Difference between revisions of "Shock Treatment"

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Shock Treatment (1981)

Shock Treatment is a 1981 American musical-black comedy film and a follow-up to the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

The late ‘70s were filled with rumors of a Rocky Horror Picture Show sequel. There were a number of false starts and scripts that surfaced, but The Rocky Horror Picture Show finally got its reprise in the form of Shock Treatment, which had several of the original actors, and the now married characters of Brad and Janet as its central stars. It was written by Richard O'Brien, directed by Jim Sharman, and produced by Lou Adler and Michael White, the same team that brought Rocky Horror to the screen in 1975.

Shock Treatment as filmed entirely on a sound stage in England as a Screen Actors Guild strike interfered with the plans to shoot on locations in the United States. The theme of the movie changed to accommodate shooting in one location, which gave O’Brien the idea to make the story revolve around a TV studio, with the working title of “The Brad and Janet Show.”

Most of the original cast of The Rocky Horror Picture Show were approached to be in Shock Treatment. Barry Bostwick was involved in other projects at the time, and the producers could not come to terms with Susan Sarandon. Tim Curry also reportedly declined the dual role of Brad Majors and Farley Flavors. Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell, and Charles Gray joined the cast in new roles, while the roles of Brad and Janet went to Jessica Harper (who had a cult following based on her role as Phoenix in Brian DePalma’s Phantom of the Paradise), and Cliff DeYoung (who was almost cast as Brad in The Rocky Horror Picture Show). Jeremy Newsome, who played Ralph Hapschatt was the only actor to repeat a role from the original. Christopher Malcolm, the original Brad from the Original London Cast of The Rocky Horror Show had a small role as Officer Vance Parker. Rounding out the cast is Australian actor Barry Humphries (aka Dame Edna) in a stand-out performance as game show host Bert Schnick.

Although billed as "Not A Prequel, Not A Sequel, But An Equal", most fans did not see it that way at the time. Opening on October 30, 1981, Shock Treatment was released to tepid reaction. One strike against it was it was released as a Midnight movie, in direct competition with The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which was at its peak success. Although hard-core fans were willing to embrace the film, it initially fell short of expectations. Without the core characters of Rocky Horror, it didn’t have the same impact. It also felt as if it was created to be a cult film as opposed to becoming one organically. Casual fans ignored it, most hard-core fans kept going to see Rocky Horror. Without a general release, most movie-goers never even heard about Shock Treatment.

Interestingly, the theme of Shock Treatment was quite a bit before its time, with a reality TV/Truman Show-esque quality. The bottom-line was that the music was good. A sub-cult of costumed performers eventually arose around it, with its own special screenings and enthusiastic inclusion at Rocky Horror conventions.

A Shock Treatment Soundtrack LP was released on Ode Records, with an alternate version of the title track with a picture-sleeve as a 7" single in 1981. In 1990, the album was released on CD for the first time.

SHOCK TREATMENT CAST
Jessica Harper as Janet Majors (née Weiss)
Cliff De Young as Brad Majors / Farley Flavors
Richard O'Brien as Dr. Cosmo McKinley
Patricia Quinn as Dr. Nation McKinley
Little Nell as Nurse Ansalong
Charles Gray as Judge Oliver Wright
Barry Humphries as Bert Schnick
Ruby Waxas Betty Hapschatt (née Munroe)
Jeremy Newson as Ralph Hapschatt
Wendy Raebeck as Macy Struthers
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
Christopher Malcolm as Officer Vance Parker
Eugene Lipinski as Kirk
Gary Shailas Oscar Drill
Claire Toeman as Brenda Drill
Donald Waugh as Glish Davidson
David John as 'Bit' drummer
Gary Martin as 'Bit' guitarist
Sinitta Renet as Frankie
Sal Piro (uncredited) as Guy on pay phone

MUSICAL NUMBERS

Overture N/A (Instrumental)
Denton U.S.A. (Neely, Harry, Emily, Vance, Brenda, Frankie, Ralph, Macy, Audience)
Bitchin' in the Kitchen (Brad, Janet)
In My Own Way (Janet)
Thank God I'm a Man (Harry, Audience)
Farley's Song (Farley Cosmo, Nation, Ansalong, Ricky)
Lullaby (Nation, Cosmo, Janet, Ansalong, Ricky)
Little Black Dress (Cosmo, Janet, Bert, Nation)
Me of Me (Janet,Frankie and Brenda)
Shock Treatment (Cosmo, Nation, Ansalong, Janet, Ricky, Bert, Harry, Emily)
Carte Blanche (Janet)
Looking for Trade (Janet, Brad)
Look What I Did to My Id Emily, Harry, Cosmo, Nation, Macy, Ralph, Ansalong, Ricky
Breaking Out (Oscar Drill & The Bits)
Duel Duet (Farley, Brad)
Anyhow, Anyhow (Brad, Janet, Oliver, Betty)