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The further adventures of Brad and Janet Majors are detailed in this follow-up, rather than true sequel, to the cult phenomenon "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". Instead of paying tribute to classic schlock cinema, what screenwriter / songwriter / actor Richard O'Brien and screenwriter / director Jim Sharman do is savagely satirize the whole television industry. In so doing, they create a film that, while maybe not as memorable as RHPS, is fairly entertaining in its own right. You miss the presence of Tim Curry, but there are several other returnees from the first film. The efforts of the cast are really what make this work as well as it does. Not all of the songs are that great, but there are a few that are insidiously catchy.
Brad is now played by Cliff De Young and Janet by the lovely Jessica Harper. Their hometown of Denton has been transformed into one big TV studio in which a citizenry full of sheep gleefully take in an assortment of soap operas and game shows and the like. In fact, they're even made to live at the studio! Brad and Janet, in their attempt to salvage their now shaky marriage, are eventually made prisoners of the local TV programming, with maniacal business mogul Farley Flavors (also played by De Young) intending to make a star out of Janet.
Ms. Harper is such a pleasure to watch, especially when she dons that great black dress. De Young is fun in his dual roles. O'Brien and Patricia Quinn are delicious as the "doctors" who see to Brads' needs. Charles Gray and Ruby Wax do well as the two characters out to undermine the whole charade. Nell Campbell is fantastically sexy as the short skirted nurse. And Barry Humphries clearly enjoys himself as eccentric and flamboyant TV host Bert Schnick. Also appearing are Rik Mayall, Betsy Brantley, and Wendy Raebeck.
"Shock Treatment" is now notable, of course, for the way it portrays the reality television business and the way that celebrities can be manufactured out of any individual. It's not macabre and campy in the way that RHPS was, but it's still fairly wacky, and has a reasonable amount of energy to keep it going. Fans of "Network" may enjoy it just as much as any fans of "Rocky Horror".
Seven out of 10.
score 7/10
Hey_Sweden 22 November 2014
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3128967/ |
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28-2-2021 00:06:14