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A Movie A Day: Quint sees Rocky Horror sequel SHOCK TREATMENT (1981)Does this bird belong to you?
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with today’s installment of A Movie A Day.
[For those now joining us, A Movie A Day is my attempt at filling in gaps in my film knowledge. My DVD collection is thousands strong, many of them films I haven’t seen yet, but picked up as I scoured used DVD stores. Each day I’ll pull a previously unseen film from my collection and discuss it here. Each movie will have some sort of connection to the one before it, be it cast or crew member.]
I had been warned off of SHOCK TREATMENT for years. There is a reason it has taken me this long to finally watch it, being a real big ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW fan. And I mean a fan of the movie, not of the midnight experience. I tried that once and I’m sure it’s different depending on who runs it, but I went in expecting a celebration of a movie I really dug and instead sat through an hour and a half of unfunny assclowns making fun of the movie.
It’s not like Rocky Horror doesn’t know what movie it is. It is in and of itself a bizarre throwback to vintage sci-fi. It’s cheesy and it’s funny, but all intentionally. That’d be like making fun of Airplane! or Top Secret! because it has ridiculous stuff in it.
Now with SHOCK TREATMENT I see why there would be that routine. It’s really a horrible movie, a misfire on every level. As a sequel to ROCKY HORROR it’s a pathetic attempt to recreate that lightning in a bottle, missing the charisma of Tim Curry and the earnestness of the original. As a satire of TV audience complacency it’s on the nose, its message not told with any real humor (see ROBOCOP for a real example of what they were attempting to do here).
And how the hell do you make Jessica Harper look unattractive?
And also, how do you make a Rocky Horror sequel that doesn’t acknowledge anything that happened in the first movie? Sure, we have Nell Campbell (hotter than ever), Patricia Quinn, Richard O’Brien and Charles Gray returning, but none of them play previous characters. The only returning characters are Brad and Janet, played by Cliff de Young and Jessica Harper this time out. I mean, when you can’t even get Barry Bostwick back you know you’re in trouble.
In fact, looking up a bunch of trivia on the making of the movie it seems as if O’Brien and Jim Sharman should have taken everybody declining the movie as a sign. The production seems to have been a difficult one and I’ll give them a little credit for going ahead against an actor’s strike that forced a radical rewrite and in the face of Curry turning it down, but damn… the end result is hard to sit through.
The songs aren’t memorable, the quirkiness has no context. It’s just there to be weird. At least the characters in Rocky Horror had an iconography to them and felt comfortable in their world.
The real travesty is that apparently the original idea for a sequel was shot down when Tim Curry wouldn’t return as Frank-N-Furter. But have a listen to this. The original idea for the sequel involved Frank being resurrected by Dr. Scott and Brad, now lovers and we were to follow Frank to Denton as he tracks down Janet who is pregnant with his child. In the process, Frank-N-Furter would have attempted to convert Denton’s citizens into new Transylvanians. Riff-Raff and Magenta were to return in order to destroy Frank-N-Furter for good and take his child.
How sweet does that sound? Why couldn’t we have gotten that instead of this still-born attempt at trying to recreate the cult that the original Rocky Horror spawned?
I wonder if this was ever developed into a script? If anyone knows, drop me a line and let me know. I’d love to get my hands on it.
It was really hard to make it all the way through SHOCK TREATMENT. I don’t recommend giving it a turn if it’s on your list.
