I was watching Cinema Snob and one of his reviews was on Shock Treatment. I learned that this was a sequel to Rocky Horror Picture Show and I was entranced by the footage that was shown in said review, so I watched it in full for myself.
I was hyped and it did meet some requirements that I enjoyed in Rocky Horror, such as the bizarre setting, the slightly off characters, and the catchy songs.
My complaints would have to be that most of the songs were sung by Jessica Harper as Janet, who makes full use of her deep second soprano/salto voice. Now that was good--once she transformed into a diva her songs were full of life and very catchy--I would have liked to see more songs featuring lead vocals by the doctors or even those from Denton.
Richard O' Brien was phenomenal to watch as Cosmo McKinley. Intense and measured with obvious chemistry between him and his co-star Patricia Quinn (playing Nation McKinley) as they played the two sibling doctors who were previously under the employment of Doctor Frank n Furter in Rocky Horror. I loved Brien's vocals and his slightly mischievous character (the very last scene with the flashing of the car keys comes to mind) and for the most part the direction that the movie took was enjoyable. Apparently O'Brien not very proud of this movie or his role in it (he thought his singing and dancing sucked or something) but him being in the film was honestly one of the things that made it entertaining.
The movie features that layered electric guitar sound in most of the songs that is prominent in 80s music despite it only being released in 1981, and while that is enjoyable to listen to, it dates the music because of that era's signature sound. Not really a criticism or a compliment, just an observation.
I think what I had trouble with was the uneven pacing. The movie's plot does not have a large driving force behind the characters like in Rocky Horror: In Rocky Horror, Brad and Janet wanted to find some help and eventually escape Furter's castle; in Shock Treatment, Brad is deigned to receive treatment and Janet just goes along with it while being groomed to be the new poster child of Farley Flavors's business. A lot of down time was shown with little action, is what I'm saying.
If you liked Rocky Horror, this will either be a great addition to it or you'll be disappointed. If you don't particularly like Rocky Horror, Shock Treatment is toned down in its sexual proclivities by a large margin, but it still has that kind of Twilight Zone feel that will either turn you on or off. If I had to, I'd give this a 6.5/10.
I was hyped and it did meet some requirements that I enjoyed in Rocky Horror, such as the bizarre setting, the slightly off characters, and the catchy songs.
My complaints would have to be that most of the songs were sung by Jessica Harper as Janet, who makes full use of her deep second soprano/salto voice. Now that was good--once she transformed into a diva her songs were full of life and very catchy--I would have liked to see more songs featuring lead vocals by the doctors or even those from Denton.
Richard O' Brien was phenomenal to watch as Cosmo McKinley. Intense and measured with obvious chemistry between him and his co-star Patricia Quinn (playing Nation McKinley) as they played the two sibling doctors who were previously under the employment of Doctor Frank n Furter in Rocky Horror. I loved Brien's vocals and his slightly mischievous character (the very last scene with the flashing of the car keys comes to mind) and for the most part the direction that the movie took was enjoyable. Apparently O'Brien not very proud of this movie or his role in it (he thought his singing and dancing sucked or something) but him being in the film was honestly one of the things that made it entertaining.
The movie features that layered electric guitar sound in most of the songs that is prominent in 80s music despite it only being released in 1981, and while that is enjoyable to listen to, it dates the music because of that era's signature sound. Not really a criticism or a compliment, just an observation.
I think what I had trouble with was the uneven pacing. The movie's plot does not have a large driving force behind the characters like in Rocky Horror: In Rocky Horror, Brad and Janet wanted to find some help and eventually escape Furter's castle; in Shock Treatment, Brad is deigned to receive treatment and Janet just goes along with it while being groomed to be the new poster child of Farley Flavors's business. A lot of down time was shown with little action, is what I'm saying.
If you liked Rocky Horror, this will either be a great addition to it or you'll be disappointed. If you don't particularly like Rocky Horror, Shock Treatment is toned down in its sexual proclivities by a large margin, but it still has that kind of Twilight Zone feel that will either turn you on or off. If I had to, I'd give this a 6.5/10.