Friday, November 29, 2013

Shocker (1989)

After his masterpiece, A Nightmare on Elm Street, I was willing to give Deadly Friend a pass, however Shocker began to make me think Wes Craven was a one-hit wonder.  Or at the very least, his forte was in Krueger as his involvement in Dream Warriors and eventually New Nightmare somewhat proved.    Shocker is a favorite among some fans, and while it has some good ideas going for it, the final product still leaves a lot to be desired.   This kind of story would be ripe for a remake...


First up is the football field and stadium, which is Hilmer Lodge Stadium at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California.   Partially out of laziness, and partially because it look closed off, I just took a few snapshots from the road...


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Moving nearly 40 miles to the west, I tracked down this street using the former Sam Levy Department store in Torrance.   That particular store is long gone and the street has been revamped, but here it is....




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I also tracked down the tavern which was located in Santa Monica....





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And here is the exterior/sidewalk of the tavern....



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An establishing shot of the Dewey hotel...


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Back to Torrance for the El Prado Apartments....










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The park was located in El Monte, California.   This bridge was the easiest spot to find...





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Because of some re-landscaping and many years of change, I couldn't quite figure out the exact spots of the other scenes in the park, but here are some shots....








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UPDATE April 2014:  Thanks to a reader, I was able to visit Peter Berg's house used in the film....







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I met Peter Berg twice at Madonna concerts, but didn't get a shot with him... who knew he would turn into a blockbuster director??





7 comments:

  1. Hey Robert, Just wanted to let you know that the exterior of the house where Peter Berg lives in the film is located at 1720 Oxley St in South Pasadena, less than a mile from Jamie Lee Curtis' home in Halloween, and it looks exactly the same. Keep up the good work.

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    1. Excellent, right in the middle of Haddonfield, I'll check it out next visit!

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  2. I loved 'Shocker'. Wouldn't want a remake though as it's finger lickin' good as it is!!

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  3. HELLO TO YOU ROBERT :)

    Me too I am a big fan loll and I visited a lot of movies places ... I have 2 questions for you ... you could give me the exact address of the bar Or the actor Jonathan finds himself in the bar with are father ...?! My second question, at the beginning of the film ... we see Jonathan who is dreaming and who finds himself in front of his family's childhood home ... we see the pickup truck (Pinker) parked in front of his childhood home ... Have you managed to find the address and the exact street where is this house ?!

    I am a big fan of this movie :) and I think it would be incredible to find this place to film classic !! Give me the news as soon as possible! Cordially thank you very much!

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    1. The bar is at 2907 Main in Santa Monica. I think I found the house, but can't remember now, let me get back to you on that.

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    2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  4. Ah, and the spookiest location - the scary metal warehouse / workshop / something, inside which Horace keeps his television sets (and apparently pays gargantuan electricity bills, since they're all switched on all the time!) - is unknown...!

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