Wes Craven and company come out for special midnight screening
On October 2nd, Brian Collins of Horror Movie A Day and the New Beverly Cinema hosted a rare Midnight screening of Wes Craven’s 1989 cult classic Shocker.
The film tells the story of convicted serial killer Horace Pinker (Mitch Pileggi), whom after being captured and sent to the electric chair returns to torment Jonathan Parker (Peter Burg), the teen responsible for his apprehension. Able to jump from body to body and even through electric currents, Pinker was poised to be the logical successor to Freddy Krueger, but alas… the character and movie didn’t quite catch on.
Regardless, 20 years later, Shocker unspooled for a nearly sold out midnight audience at the New Bev. In attendance for the event were actors Ted Raimi (Pac Man), Vincent Guastaferro (Pastori), Richard Brooks (Rhino) and the writer/director himself Wes Craven.
Below is the complete transcription of the Q & A that prefaced the movie screening. For those of you who couldn’t attend, enjoy!
Brian Collins: How longâs it been since you guys have seen the movie?
Ted Raimi: 20 years? I havenât seen it since it came out, although I own it I think in every format. Beta Max? [Laughs] VHS. DVD. I havenât really seen it recently. Iâm afraid to see that guy!
Vincent Guastaferro: I have 2 sons and when they came of age, I showed it to them. Itâs a regular in our house and on home video. I just saw it with my little niece, a 7 year old. [Laughs]
Wes Craven: I canât remember. I think itâs been since when we made it, so itâs been a long time. The girl who Peter Burg stops, thatâs my daughter. Oh, and my son gets shot in the park. I kill my two kids in the movie. [Laughs]
Brian Collins: You played a football player in the film and you actually tackle Vinny at one point, which Iâd forgotten about until I rewatched it recently. Did you guys do a lot of your own stunts?
Richard Brooks: I think we did a lot of our own stunts. We had a lot of that, tackling people. Yeah, it was a blast. I especially liked all the stuff we did in the park. We had 3 or 4 different locations for the park.
Brian Collins: Now Vinny, you get possessed by Shocker at one point. Did you work with Mitch (Pileggi) at all or did you do your own thing?
Vincent Guastaferro: I know Mitch as an actor and we talked on the set, but we actually werenât in any scenes together. I jumped into that lady and she kills us in the carâ¦
Brian Collins: Youâre spoiling it for the few people here that havenât seen it⦠[Laughs]
Vincent Guastaferro: Iâm ruining the hell out of the movie, sorry! But no, I know Mitch as a guy, I love him, I wish he was here tonight, but there ya go. I remember having a lot of fun with how physical the movie was. I remember Mister Craven here saying that doing a movie like this is like doing a Greek tragedy. You just let it hang and thatâs pretty much what I think a lot of us did.
Brian Collins: The thing that resonates with a lot of people about the movie is that the killer comes out of the TV. But thatâs actually more towards the end of the movie. Was that something that you had in mind when you started writing it, or was that something that came later?
Wes Craven: No, it was part of the concept of trying to be a similar thing to how Freddy (Krueger) is in dreams. I thought what is another netherworld that we all live in? And I thought music and television. I thought itâd be fun to have somebody who could go through wires and could come out through the TV. That started the idea in my head.
Brian Collins: Ted, whyâs you character called Pac-Man? I never understood that?
Ted Raimi: Iâm not sure! Because I think by 1989 that game was really on its way out. [Laughs] Because they had console gaming at that point, so I donât know. Um, I think it was more of an endearing term they wrote for him. I think thatâs it. I learned a really important lesson on that movie. It was the first horror film I ever did and Iâve probably done something like 50 pictures since then, but I learned this very valuable lesson â never die with your eyes open in a movie, because youâll have to stay that way for every single shot! [Laughs] I remember that and it was a bad, bad idea I had. Iâm a little upset at Wes that he didnât stop me after the first take. I remember he laughed, he thought it was funny. I thought it was funny too for the first 10 minutes.
Brian Collins: Peter Berg is up in Seattle now doing a movie and heâs gone on to have an amazing directorial career. Can you talk a bit about working with him at the beginning of his acting career?
Wes Craven: He was the last person I expected to end up where he ended up. Itâs a good thing. I think he had done one film before Shocker if Iâm not mistaken. Before that heâd been a grip. So he was a really interesting guy, and he was just very natural, funny, loose. I remember we were doing this one shot, it was the bedroom scene where heâs in his underwear and weâre doing the scene, he looked down and his⦠schlong was hanging out! [Laughs] And he was like âSorry.â And we carried on. He was a very interesting guy and I was very delighted to hear how far heâs gone.
