I know, you saw the title and your hopes were lifted that we would be talking about the 1964 film with Stuart Whitman and Lauren Bacall. Well, since that is actually a well recognized piece of cinema it really has no place here in the tower. Instead we revisit the reviled sequel to what is probably the most famous midnight movie of all time. Even now when the wonder of home video should have squashed the life out of it, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE show remains top dog on the midnight circuit.

As we all know, it's the interaction with the audience and screen that makes it what it is.

When SHOCK TREATMENT was first released I was part of a group of people that haunted the Le Bijou in downtown Kalamazoo. We saw THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW every weekend. Unlike the rest of the gang who watched it on both Friday and Saturday, I only went on Saturday. Why? Two reasons. One, the audience was bigger and that made it just that much more fun. Two, The LeBijou was a two theater place and the other screen was always playing things like LIQUID SKY, DAWN OF THE DEAD and REPO MAN. There was no way I was going to miss those. In fact I managed to catch every screening of LIQUID SKY when it played there. We'll probably have to rummage through the tower in a future column to see if I can find that particular classic, but on to the film at hand.

SHOCK TREATMENT is a sequel to THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, sort of. That's the biggest problem most people have with it. They want Tim Curry, Riff-Raff and all the familiar faces. They wanted a rehash of the first film. Thankfully Richard O'Brian isn't a Mongoloid retard and tried something new. Unfortunately, in show business, something new can get you crucified.

What we end up with is basically another adventure of Brad and Janet Majors. It's obvious that this film takes place after the first because they're married. They find themselves attending the studio audience of Denton's television station, DTV. And it isn't long before they become contestants on the show Marriage Maze with Burt Shnick, a thinly disguised blind Nazi who's not really blind. Anyway, Burt sentences Brad to the show Dentonvale which deals with mental hygiene and is run by Cosmo and Nation McKinley (Richard O'Brian and Patricia Quinn, respectively). The rest of the cast is made up by an orderly, Ricky (Rik Mayall when he was very young) and Nurse Ansalong (Nell Campbell). Along with Charles Gray as Judge Oliver Wright, Denton's local leading social scientist and Jeremy Newson as Ralph Hapschatt make up the returning cast. BY 1981 there was no chance of getting Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon to reprise their roles. This probably set off a lot of ROCKY fans, but I thought it was interesting. Jessica Harper of SUSPIRIA fame, makes for a great Janet. Brunette instead of blonde and more affirmative than her previous incarnation. She even sings in a lower register than Brad making her the obvious head of the household for this couple. And Cliff DeYoung who plays the part of Brad and his evil twin Farley Flavors is fantastic. With nothing more than hairstyles and glasses he appears as two completely different individuals. Heck, he evens sings differently for each part. Another odd addition is Ruby Wax playing the part of Betty Hapschatt. She looks so much like Tim Curry in drag that you can't help but wonder if it was intentional. Sort of a way to get Tim Curry into the film without actually using him. By the time this film came out he was on his way to fame with Sarandon and Bostwick. Of course of the three only Sarandon does anything high profile anymore. Bostwick is stuck in sitcom land and Curry is busy being in twenty or thirty low budget films a month.

As the new owner and sponsor of DTV, Farley Flavors of Farley Flavors Fabulous Fast Foods Fame is simply fiendish (sorry, couldn't help it) in his plot to discredit his twin and get the one thing he never had. Janet. With the help of the McKinleys, Flavors uses a combination of psychotherapy double speak and some bizarre array of psychotropic drugs to convince Janet that her fame will make Brad healthy. Actually, Farley wants Janet to become drunk with power and fame so that he can claim her as his own.

Farley's plans are foiled when Judge Wright and Betty Hapschatt and Janet's parents help spring Brad from Dentonvale and confront Farley on national television. By this time, Farley has whipped the studio audience into such a frenzy that they are willing to forgive a little madness and willingly follow him to Dentonvale and institutionalization. Brad and Janet make their escape with Judge wright, Betty and the studio band in a classic convertible as the narrator gives the final pearl of wisdom; 'The sun never sets on those who ride into it.'

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Yeah, I know it sounds odd, but hang in there with me. The first thing is that this should not in any way be compared to ROCKY HORROR. It's not related in any way shape or form. It's similar to Stephen King's experiment with the novels THE REGULATORS and DESPERATION. Same characters in two different settings. ROCKY HORROR is about movies. SHOCK TREATMENT is about television. It mocks the fast food industry in that Farley controls an entire media empire based on his crappy fast food he pushes on the nation. Psychotherapy shows us that the doctors are crazier than the patients. Game show hosts have their own agenda and you winning is rarely on that agenda. And in the end it's most important to be with the one you love, faults and all. After all, it's the faults that probably brought you together in the first place.

Songwriter O'Brian brings his scathing wit to a new set of tunes. After all, SHOCK TREATMENT, like it's predecessor, is primarily a musical. The songs here are reminiscent of ROCKY, but they take shape more a catchy jingles. From the opening anthem of DENTON which plainly outlines the white bread suburban lifestyle. To the duet between Brad and Janet where they can't communicate their problems to one another, but can sing of them to household appliances during a commercial break on Marriage Maze. There's a lullaby you could sing to your children and not scar them for life. And the title song manages to give us commentary on the state of mental health care combined with the screaming lyrics that O'Brian embodied in the first film.

So, in the end, is it a good film. Yes. Not too good or it wouldn't be here in the tower, but a well done film nonetheless. If you're a ROCKY HORROR zombie you'll probably hate it or embrace it for all the wrong reasons like sheep.

Finally, it is a well done, well acted musical that has some very negative things to say about the negative impact television can have on our lives. And O'Brian has the final say on the popularity of his first film in that he makes the studio audience a single character that interacts with what is happening on the set. They become so engrossed that they don't leave at the end of the broadcast day, opting to sleep in their seats than risk the chance of missing something. well done Mr. O'Brian.

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