Shocker (1989)
Directed by Wes Craven
About to be electrocuted for a catalog of heinous crimes, the unrepentant Horace Pinker transforms into a terrifying energy source. Only young athlete Jonathan Parker, with an uncanny connection to him through bizarre dreams, can fight the powerful demon.
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What critics compared Shocker to
…this, in and of itself, is nothing particularly new for a horror film--Wes Craven has repeatedly utilized such self-reflexive motifs in films like "Wes Craven's New Nightmare," "Shocker" and, of course, the "Scream" series--but it has rarely been done with the kind of style that has been used here.
His Shocker was a misfire, a heavy metal slasher movie that was aimed perhaps a little too narrowly at its target audience -- but who would guess that Craven would make his points about the pervasiveness of television as our new fantasy realm by directly referencing Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr.?
But from there, Craven's career mirrored the horror film's history, and his films began getting critically trashed and monetarily trounced: Shocker (1989), The People Under the Stairs (1991), Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994), and Vampire in Brooklyn (1995).
With this dopey and thrill-less slasher flick/black comedy, Craven - perhaps the most overrated horror director around (remember "The Hills Have Eyes," "Swamp Thing" or "Shocker"?)