Shocker was an attempt by Wes Craven to launch a new slasher franchise like Freddy Krueger, but here's why Horace Pinker only received one movie.
With Shocker, Wes Craven attempted to make a new Freddy Krueger, but here's why lightning didn't strike twice. Shocker was released in 1989, in the waning days of the slasher movie boom that spawned the likes of Chucky, Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger. Director Wes Craven had been carrying around his screenplay for A Nightmare On Elm Street for a few years before it got produced and it was rejected by every major studio, as they didn't think audiences would find dreams scary. It was eventually shot for a low-budget by New Line and became a surprise success in 1984.
A Nightmare On Elm Street's dream slasher Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) also terrified viewers. Freddy was designed by Craven to pray on audience fears, with his razor-finger glove being inspired by a bear paw, as the filmmaker reasoned this would have been one of the first things primitive man would have been afraid of. Freddy was named after one of Craven's childhood bullies, and even his red and green striped sweater was a deliberate choice, as those two colors are difficult for the human eye to process together.
It's this combination of elements that made A Nightmare On Elm Street's Freddy so captivating. Craven had no interest in making a sequel, however, and had signed over the rights to the character to New Line. The studio, in turn, made Krueger a pop-culture icon, where he evolved into a lovable, serial killing prankster and entries like A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master made a conscious effort to sand off his harsher edges. Craven wasn't seeing any of the profits from these ventures, so he decided to create a new slasher series with Shocker. This followed killer Horace Pinker, who after being executed in the electric chair, turns into pure electricity and can travel in and out of television sets. While Shocker wasn't a flop, it failed to spawn a new Freddy Krueger.
Craven is credited with reinventing the genre more than once, including his (still disturbing) debut The Last House On The Left or the meta-slasher Scream. With Shocker, he had a great concept but a mix of the movie's limited budget, an unfocused screenplay and a lack of genuine scares hurt it. Shocker's killer Horace Pinker - played with hammy relish by The X-Files Mitch Pileggi (AKA Skinner) - lacks the charisma of Freddy Krueger, and is more of a caricature. The movie also takes too long to get to the central hook; the first act features Pinker as a flesh and blood killer, the second sees him possessing human bodies and then finally the TV segment is the finale.
Had Shocker pushed this angle and been more creative with it, maybe it could have been the start of a new Freddy Krueger-style franchise. Despite the flaws of Wes Craven's Shocker, it's still a lot of fun, and its overabundance of intriguing concepts gives it a zany energy. Shocker is a movie primed for a remake that could refine and improve on what Craven's would-be franchise launcher was attempting. With no new A Nightmare On Elm Street movies on the horizon, maybe a Shocker reboot could see Horace finally become the new Freddy Krueger for a modern era.
