klasky-Csupo  main title logo animation
• Mercer Titles & Optical Effects Ltd.  titles
• Nick Vasu  photo roto

Also Known As:

Shocker: No More Mr. Nice Guy (USA) (alternative title)

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:MA (TV rating) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Singapore:M18 | Sweden:(Banned) | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16 (video rating) (cut) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Norway:18 (video premiere) | Norway:(Banned) (1990-2003) (cinema release) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Alive Films

Trivia:

When Jonathan and his father enter the Tavern after the funeral of their family, a news program is playing on the TV in the background and discussing the murders. Someone immediately changes the channel and on comes (briefly) the 1986 concert footage of Alice Cooper's The Nightmare Returns tour.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Shadow of cameraman on ground outside Jonathan's backyard as Jonathan runs from Officer Pastori; shadow also visible on the two themselves.

Quotes:

Lt. Don Parker: [tries to restrain an angry Jonathan, after Pinker is taken away, taunting him about Allison's death] Easy now! You want him gone? Let the state do it for you! He'll fry for sure... he's history!
Jonathan Parker: [whispers miserably] I wanna be there.
Lt. Don Parker: [puzzled] What?
Jonathan Parker: [turns to face him] If they give him the chair Don, I wanna be there.
Lt. Don Parker: Don't be crazy. It's over. Now let it go.
Jonathan Parker: [shakes his head] I wanna see him die, Don. I've earned it... I wanna see him die!
Lt. Don Parker: [thinks about it and nods his head] Yeah... yeah, maybe we've both earned it. I'll get box seats.

Movie Connections:

Features "Leave It to Beaver" (1957)

Soundtrack:

Love Transfusion

An underrated Craven horror flick.

"Shocker" takes a lot of heat for the similarities it shares with another Wes Craven film, a true horror classic, "A Nightmare On Elm Street." While "Shocker" is not a horror classic, it doesn't deserve the backlash it has received. In actuality, "Shocker" is one of the better horror flicks of the late 80s and early 90s. Starring Mitch Pileggi as Horace Pinker and Peter Berg as Jonathan Parker, "Shocker" is a solid slasher story with plenty of gore.

Pinker is a mass murder who murders high school athlete Jonathan Parker's family, and then Parker's girlfriend. After being brought to justice, Pinker is sentenced to death by electrocution, but that is only the beginning. Pinker studied black magic, and he turns himself into electricity during his date with the chair. He is able to transfer his soul into other bodies, effectively moving around the city, adding to his impressive body count. No one is safe, and Parker cannot trust anyone except for some gridiron teammates. Parker searches for Pinker to kill him once and for all, which leads to an awesome battle that takes the two through every television channel on the dial.

The film is as gory as any of the "Nightmare" films and is much better than the "Friday the 13th" series. "Shocker" was supposed to be the first in a series of films, a series that was supposed to become the next great horror franchise, but the concept apparently felt flat before Craven's vision could be realized. Nonetheless, "Shocker" was a very good horror film. It delivered a ton of thrills and spilled a lot of blood. I seriously recommend this film for every horror fan.

"Shocker" receives *** out of ****.