Shocker (Collector’s Edition): Blu-Ray Review
Arriving this week on Collector’s Edition Blu-ray is Wes Craven’s 1989 flawed but enjoyable “Shocker” courtesy of Scream Factory. I have said it before and I will say it again. I always wished that “Shocker” was successful enough that a franchise could have been formed around Mitch Pileggi’s electrically charged maniac Horace Pinker. I think that character could have become a horror icon if he was at the center of a better film. Pileggi obviously was having a lot of fun with it. In the 80’s there were not enough killers with killer personalities. There was Freddy and Chucky, but most other slashers were not much more than silent masked figures.
I am delighted that Scream Factory has given “Shocker” the Collector’s Edition treatment. Not only does the HD transfer look great, but the disk is filled with a ton of terrific bonus features. “Shocker” is not one of Wes Craven’s best works and I was hoping that this release would have included some of the footage that was edited from the film in order to get an “R” rating. For fans of Wes Craven and fans of “Shocker”, this is definitely a release worth picking up.
Bonus Features
• NEW Audio Commentary With Director Of Photography Jacques Haitkin, Co-Producer Robert Engelman And Composer William Goldstein
• NEW Cable Guy – An All-New Interview With Actor Mitch Pileggi
• NEW Alison’s Adventures – An Interview With Actress Cami Cooper
• NEW It’s Alive – An Interview With Executive Producer Shep Gordon
• NEW No More Mr. Nice Guy – The Music Of “Shocker,” Featuring Interviews With Music Supervisor Desmond Child And Soundtrack Artists Bruce Kulick (KISS), Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS), Kane Roberts (ALICE COOPER), and Dave Ellefson (MEGADETH)
• Audio Commentary With Writer/Director Wes Craven
• 2 Vintage Making Of SHOCKER Featurettes Including An interview With Wes Craven
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots
• Radio Spots
• Original Storyboard Gallery
• Still Gallery
By: Marc Ferman