Wes Craven, who created Freddy Krueger in the original "Nightmare on Elm Street," among other horror feature creatures, has come up with a creatively bizarre work in "Shocker," ripping off other filmmakers and even himself along the way.
High school football star Jonathan Parker (Peter Berg) is the lead character, a clumsy oaf as the film opens, though that aspect is quickly forgotten as he becomes the hero of the piece.
His adopted father is local homicide detective Lt. Don Parker (Michael Murphy), but, for reasons never explained, Jonathan lives away from his family. (And though his girlfriend sleeps in Jonathan's bed and bathes in his tub, it's pointed out early on that they have not indulged in sex. These are good kids.)
One night, after running into a goalpost, Jonathan has a nightmare about a serial killer who has been plaguing the town but leaving no clues as to his identity. This guy is so vicious he slices up entire families, children included, and Jonathan's dad has been working around the clock to nail him.
In his nightmare Jonathan sees his own family - save Lt. Parker, who is out on the job - slaughtered by the killer, TV repairman Horace Pinker (Mitch Pileggi). As any "Nightmare on Elm Street" fan expects, however, the nightmare was real.
Eventually Pinker is brought to justice - a quick trial, apparently, since Jonathan is still in high school when Pinker is put in the electric chair. But just before the execution, Pinker communes with the devil via television and gets an electric jolt that somehow gives his spirit supernatural powers.
After the execution procedure, Pinker's body dies, but Pinker's spirit has the power to go in and out of other people's bodies at will, demonstrated (a la "The Hidden") through a protracted but exciting scene in a public park. Eventually Pinker abandons humans for a TV transmitter and enters people's homes via their televisions to do his slaughtering.
Though most of the killings here are off-camera - the gore level is surprisingly low for a movie of this type - the subject matter is extremely gruesome. So when Craven veers off into comedy and satire, which is frequent, it's a bit jarring, given the crimes of his killer.
"Shocker" climaxes with a long chase through televisionland as Jonathan is in pursuit of Pinker and they encounter everything from a TV news anchor ("Entertainment Tonight's" John Tesh) to newsreel wartime footage to "Leave It to Beaver." It's the film's brightest, funniest sequence, though it seems so out of place you may feel you've walked into the wrong movie. (It also owes something to "Videodrome.")
There are also other bizarre twists, such as the ghost who helps Jonathan and a rude revelation obviously inspired by the "Star Wars" films.
"Shocker" is a real mishmash, but fans of Craven will probably enjoy it immensely. For the rest of us it's a mix of elements that never quite gels and in the end is a disappointment.
It is rated R for considerable violence and profanity.