Shock Treatment

'Shock Treatment' will always suffer in comparison with its older, weirder sibling 'Rocky Horror', but comparison of the two is not really the point. Richard O'Brien, the author of both films, has created a movie musical spoof of American pop culture that should be viewed and enjoyed in its own right. Sure Brad and Janet, the wholesome couple who ran afoul of the Transylvanians in the first film reappear, but from that point on 'Shock Treatment' spins dementedly off on a trajectory all its own.

Jessica Harper takes over the role of Janet, Cliff de Young is Brad (and Farley Flavor, sinister tv station owner) and both actors are fine. Richard O'Brien and Patricia Quinn, the incestuous siblings from 'Rocky Horror' appear as, well, incestuous siblings, doctor hosts of a tv medical show. Barry Humphries is slyly hilarious in the role of Bert Schnick, gameshow compere.

The central concept of 'Shock Treatment' is that Denton, USA, the wholesome American town alluded to as the benchmark of normality in 'Rocky Horror', is in the thrall of tv culture. Citizens are avid viewers who live vicariously through the personalities inhabiting the various programmes broadcast by DTV, the local television station. Popularity is all, and independent thought regarded as a sign of mental instability. Into this brightly lit soap opera of a world come Brad and Janet, unhappily married and contestants on a game show which airs their marital disharmony for all the world to see. Brad is whisked off for psychiatric help and Janet groomed for stardom on a new show. Farley Flavor covets Janet from afar and schemes with Cosmo & Nation McKinley, the fraudulent tv doctors and character actors, to keep Brad and Janet apart while he makes his move. Rushing to brad's help comes Betty Hapschatt, recently sacked morning show hostess (and Rocky Horror newlywed), played deliciously by the ever-abrasive Ruby Wax.

Richard O'Brien shrinks from a more incisive scrutiny of the dumbing-down of America by it's television obsession. The songs in 'Shock Treatment' are short, bright and instantly forgettable, and the characters flat and garish as, er, cartoons. But the whole package is shiny, good-humoured and utterly entertaining. Watch 'Network' if you want a bitter critique of television culture, but watch 'Shock Treatment' for the sheer mindless pleasure of it.

As people have said, this film got a horribly bad rap, and made very little money. The reason, as people have also said, is that it was expected to be in the same vein as RHPS, which it simply was not. Sure, it had Richard O'Brien's trademark musical style and whimsy, but it wasn't the campy kitsch people were expecting. It was, in fact, an intellectual movie with a serious message, a brilliant satire of life in the late 20th century. O'Brien takes jabs at the hallmarks of the decline of modern Western civilisation; conformity, machismo, brainwashing, and the absurdity of the "American Dream".

The plot can be a little hard to discern on the first viewing, but, as with many great intellectual films, more nuances of what O'Brien is trying to say are picked up with each subsequent viewing. The film is certainly surreal, to say the least; and I would suspect psychedelics were somehow involved in the writing of the script. Denton, the picaresque happy U.S. everytown, is actually just a television studio; and all the residents are characters on television shows or are in the audience. Enter Brad and Janet, who, after experiencing the "horrors" of RHPS, are having marital difficulties. This works perfectly into the plan of a mysterious fast food magnate, who intends to steal Janet away from her husband and use her to promote his business. He conspires to have Brad locked up in the local mental hospital/soap opera, while promoting Janet as a new bombshell sensation, and taking the whole town under his thumb.

In short, if you're looking for more of RHPS, you will be sorely disappointed. But if you want a thought-provoking yet whimsical, tongue-in-cheek attack on all that is mind-numbing and soul crushing in our modern world, definately check this film out. Jonathan Swift would be proud.

Shock Treatment (or Shocky as the few fans call it) is considerably more tame than it's predecessor The Rocky Horror Picture Show but no less entertaining. The songs are catchy, the plot is unique (but it does take a few watchings to understand EVERYTHING), and it makes you think about the amount of time you spend watching television. All in all a movie worth watching. Feel free to contact me and I will discuss it in more detail.

This movie does match and surpass "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" in many ways. You can tell that Richard O'Brien and the film's producers had a bigger budget to work with. The songs are a match to the original (same song writer, same style...). Visually, a little too heavy on the reds, but this WAS 1981, after all. This movie will be enjoyed by those who will get the Rocky Horror references that are scattered throughout. Too bad Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon weren't there to provide a little more continuity to their characters. Jessica Harper does a great job though, she appeared in several off-beat movies in the 70s ("Phantom Of The Paradise" and "Suspiria" spring to mind) so playing in a Richard O'Brien movie was not too much of a stretch for her it seems. This sequel was, to me, a lot sexier than RHPS. The original seemed to center on campiness and shock value, it's here as well, but there is a lot more eye-candy in this sequel.

I'm still waiting for a Richard O'Brien / John Waters musical collaboration. Imagine the possibilities!

There is a reason "Shock Treatment" is as obscure and reviled as it is - it refuses to cater to its predecessor's mammoth cult. The film ditches the previous film's camp value and opts instead for (shock horror!) satire. Having much in common with the superb "Melvin and Howard", "Shock Treatment" is a scathing satire of the manipulating powers of television and eerily preceeds the recent onslaught of soap opera-style reality TV shows. While a million "Rocky" fans continue to bemoan the fact it is bereft of Tim Curry hamming it up or even a mere hint of sexual androgyny, they are simply not seeing the film for what it is - a more intelligent and mature film, and, in my opinion, a superior one.

Firstly, the presence of the amazing Jessica Harper immediately cancels out any chance of missing Susan Sarandon. Though Sarandon was sexy, she couldn't sing. Harper on the other hand is both extraordinarily beautiful as well as being an amazing vocalist, having already proved this in De Palma's "Phantom of the Paradise" (a campy film much in the vein of "Rocky Horror", but better in all departments). Harper's solos are show-stoppers and she makes Janet's journey from girl next door to knockout sex symbol wholly credible. De Young is also a better performer than Barry Bostwick, while Curry's camp value is somewhat supplanted by Humphries in a rare non-Australian film appearance. My only complaint is that Nell Campbell, who is almost unrecognizable and looks simply amazing in the film, is tragically underused.

Technically the film is something of an achievement, from the colorful sets, lighting and costume design, right down to the camera work (check out the opening long shot). Visually the film makes "Rocky Horror" seem like a dimly-lit Z-grade Hammer flick. The soundtrack is another component of the film that doesn't receive the attention it deserves, being much more diverse and mature in terms of the musical ground covered. From the country-tinged "Bitchin' in the Kitchen", the discofied "Me of Me" to the punk-lite "Breaking Out", the songwriting is more ambitious this time around but is nevertheless equally successful. Particular highlights include the sombre "Lullaby" (a wonderful sequence which was undoubtedly an influence on music videos in the decades to come) and Harper's brilliant rendition of "Looking For Trade".

"Shock Treatment" was a definite miscalculation, too ambitious to appeal to the "Rocky" crowd and not campy or funny enough to attract any cults of its own (audiences dressing up in hospital gear? I think not), yet on its own merits it is a far superior film. So for now, as the film awaits its belated DVD release, "Shock Treatment" continues to roam the sullen void of cult film that failed to find a cult.