By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Photos copyright Universal Pictures
I was recently made aware of just how many movies and television shows the younger generation have never heard of, never mind seen. So to that end, we look back at some characters you really need to see before you kick the bucket.
Horace Pinker is absolutely insane and there’s no two ways about it. In 1989 the world was introduced to Pinker in the horror comedy and totally over the top movie; Shocker.
Known as the Family Killer due to his penchant for murdering entire families, Pinker is totally devoid of compassion or a soul. He is driven to constantly kill. No man, woman or child is safe from him as he continues his murder spree. He drags his left leg due to an injury.
Jonathan Parker, foster son of the cop in charge of the hunt for Pinker, sees his family being slaughtered by Pinker in his dreams. Jonathan has a link to Pinker that he only understands when the callous Pinker tells him that he is his father at his execution. The reason he limps is because Jonathan shot him in the knee while Pinker was pummeling his mother. Rescued, the kid was fostered and raised by police officer Parker and his wife.
That is why Jonathan can follow him in his dreams. They are linked which allows Pinker to be captured. On the day of his execution, he is practicing a black magic ceremony. He is run through with electrical bolts from an entity in the television which then explodes. Thanks to his dark magic, Pinker can now jump bodies and travel through electrical sockets giving him easy access to peoples’ homes. Escape is easier now and literally no one is safe.
It is conceivable Pinker is a cannibal as he bites off the lower lip of a prison guard and the fingers off another. Pinker’s execution goes wrong as he suffers severe burns to his scalp but his husk is found then bursts into flame. When he jumps bodies Pinker still has to drag his left leg but his less than charming personality gives him away. A digital version of Pinker now exists. Pinker and Jonathan battle across a television landscape in a last ditch attempt to stop Pinker but it is all a distraction to allow Jonathan’s friends to cause a blackout. Using a remote control to control Pinker’s movements, Jonathan barely escapes before the power fails and traps the madman in a television set.
We all know Mitch Pileggi as the cool, calm Skinner from The X-Files and Steven Caldwell from Stargate Atlantis. Horace is OTT and played with such relish that he steals every scene Pileggi is in. It remains unclear if Pinker is locked away forever in TV land or wiped when Jonathan switches the television off with the remote. But given his background with dark magic, be careful the next time you turn on the television Just hope you’re watching Skinner in an episode of The X-Files.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 