Ted Raimi: I do remember that because that was the first movie Iâd done, I thought all directors were like Wes. So I came away thinking all directorâs were mellow and good with actors and didnât yell and knew just what to tell their crews, so in that way it was a bad movie to start with. It really was. [Laughs]
Vincent Guastaferro: Peter Berg was a lot of fun. I saw him the same way. I think he was an ex-jock â Didnât he play hockey in Canada or something? He had this horrible joke where heâd say âlook at this? Look at this? Look at this?â (Motions his finger behind his ear) And then heâd scream âAhhh!â I think he called it âdog neckâ. And he would do that right before a take just to scare the hell out of you. [Laughs]
Richard Brooks: Well, he was my boy in this movie so I didnât think about him as anything other then a good friend. I was really impressed with him. I thought he was really, really great. At the time, I thought he was really cool and I learned a lot from him.
Vincent Guastaferro: I remember on the set, he came up to me and he had seen a movie I did where we played a bunch of cops walking down the hallway with a lot of dialogue being bantered back and forth. And he said, âYou know, Iâd like to see something like that in a hospital.â And then a couple years later, wasnât he a regular on ER?
Brian Collins: Chicago Hope.
Vincent Guastaferro: Right, Chicago Hope. So I donât know if he had anything to do with the concept of that show when it was developed but it just seemed odd that he had an interest in that and then was on that kind of show for a while.
Richard Brooks: Actually, the only Peter Berg thing I remember was the water was so cold, you know in that love scene in the park? Regardless, he kept jumping in there and acting natural. I was teasing him about that.
Audience member: Question for Wes. Did you intend to make this movie funny as well as scary? When you were writing it, did you intend some of this to come off as funny as it did?
Wes Craven: I canât help myself. [Laughs] I tend to be funny sometimes. Yeah. Itâs just a style and I donât like to play things totally super straight. Most of the films Iâve done have a bit of humor in them, whether itâs recognizable of not.
Brian Collins: You just mentioned the lake before. Was it all shot in Los Angeles? Any specific locations, so Shocker nerds like me can go look at them? [Laughs]
Wes Craven: I canât remember. The narrows? Down by a railroad tracks? Itâs been a long time!
Audience Member: Whatâs everyone doing now?
Ted Raimi: Right now, Iâm directing a web series at the moment. In all seriousness, Vinny had a lot to do with my career, because during this movie, I remember this. It was my first movie and I was going bananas. I was 22, I had just gotten out of school and I couldnât control myself. I was like âWow, Wes Craven!â Iâd seen Vinny in a lot of things at that point, especially Things Change which I had watched a million times. And I was walking to set, and he was walking off and he said to me âTedâ¦â And I said (enthusiastically) âYeah???â He said, âCalm down. Take it easy. Focus. And relax.â And I thought, âOh⦠thatâs really good advice.â [Laughs] But as for what Iâm doing now, Iâm just directing.
Vincent Guastaferro: Iâm working on a film now which is being directed by Jason Gedrick. I believe he was on Desperate Housewives for a bit. Heâs a really good guy and Iâve known him most of his life, so Iâm working with him. Iâm doing a guest spot on a TV show, Criminal Minds later this week. So, I stay active and Iâm a lucky guy. I go away and do Broadway, I come back and do off Broadway. I do a little bit of TV, a movie here and there and I stay busy as an actor. Iâm very fortunate. I also teach at an acting studio in North Hollywood called The Sport Of Acting.
Wes Craven: Iâm just hanging around. [Laughs] Actually, this year, I started in the business in 69, so this is my 5th decade in film. [Applause] Just about finished with a movie called 25/8, about 7 kids born on the same night of a serial killersâ death. Itâs being done for Universal and Rogue Pictures, it should be coming out in the Spring. Iâm very excited because itâs the first thing Iâve written and directed since New Nightmare. I hope youâll all come see it.
Richard Brooks: Well, I have to say, doesnât Wes look exactly the same as when we did the movie?
Ted Raimi: He does!
Richard Brooks: Talk about not aging. You look great, Wes. So, for me, Iâm the same as all the other actors. Iâm working and doing a bit of film, a bit of television. Iâm doing a little directing and writing and I have some music coming out. Iâm working on an album that should be out early next year.
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Source: Robg.