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
Rufus Collins	...	Neely's Crew
Christopher Malcolm	...	Vance Parker (as Chris Malcolm)
Ray Charleson	...	Floor Manager
Eugene Lipinski	...	Kirk
Barry Dennen	...	Irwin Lapsey
Imogen Claire	...	Wardrobe Mistress
Gary Shail	...	Oscar Drill
Donald Waugh	...	Glish Davidson
David John	...	'Bit' drummer
Claire Toeman	...	Brenda Drill
Gary Martin	...	'Bit' guitarist
Sinitta Renay	...	Frankie (as Sinitta Renet)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sal Piro	...	Guy on payphone (uncredited)

Directed by
Jim Sharman

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

Produced by
Lou Adler	....	executive producer
John Goldstone	....	producer
Michael White	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Richard Hartley
Richard O'Brien

Cinematography by
Mike Molloy

Film Editing by
Richard Bedford

Casting by
Debbie McWilliams

Production Design by
Brian Thomson

Art Direction by
Andrew Sanders

Set Decoration by
Ken Wheatley

Costume Design by
Sue Blane

Makeup Department
Carol Devine	....	makeup artist
Sandra Exelby	....	makeup artist
Pat Hay	....	key makeup artist
Joan Hills	....	makeup artist
Mike Lockey	....	hair stylist
Chris Taylor	....	hair stylist

Production Management
John Comfort	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Chris Brock	....	third assistant director
Michael Murray	....	second assistant director
Roger Simons	....	first assistant director

Art Department
John Beard	....	assistant art director
Peter Collins	....	drapes master
Norman Hart	....	art department
Len Huntingford	....	art department
John Leuenberger	....	property master
Darryl Paterson	....	stand-by prop
Bryn Siddall	....	art department

Sound Department
John Chandler	....	sound assistant
Ian Fuller	....	dubbing editor
Anthony Sloman	....	additional sound editor
Hugh Strain	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bruce White	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Kenneth Atherfold	....	camera department
Chuck Finch	....	gaffer
Tommy Finch	....	gaffer
Laurie Frost	....	camera department
Brian King	....	video operator
Reg Parsons	....	best boy
Roy Rodhouse	....	gaffer
Bob Smith	....	camera operator

Casting Department
Ellen Chenoweth	....	casting: USA

Music Department
Hugh Burns	....	musician
Mark Griffiths	....	musician
Richard Hartley	....	music arranger
Richard Hartley	....	musical director
Richard Hartley	....	musician
Les Morgan	....	musician
Michael Weaver	....	musician
Dave Wintour	....	musician

Other crew
Andy Birmingham	....	production accountant
Marilyn Clarke	....	production coordinator
Gillian Gregory	....	choreographer
Brian Thomson	....	additional ideas
Graham Chapman	....	advisor (uncredited)
David Sherlock	....	advisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Shochiku CBS/Fox Video (SCF) (????) (Japan) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Other Companies

• Animation City  animation and end titles
• Lee Lighting  lighting

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:

When the movie was released, it only played at midnight.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During the opening overture sequence, the shadow of the camera, camera operator, and jib operator are visible just after booming down from the spiral staircase.

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:

Farley's Song

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.