Shock Treatment

Infobox Film
name = Shock Treatment


caption = Theatrical release poster
director = Jim Sharman
producer = Lou Adler
Michael White
writer = Jim Sharman
Richard O'Brien
starring = Cliff De Young
Jessica Harper
Richard O'Brien
Patricia Quinn
music = Richard Hartley
Richard O'Brien
distributor = 20th Century Fox
released = October 31, 1981
runtime = 94 min.
country = flagicon|USA
language = English
budget = $3.5 million
gross = $2,385,107
website = http://www.shocktreatmentnetwork.com/
amg_id = 1:44410
imdb_id = 0083067

"Shock Treatment" is a 1981 comedy-musical and a follow up to the film "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". While not an outright sequel, the movie does feature several characters from the movie portrayed by different actors and several "Rocky Horror" actors portraying new characters.

Plot

Continuing from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" are the characters of Brad and Janet Majors (portrayed by Cliff De Young and Jessica Harper, respectively), now married.

The film takes place in the fictional town of Denton USA, which has been taken over by fast food magnate Farley Flavors (also played by De Young). ).

Janet is given a taste of show-biz as Farley Flavors molds her into a singing diva superstar in an attempt to take her away from Brad. Her compliance is assured through the use of drugs supplied by the McKinleys.

Betty Hapschatt (Ruby Wax) and Judge Oliver Wright (Charles Gray) investigate Farley and other people involved in DTV, eventually discovering that Cosmo and Nation are not doctors, but merely character actors, and Farley Flavors is Brad's jealous, long-lost twin brother, seeking to destroy Brad and take Janet for himself.

The pair rescue Brad from "Dentonvale" and have Brad confront his twin on his show "Faith Factory." Farley imprisons the three and Janet but they manage to escape in a car along with a local band.

During the movie, it is also revealed that Bert Schnick can really see.

Cast

*Cliff De Young as Brad Majors / Farley Flavors
*Jessica Harper as Janet Majors
*Richard O'Brien as Dr. Cosmo McKinley
*Patricia Quinn as Dr. Nation McKinley
*Barry Humphries as Bert Schnick
*Ruby Wax as Betty Hapschatt
*Charles Gray as Judge Oliver Wright
*Jeremy Newson as Ralph Hapschatt
*Wendy Raeback as Macy Struthers
*Nell Campbell as Nurse Ansalong
*Rik Mayall as Rest Home Ricky
*Darlene Johnson as Emily Weiss
*Manning Redwood as Harry Weiss
*Barry Dennen as Irwin Lapsey
*Betsy Brantley as Neely Pritt

Production

The film was shot entirely in a sound studio. The original intent had been to shoot the film in realistic locations in the USA, but a 1979 Screen Actors Guild strike froze the production funds. Jim Sharman suggested possibly doing the production as a London stage show and filming it in a theatre, which gave Richard O'Brien the idea to rework the locations as a giant TV studio using a film studio in England, trimming the budget and reviving the project. [ Conroy, Mike (1981). "Richard O'Brien and Shock Treatment." "Fangoria," No. 15. New York; O'Quinn Studios. 66.] Although several "Rocky Horror" cast members returned for this movie, only Jeremy Newson reprised his role as Ralph Hapschatt. Tim Curry was offered the roles of Brad Majors and Farley Flavors, but declined because he didn't think his American accent would be convincing. Barry Bostwick was unable to reprise his role as Brad due to other filming commitments, and Susan Sarandon wanted half a million dollars to play Janet again. [ Conroy, Mike, "Richard O'Brien and Shock Treatment," op cit., 66.] Cliff De Young had been director Jim Sharman's original choice for Brad in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, as Sharman had worked with De Young off-Broadway in the play "Trials of Oz" in 1972. De Young had been unavailable then, as he was appearing on the television show "Sunshine" in California. Cast now as Brad and Farley, De Young modeled his performance of Brad Majors after David Eisenhower, and modeled Farley Flavors after Jack Nicholson. [ 20th Century-Fox (1981). "Shock Treatment Press Kit." 5.] "Shock Treatment's" original working title was "The Brad and Janet Show". Founder and long-time president of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" Fan Club, Sal Piro, has a cameo role as the man using the payphone during the opening sequence. Several of the costumes and props from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", including Frank's throne (painted red), can be seen in "Shock Treatment".

Reaction

In spite of pre-release hype (Including a promotional TV special called "The Rocky Horror Treatment"), the film was a failure when it was released only as a midnight movie in late 1981. It had a short general first-run release in theaters. It turned out, with its increased budget and box office failure, to be an even bigger flop than Rocky Horror's original first-run release in 1975. The movie, at face value, was very difficult for mainstream audiences to understand, and was of a different structure of plot than Rocky Horror. Some were put off by the absence of Tim Curry's character Dr. Frank N. Furter, who died in the original film. The idea of a town as one large TV studio was far more unusual in 1981, when reality TV had not yet hit the ascendancy it found in later years. However, Shock Treatment eventually got showings at Rocky Horror conventions, and has ended up having occasional performance casts every now and then.

DVD releases

A special edition DVD was released in the United States, on September 5, 2006. Included is a 1:85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround 2.0, and Spanish Mono audio tracks, with Spanish, French and English subtitles. Bonus materials include audio commentary with fan club presidents Mad Man Mike & Bill Brennan, a making-of featurette, a music retrospective featurette, and domestic and international trailers. [http://www.davisdvd.com/news/news.html]

Musical numbers

ee also

*"The Rocky Horror Picture Show" - The original 1975 film from which the characters of Brad and Janet are created
*"Rocky Horror Shows His Heels" - One of the written but never filmed Rocky Horror sequels
*"Revenge of the Old Queen" - Another of the written but never filmed Rocky Horror sequels

References in other media

*Something Positive - Comic strip, characters attempt to create a stage production of Shock Treatment.

References

External links

* [http://www.shocktreatmentnetwork.com The Shock Treatment Network]
* [http://www.rockyhorror.com/shocktreatment Shock Treatment at RockyHorror.com]
* [http://www.shocktreatment.net Shock Treatment at Cosmo's Factory]
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* [http://somethingpositive.net/sp08012004.shtml Something Positive: The Audition Process]