Shock Treatment
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Shock Treatment was the less successful and critically panned follow-up to the classic cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show (RHPS). It was released in 1981, written by Richard O'Brien who had also written RHPS. The film features 16 songs by O'Brien, some of which were originally written for RHPS.
Plot
Shock Treatment features several of the cast members and characters of the original film, but appearing in different roles. Continuing from RHPS are the characters of Brad and Janet, originally played by Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon, now played by Cliff de Young and Jessica Harper. Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn and Nell Campbell, and Charles Gray return, but in new roles. O'Brien and Quinn play manipulative, brother-and-sister doctors. Campbell is a seductive nurse. Gray's character is a judge, and very close to his Narrator persona of RHPS. If the plot of the first film was widely considered abstract, here it is even more so. The script has been compared to the work of dramatist Paddy Chayevsky, who once said that, "Television is democracy at its ugliest."
The film takes place shortly after Brad and Janet are married and back in their hometown of Denton, which has been taken over by fast food magnate Farley Flavors. Flavors' DTV television station is the biggest thing in town, with every facet of the town's life mirrored by a TV program. Residents are either stars of a show or audience members. Brad and Janet's romance is on the rocks, so they go on the game show "Marriage Maze". As a prize, Brad is imprisoned on the show "Dentonvale", the local mental hospital, run by Cosmo and Nation McKinley. Janet is given a taste of show-biz as Farley Flavors (also played by de Young) molds her into his own superstar in an attempt to take her away from Brad. Betty Hapschatt, a minor character in RHPS, and Judge Oliver Wright try to help Brad and Janet by investigating 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, raised on the wrong side of the tracks. Betty and Oliver help Brad break free, confront his nemesis, and get Janet back as the studio audience (and all of Denton?) commits themselves to the mind-control power of "Farley Flavors' Faith Factory".
Reactions
Some fans of the original film did not respond well to Shock Treatment, complaining that the two main characters were played by different actors who did not resemble the originals, and complaining that the story was not the same without Dr Frank N Furter (Tim Curry who played Frank in the movie and stage version of Rocky Horror had been offered the chance to play Brad in this movie, but refused because he said he would have trouble adopting an American accent). The premise of the movie (the town as one large TV studio) was viewed as too absurd for some at the time, but audiences in 1998 more readily accepted this premise in The Truman Show and Pleasantville. In the twenty-first century, the reality TV craze has made the film's premise far from absurd. Ironically, Shock Treatment was originally scripted to take place in realistic settings around the town of Denton, but a strike in Hollywood forced the production to move to the UK and film on a drastically reduced budget.DVD Release
For a long while, it seemed Shock Treatment had been given a total cold shoulder when it came to a DVD release. 20th Century Fox seemed very reluctant to release it, due to the fact that The Rocky Horror Picture Show Special Edition DVD didn't sell as well as originally planned. Many fan-made bootleg DVDs appeared for sale around the internet, particularly on eBay.In early 2006, a popular fan-site, [The Shock Treatment Network] reported that they had been in touch with 20th Century Fox and the film was actually backlisted for release in their catalogue. Soon after, things began to change.
The first official release for Shock Treatment on DVD was finally announced for release in Italy. It was released for sale February 2nd, 2006.[link] The first English language DVD release is as a double movie edition with The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was released in the UK on May 22nd, 2006. [link] Shock Treatment was also released on DVD in Germany on June 8th, 2006. [link]
A Special Edition DVD will be released in USA, on September 5th, 2006. Included will be a 1:85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Mono audio tracks, audio commentary with fan club presidents, "Making of", music retrospectives, and domestic and international trailers. [link]
External links
- [Shock Treatment Network], a comprehensive fansite
- [Shock Treatment on Cosmo's Factory]
- [Shock Treatment at RockyHorror.com]
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