The schedule for the next 7 days is:
Wednesday, July 2nd: FLASHBACK (1990)
Thursday, July 3rd: KLUTE (1971)
Friday, July 4th: ON GOLDEN POND (1982)
Saturday, July 5th: THE COWBOYS (1972)
Sunday, July 6th: THE ALAMO (1960)
Monday, July 7th: SANDS OF IWO JIMA (1950)
Tuesday, July 8th: WAKE OF THE RED WITCH (1949)
Tomorrow we follow Cliff de Young over to 1990’s FLASHBACK starring Keifer Sutherland and Dennis Hopper. I hope he’s better in that than he was here…
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
Previous Movies:
June 2nd: Harper
June 3rd: The Drowning Pool
June 4th: Papillon
June 5th: Gun Crazy
June 6th: Never So Few
June 7th: A Hole In The Head
June 8th: Some Came Running
June 9th: Rio Bravo
June 10th: Point Blank
June 11th: Pocket Money
June 12th: Cool Hand Luke
June 13th: The Asphalt Jungle
June 14th: Clash By Night
June 15th: Scarlet Street
June 16th: Killer Bait (aka Too Late For Tears)
June 17th: Robinson Crusoe On Mars
June 18th: City For Conquest
June 19th: San Quentin
June 20th: 42nd Street
June 21st: Dames
June 22nd: Gold Diggers of 1935
June 23rd: Murder, My Sweet
June 24th: Born To Kill
June 25th: The Sound of Music
June 26th: Torn Curtain
June 27th: The Left Handed Gun
June 28th: Caligula
June 29th: The Elephant Man
June 30th: The Good Father
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...thats a memorable song I think...
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his critically acclaimed box-office smash!
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....I dont get many of these. I gotta lay off the rarebit.
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I love that movie.
"Once we get out of the 80s, the 90s are gonna make the 60s look like the 50s!" =) -
Well Quint, I will have to say, I am saddened by your comments. But not suprised. When I saw Shock Treatment on your list I was astonished! Most people don't even know about this movie, let alone care.
When I was in high school I was the biggest RHPS fan around. I LOVED that movie and still do. I feel the same way as you do, I loved the MOVIE but yet I always went to the local theater in Seattle where it played every week. I too thought that they were making fun of it too much and not enjoying it, but I didn't care. It was about 94 or 95 and I knew no one except these strangers who loved Rocky Horror as much as I did.
Then I decided to track down this "sequel."
I'll admit, I was horrified the first time I watched it and I thought it was terrible. And really, even I can't explain what has happened over the years, but I have somehow grown to love and adore this ridiculousky awful failure. I love the songs as much as the RHPS songs, I totally love Barry Humphries (Dame Edna) as the blind host Bert. And I adore Richard O'Brien in this movie as Dr. Cosmo McKinley. Theres something about that man, I think he lights up the screen everytime he is in a movie. I freaked out when I saw him in Dark City.
Should everyone watch Shock Treatment? FUCK NO! Stay far away. But I know there are people out there like me who keep coming back to this, even through the most cringe-inducing moments.
I do agree with you on one thing...Jessica Harper looks awful in this film. -
This movie is shit. But the first one was shit too, so I guess it equals it. Scripts for the other sequels are out on the net too. And guess what? They're ALSO shit.
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Yep. I tried to warn you...
But, like most things, "Shock Treatment" can only be seen to be believed. -
but i didnt know he would steal my "lightning in a bottle" line...wish quint had watched phantom of the paradise...i know he hasnt seen that flick...and although i loathe remakes, phantom is ripe for a remake as the music industry has become much more corporate and jaded
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He's better known now as Dame Edna Everage. This is one of those few films in which he played a man. (See Bedazzled, Immortal Beloved, Finding Nemo, to name a few others). This is a terrible, terrible mess of a movie. But he was one of the more interesting and entertaining characters. Not worth sitting through the film just for him though. I agree, Quint. That unproduced Rocky Horror sequel sounds way better.
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I'd rather see Gremlins 2 than this trite.
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fact
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After the last couple you could use a treat. I'm just saying....
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I never got the attraction of Rocky Horror. I was the right age, they had a good (?) local bunch of wiggys acting it out and throwing shit in a theater. And I got laid both times I agreed to go. With two different exciting and eccentric young ladies. And still meh. I couldn't get past the whole "this is a bad movie" thing. I know it's me (I sound like I'm breaking up with the effing flick). Didn't get it. Never will. Sequel? Who cares?
