IMDb > Shock Treatment (1981)
Shock Treatment
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Shock Treatment (1981) More at IMDbPro »

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Shock Treatment (1981) -- MyMovieScripts.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
5.3/10   1,737 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 8% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Jim Sharman
Writers:
Richard O'Brien (writer) and
Jim Sharman (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Shock Treatment on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
30 October 1981 (West Germany) more
Genre:
Comedy | Musical more
Tagline:
The Home of Happiness more
Plot:
Janet and Brad become contestants on a game show... but wind up as captives instead. full summary | add synopsis
NewsDesk:
(6 articles)
Grind Madness At The BBC (Musick Review)
 (From Fangoria. 27 October 2009, 7:32 AM, PDT)

New Trilogy Picks Column! December 2008 Edition - "Happy Garbage Day"!
 (From Icons of Fright. 30 December 2008, 9:34 PM, PST)

User Comments:
woefully underrated more (94 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
The Brad and Janet Show (USA) (working title)
more
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 more
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

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Barry Bostwick had other filming offers and could not appear in the movie to redo the role of Brad Majors. more
Goofs:
Continuity: During "Little Black Dress," the champagne in Cosmo's hand switches from his left to his right, then back, without him moving it. more
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.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in The Rocky Horror Treatment (1981) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
Me of Me more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
21 out of 25 people found the following comment useful.
woefully underrated, 31 October 2003
8/10
Author: revcosmo from baltimore, md

As people have said, this film got a horribly bad rap, and made very little money. The reason, as people have also said, is that it was expected to be in the same vein as RHPS, which it simply was not. Sure, it had Richard O'Brien's trademark musical style and whimsy, but it wasn't the campy kitsch people were expecting. It was, in fact, an intellectual movie with a serious message, a brilliant satire of life in the late 20th century. O'Brien takes jabs at the hallmarks of the decline of modern Western civilisation; conformity, machismo, brainwashing, and the absurdity of the "American Dream".

The plot can be a little hard to discern on the first viewing, but, as with many great intellectual films, more nuances of what O'Brien is trying to say are picked up with each subsequent viewing. The film is certainly surreal, to say the least; and I would suspect psychedelics were somehow involved in the writing of the script. Denton, the picaresque happy U.S. everytown, is actually just a television studio; and all the residents are characters on television shows or are in the audience. Enter Brad and Janet, who, after experiencing the "horrors" of RHPS, are having marital difficulties. This works perfectly into the plan of a mysterious fast food magnate, who intends to steal Janet away from her husband and use her to promote his business. He conspires to have Brad locked up in the local mental hospital/soap opera, while promoting Janet as a new bombshell sensation, and taking the whole town under his thumb.

In short, if you're looking for more of RHPS, you will be sorely disappointed. But if you want a thought-provoking yet whimsical, tongue-in-cheek attack on all that is mind-numbing and soul crushing in our modern world, definately check this film out. Jonathan Swift would be proud.

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