Shock Treatment is a 1981 American black comedy musical film directed by Jim Sharman, co-written by Sharman and Richard O'Brien. It was a follow-up to the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
While not an outright sequel, the film does feature several characters from the previous film portrayed by different actors and several Rocky Horror actors in the roles of new characters. The film stars Jessica Harper as Janet and Cliff De Young in a dual role as Brad and the film's main antagonist Farley Flavors, with O'Brien and Patricia Quinn as sibling character actors.
Given in a limited release on the midnight movie circuit beginning on October 30, 1981, Shock Treatment was a critical and commercial failure, not earning the same level of cult film status its predecessor received. Since its release, the film has grown a more minor cult following than its predecessor. In 2015, the film was adapted as a stage production in London.
Continuing from The Rocky Horror Picture Show are the characters of Brad and Janet Majors (now portrayed by Cliff De Young and Jessica Harper, respectively), now married. The film takes place in the town of Denton, USA, which has been taken over by fast food magnate Farley Flavors (also De Young). The town of Denton is entirely encased within a television studio for the DTV (Denton Television) network. 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 (Barry Humphries). 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 (Richard O'Brien and Patricia Quinn).
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 (Ruby Wax) and Judge Oliver Wright (Charles Gray) 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.
Coinciding with the release of the film, Ode Records issued the soundtrack album on vinyl and cassette in 1981 and later reissued it on CD in 1994. The album includes longer versions of Thank God I'm a Man and Carte Blanche as well as two unlisted bits lifted directly from the film, the Farley Flavors "commercial break" (after Denton U.S.A.) and the rhyming dialogue which directly precedes Duel Duet (after Breaking Out).
All editions are missing Richard O'Brien's solo version of the title song (which plays during the end credits and features backing vocals by Nell Campbell), though it was released as a 7" vinyl single and included on the CD Songs from the Vaults: A Collection of Rocky Horror Rarities, which was exclusive to the Rocky Horror Picture Show 15th Anniversary boxed set.
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