Oh well, I guess some people don't like chocolate and porno either. -
When I first saw _Shock Treatment_ I was likewise disappointed, since (of course) it didn't live up to the perfection of _Rocky Horror_. But after repeated viewings I became much more of a fan. I didn't find the songs catchy the first time through either, but they definitely become so over time. And yes, the film suffers from the absence of Tim Curry and the underusing of Nell Campbell, but Jessica Harper's deep-voiced vocals are a treat. (And whaddaya mean she's not attractive in it? Huh?)
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As for sequel issues, I've always interpreted the movie as an alternate universe where Brad and Janet never took the wrong turn to the Frankenfurter mansion. -
I fell deeply in love with the entire Rocky Horror package (movie, album, stage) in middle school, and while my sexuality is as homespun and boring as apple pie, I look back on puberty with a nod to the sweet transvestites and sins of the flesh. I've never seen Shock Treatment and never would want to. Near the same time I was in love with Rocky I loved Saturday Night Fever, and when I heard there was a sequel I rented it immediately. Staying Alive was the biggest turd I could imagine, ruining the Fever for me everytime I saw it afterwards. I knew Shock Treatment, the sequel to an all time favorite movie, was out there. And I knew it wouldn't be what Rocky was- the songs, the Curry, and like Quint put it the earnestness. The VULNERABILITY. Oh, and dude who played Brad on stage for a year and calls the material shitty, go fuck yourself with a broken bottle you douche. Thats what I'm guessing Quint was saying about the midnight screening he attended, a bunch of people who don't understand the material wanting to ham it up. Defeats the purpose.
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Fact.
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That's just what I've heard.
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Overrated yes, but I think it defined 90's pop culture and was always embraced...it's almost an anti-cult classic, cult classics are cult classics because they are underrated and yet find an audience.
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And you're wrong, while you may appreciate it in a serious manner there are many "thespians" who find it necessary to condescend to the material to have fun with it, and when it comes to human moments, and they are there in spades, it becomes awkward and phony. To be fair though many amateur productions are awkward and phony, so maybe I judge too harshly.
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This movie pretty much sucks from beginning to end, but I like the title song better than anything on the RHPS soundtrack. Probably the best thing that Sharman ever wrote (not that that's saying so much).
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and one must have experienced it on both coasts, as the audiences are totally different...the show is a part of the movie
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I do get where Quint is coming from with the live audience participation thing. And despite exactly how he phrased it, I don't think participation folks should be offended. I mean, I get the idea of embracing the film and wanting to have fun with it beyond the film itself. I do. And it is the craziest cult film experience likely ever. BUT... I too like the movie for the movie's sake. I actually saw it first on home video and it was a long while before I actually got to go to a live screening. And when I did... it totally threw me. I actually like watching the movie. Seeing it with a crowd and the full-on "experience", even though its all about Rocky Horror, in a way the film becomes secondary to the craziness in a way I didn't quite expect.
So, I can't talk for Quint but for me it isn't so much the live audience being assclowns for enjoying the movie in their way. It's that all that stuff just totally gets in the way of me enjoying the movie in the way I like to.
Oh yeah. Shock Treatment? Bad no matter how you watch it. -
....to save yourself the embarrassment, shame and pain of watching Flashback.
Just say no. -
come on, the movie was filmed like it was the stage show...usually, when a musical is moved to film, the pacing increases...but not with rocky...which just led to fans putting in words and phrases where no one is saying anything...and instead of posting the movie's goofs on the net (cuz there wasnt one) the audience screams them out, making them a part of the movie...whatever happened to fay wray (SHE WENT APESHIT)
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I didn't say that all productions are lame, but the one I went to made fun of the movie more than the usual "toast" and "rice" and get-em-up-and-sing moments. If you think the material is shitty and spent a year performing it... then I think it's you who needs to evaluate what you're doing. If you think the film is unintentionally funny then I think we'll never see eye to eye and, in my opinion, you don't understand the film.
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For the second time, I have seen Phantom of the Paradise. It's awesome. Just to be clear, if you weren't just taking the piss.
