Shock Treatment is a 1981 parallel film to the events of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (in this movie those events are non-canon) with a script and lyrics by Richard O'Brien and directed by Jim Sharman.
This movie follows two rewritings of previews scrapped productions such as "Rocky Horror Shows His Heels" that was indeed a sequel to The Rocky Horror Show but the idea was scrapped. O'Brien didn't want to scrap the songs too so he made a new script revoking the songs: "The Brad and Janet Show". That project suffered too many difficulties in the preproduction so the script was rewritten was again as "Shock Treatment".
Plot[]
Continuing from The Rocky Horror Picture Show are the characters of Brad and Janet Majors, now married. The film takes place in the town of Denton, USA, which has been taken over by fast food magnate Farley Flavors. The town of Denton is entirely encased within a television studio for DTV (Denton Television) network with shows such as "Marrige Maze", "Dentonvale", "Happy Homes", and "Denton Dossier". Residents are either stars and regulars on a show, cast and crew, or audience members. Brad and Janet, while seated in the audience are chosen to participate in the game show Marriage Maze by the supposedly blind and kooky host Bert Schnick. As a "prize", Brad is imprisoned on Dentonvale, a soap opera that centers upon the local mental hospital run by brother and sister Cosmo and Nation McKinley.
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 and Judge Oliver Wright 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 while all of Denton is committed to Dentonvale.
Cast[]
- Jessica Harper as Janet Majors
- Cliff De Young as Brad Majors/Farley Flavors
- Richard O'Brien as Dr. Cosmo McKinley
- Patricia Quinn as Dr. Nation McKinley
- Charles Gray as Judge Oliver Wright
- Ruby Wax as Betty Hapschatt
- Nell Campbell as Nurse Ansalong
- Barry Humphries as Bert Schnick
- Darlene Johnson as Emily Weiss
- Manning Redwood as Harry Weiss
- Wendy Raebeck as Macy Struthers
- Jeremy Newson as Ralph Hapschatt
Trivia[]
- In the script for Revenge of the Old Queen, one line hints that Riff Raff and Magenta are infact Cosmo and Nation McKinley.
- This movie was originally going to be called "The Brad and Janet Show".
- While The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) is a spoof of horror movies. This film is a spoof of television shows.
- When the movie was first released in the USA, it only played in limited engagements and screened only at midnight. This was based on the success of the midnight screening return seasons of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) around the world.
- Cliff De Young plays both Brad Majors and Farley Flavors in this film.
- De Young based his Farley Flavors character on Jack Nicholson.
- De Young based his Brad Majors character on David Eisenhower.
- This movie was released about six years after The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) premiered.
- Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell, Charles Gray, Imogen Claire, and Jeremy Newson are the only cast to return, but Jeremy Newson is the only one of the six to reprise the same role (Ralph Hapschatt).