(1985)
Overall: MEH
Looking back, 1985 was a daft year for Wes Craven. The previous one saw the release of A Nightmare on Elm Street which at least financially established him as a viable commodity for genre films, but then came the wretched The Hills Have Eyes sequel as well as this rightfully forgettable television movie Chiller. Airing in May on CBS and featuring a rare role for Paul Sorvino as a reverend of all things, it has a passable premise of a trust fund brat returning to life without his soul after being cryogenically preserved for a decade. Unfortunately, things play out in the predictable fashion, and Michael Beck's antagonist is more obnoxiously unpleasant than threatening. Naturally, the TV format does not allow for any of Craven's usual gore tactic, so he is reduced to merely using menacing musical cues and predictable psych-outs, (two of which happen almost back to back in the final showdown scene). With such a mediocre story and also by the books performances, there is little here for anyone besides Craven completists.
(1986)
Overall: MEH
Though not littered with the usual drawbacks of Wes Craven's work, Deadly Friend ends up being a different kind of botched effort anyway. Originally designed to be a PG teen thriller with a subdued technological horror angle, the studio forced the director and screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin to concoct and then re-shoot a number of explicitly gory death sequences. While this provides the movie with its most memorable moments, (including a ridiculous head exploding scene that is probably second of all time next to the one in David Cronenberg's Scanners), they jive curiously with the rest of the material. Due to the heavy re-edits, a number of plot holes are now present as well, but on the plus side, Craven's deliberate attempts to differentiate this from his more schlockier movies is appreciated. The cast is solid too, with a sixteen year-old Kristy Swanson making a modern day, sympathetic "villain" that is somewhat akin to the classic Frankenstein monster. The movie is too much of a mess to properly recommend, but it is an interesting experiment that tries to make the best of its ill-conceived shortcomings.
(1989)
Overall: WOOF
Out of Wes Craven's largely inconsistent filmography, Shocker is probably the biggest, dumbest, and loudest entry, aggressively embracing the schlock elements in the director's shtick. This could be seen as a good thing for Craven fans, but for those with little to no tolerance for such insultingly stupid nonsense, be warned. Essentially a poor man's A Nightmare on Elm Street except made by the same guy, it is groan-worthy stupidity from front to back, with a wise-cracking supernaturally powered killer, moments of emotional intensity that clash hopelessly with everything else going on, a monotonous structure, arbitrary universe rules that are never explained and rarely if at all followed, a bloated running time, and characters yelling embarrassing dialog while often times also trying to sound like a total badass. So basically, a parody of a Wes Craven movie. Except made by the same guy. Though hey, at least the heavy metal soundtrack is bangin', with everyone from Paul Stanley, Desmond Child, Kane Roberts, and of course Megadeth's hilariously goofy cover of "No More Mr. Nice Guy" making an appearance.
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