Shocker: Wes Craven’s underrated 1989 slasher getting a 4K release

Wes Craven made some very underrated movies. There was Deadly Friend, The Serpent and the Rainbow, and The People Under the Stairs, all of which have found new appreciation as the years passed. However, one of his movies that I always thought should have been a major hit was his 1989 flick Shocker. This was Craven’s attempt to make his own Freddy Krueger-style slasher, Horace Pinker (future X-Files star Mitch Pileggi), who, upon his execution, becomes an unstoppable force of energy who goes on a massive killing spree. The only one who can stop him is a teenager (Peter Berg – long before he became a director) whose girlfriend was among Picker’s victims and has a psychic connection to the killer. 

While Craven and Universal probably hoped the film would become a hit, it whiffed at the box office, only making about $16 million, although it became a horror favourite on VHS. That’s too bad because it’s a great time capsule of gory eighties horror, complete with a killer hair metal soundtrack that includes an Alice Cooper cover by Megadeath (ironic because Cooper is in the movie) and tracks by a short-lived hair metal supergroup called The Dudes of Wrath.

Happily, the good folks at Scream Factory are giving Shocker a deluxe 4K re-release with some pretty rad extras: 

Bonus Features for UHD/Blu-ray

DISC ONE (4K UHD):

• NEW 4K Restoration From The Original Camera Negative
• Presented In Dolby Vision And Dolby Atmos
• Audio Commentary With Director Of Photography Jacques Haitkin, Co-Producer Robert Engelman And Composer William Goldstein
• Audio Commentary With Writer/Director Wes Craven