Shocker

film #17 of hooptober 4.0: revenge of the hoop for the last forty minutes of its running time, shocker is a horror film of inspired goofiness. wes craven finds a way in the final act to throw all logic out the window in a good way, making for a hilarious and fun conclusion to his supernatural serial killer film. unfortunately, that final act largely fails to justify the first seventy minutes. during the first two acts, this film is exactly what it appears to be: an attempt to reconjure the nightmare on elm street magic with little of the quality that made freddy krueger a blast. don't blame... read more

okay maybe this isn't a 5-star movie, but y'know what, it has a bunch of 10-star moments (all of which are pileggi going bazongas) and this is the looniest i've ever seen craven go. which i didn't think he had in him + naturally demands my full respect. shocker feels a bit like a self-contained horror trilogy in that every 40 minutes it changes its mind on what the rules are, until you find out there really aren't any. i mean what the diddly is up with mitch pileggi? first he's a serial killer who, uh, worships the technology of televisions i guess? then he dies and he becomes a body-swapping... read more