Shock Treatment (1981)

Director:

Jim Sharman

Writers:

Richard O'Brien (writer) and
Jim Sharman (writer)

Release Date:

30 October 1981 (West Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Tagline:

The Home of Happiness

Plot:

Janet and Brad become contestants on a game show... but wind up as captives instead.

Plot Keywords:

TV Station | Nurse | Sequel | Surrealism | Soap Opera

Cast

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

Also Known As:

The Brad and Janet Show (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

94 min | UK:88 min (PAL DVD version) | UK:88 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | Ireland:15 (cut DVD version) | UK:PG (cut DVD version) | Iceland:L | Ireland:15 (DVD version) | UK:PG (DVD version) | Australia:M | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Lee International Studios, Wembley, London, England, UK

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The red throne on the "Faith Factory" stage is Frank N' Furter's throne from The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) - painted red.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Brad is admitted, he, Nurse Ansalong, and Janet leave, and the door closes. When Cosmo runs out of the office, the closing door hits him.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: Once upon a time, there lived a real fast guy. His life was fast. His friends were fast. Heh - even his food was fast. But he was still not satisfied. He wanted to share his fast philosophy with someone else, a beautiful girl. Trouble was, she was in the arms of... another man.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Rocky Horror Treatment (1981) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Bitchin' In The Kitchen

A movie ahead of it's time.

After afew years since my last comment on this movie things have changed. The explosion of reality television on TV now makes the commentary on this movie a lot more relevant then when it was originally released. This movie looks not only at the "actors" of this form of entertainment but also the audience and even the producers. A lot of the people who watch this movie are seeing it in a monotone 2 dimensional way, when this movie has a lot more depth then can be seen with such a view.

This movie still deserves the 9/10 I gave it 2 years ago, it probably deserves 10. The style with which O'Brien shows the consumer/TV culture that was forming at the time this movie was made still works even today. This movie is a satire, it is not a spoof like the RHPS was, it is not a sequel, and it cannot be watched in the same manner. It works very very well as a satire on it's topic though using over the top imagery, effective musical numbers, and very over the top characterization.