Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Shocker’

Written by Scott Edwards

The world would be such a different place if we did not discover electricity. I mean first of all, we would not have television or the internet, and everything would be written by hand or on typewriters, I know, it sounds crazy, but that was how life was back in the day. But is there more to electricity than we really know? I only question that because some of the ghost stories that you hear about come from people watching static on television sets, or they receive strange phone calls from nowhere. There might be something more when it comes to what can be transmitted through our homes when it comes to getting power, but let’s just hope whatever it is has good intentions and not the evil kind like we see in the movies.

Jonathan Parker is a stand out on the football field as well as in the classroom, but it has not been easy for him. Being raised in a foster house by Police Lieutenant Don Parker and his wife, Jonathan’s driving force was always them and nothing else. But now that he is older, Jonathan is looking for something else and he has found just that in the smile of his biggest fan... his girlfriend Alison. Turning his eyes from the field for a moment too long, Jonathan knocks himself out and is sent home from practice, but with Alison by his side, he could not feel any better about the situation. 

During their walk home, Jonathan sees that he is on the street of his foster house and hears screams coming from upstairs. Getting inside and seeing his brother lying dead on the floor before making it upstairs to see his mother about to be murdered, Jonathan has had the strangest dream of his life, but it turns out to be reality. Getting a call from Don about the killing taking place at the house, Jonathan knows who the killer is and can help his foster father catch the maniac. But it will take some convincing since Don does not believe that Jonathan’s dreams are anything but just that, dreams. Knowing the killer's name, Horace Pinker, and where he works, Don gives his son the benefit of the doubt and seeing that Jonathan was right about his hunch, the killer is now on everyone’s watch list and must be found before he strikes again.

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Tracking the killer one more time to another house, Jonathan is followed by the police and this time they catch Pinker, but not until after Jonathan’s love is killed. As Pinker is trying to escape his impending doom of facing the electric chair, he performs a dark arts spell that should protect him, but there is nothing that can keep him away from the chair. Seeing the witnesses that have shown up to watch him die, Pinker spots Jonathan and gives the boy a piece of his mind about being the boy’s father and how his revenge will come back to haunt him.  Having many volts being run through his body, Pinker does not die right away, but is found to be deceased when his body bursts into flames. But there is nothing that can keep the former cable man down as he has found a way to pass between other people’s bodies, using nothing more than his electric personality. Seeing that his new foe is not dead, Jonathan must find a way to prove to the police that Pinker is still on the streets and the killing will not stop until the dead man is finally brought to justice.

As far as eighties movies go, this one is just too much fun to pass up. With a theme song to go with it, you may never be able to get Shocker out of your mind. There always has to be a girl in a story like this, but when you catch a glimpse of what happened to her, you may be asking yourself why, oh why. I have to admit that Horace Pinker really steals the show and being just a mad man to start with is far from enough, but when he becomes anyone that he touches, well, that makes him a super powered baddie, and there seems to be no way of stopping him. Isn’t that always the way, true evil never dies, it only transforms into something stronger that can never be killed? The effects are fun as well, and yes, there is plenty of blood to keep the horror fans out there happy, but the electricity aspect of the story and the effects keep me wondering what would really happen if the black arts and electricity were mixed together... Stay Scared.

Five Takeaways

1. When you are having dreams about a killer, you might have more problems than you know.
2. When you name a killer and find that you are being credited with doing so in the newspaper, don’t ever leave your love home alone.
3. If you find someone electrocuting themselves before, they get in the chair, you might want to change the method of killing them, maybe lethal injection or something like that.
4. If your killer is able to move from body to body via touch, maybe see if you can put them into a harmless mouse or something that can be caged up.
5. When a killer is being transmitted through an electrical signal, maybe you should turn off all of the power in your house, they may not be able to recharge in a dead outlet.

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