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i dont get what the prob is...it is what made it the longest running midnite show...rocky has grossed more than any other film...and as rocky is a comedy, i think it is supposed to be funny...but comeon...arent you supposed to riff on the film when the fly lands on the janet statue's boob?...or scream SUPERMAN...when brad ripps off his glasses? the dudes from mystery science theater made a career of this shit...the audiences for rocky did it for fun...oh and glad that you appreciate phantom...ill make sure next time not to take a bathroom break when you respond to me
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I been watching that shit since I was dick-high, man!
Not judging you, though. Hadn't seen THE GODFATHER or anything until I was twenty. -
...as there is much to like about it. The concept of reality show television that is now so all-consuming is satirised (and pre-empted) in Shock Treatment. We also disagree about the songs - there is a fairly diverse range of musical styles (unlike RHPS, which mainly consists of rock'n'roll numbers) - the title song and Little Black Dress are among the stand-outs - and many of the songs show a greater sense of musical maturity. Many of the songs were ported over from the original incarnation of the script, the almost-unfilmable Rocky Horror Shows His Heels, and if you examine the story outline for that aborted script, then check out the lyrics for the songs in Shock Treatment, you'll find some of them very eye-opening, especially Thank God I'm A Man and In My Own Way. The cast are fine, with O'Brien & Quinn playing incestuous brother & sister once again. Barry Humphries is amusing as a blind Austrian psychiatrist who is not all he seems (continuing the Nazi allusions from RHPS) It's a pity that Bostwick & Sarandon didn't return to play Brad & Janet, but De Young & Harper are fine (with De Young nicely pulling off a dual role, including two distinctive singing voices) as Brand & Janet who are on the verge of divorce. If there is one problem that Shock Treatment has, it is that the movie possesses a claustrophobic, oppressive feeling because there is no location work whatsoever and all the action takes place within the confines of a television studio. Richard O'Brien once said of Shock Treatment "they (presumably meaning the studio) threw the baby out with the bathwater and fucked the whole thing up". The best way to approach Shock Treatment is to see it as a little cul-de-sac turn-off from the Rocky Horror road. If you watch it not expecting it to be a direct sequel, but a movie existing on the same plane of consciousness, then you will enjoy it quite a bit more...
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As a sequel to rocky Horror..yeah it lacks everything...but on it's own merits it's a strange and unusual film.}The loss of Tim Curry , does really bring it down though}The songs are catchy ,Shock treatment and little black dress are great!Jessica Harper looks anorexic and is too much of a weird chick to be boring and mundane Janet.Her appearance makes the film seem more like a Phantom of Paradise sequel.Two notes of interest , during the shock treatment song as polaroids are being taken watch Jesicca Harper carefully.She's really uncomfortable with the way Barry Humphries is groping her!!And secondly , the strange cage in a room and it's overhead lighting , seems to have been a massive influence on Jonathen Demme ,for the scenes of Lector prior to his escape in silence of the lambs.
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Saying that the scene where Brad is in the cage somehow inspired Jonathan Demme for Silence of the Lambs, is frankly, far more stupid than anything in ST.
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Where people act out the crucifixion along with the movie, and audience members throw coins at the screen whenever Judas shows up. It's a great time.
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There were a few different screenplays for a sequel. The one Quint describes is hard to find, but here is a link for one called "Revenge of the Old Queen":
http://www.shocktreatmentnetwork.com/revengequeen.htm
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God what an awful movie. I could not make it through this movie. When I am not involved in caring about a movie I fall asleep. I gave this movie a damn good fighting chance, but after losing half a day to falling asleep to this movie I had to give up. This shit was just terrible, the songs were the biggest problem. I haven't seen a movie this annoying since the first Dungeons and Dragons movie. But that movie was annoying because of the constant unnecessary music backed by the terrible acting. This movie was annoying because it was just so damn loud and obnoxious, and the audience idea. I was really hoping for some quirkily fun movie, but man they missed the mark big time. Also the whole sequel that had nothing to do with the first one, idea added to the terribleness of this film. Go see Stay Tuned instead.
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I've not seen the script for ROCKY HORROR KICKS UP HIS HEELS around, so if anyone could point me in the direction, thanks!
I have read the REVENGE OF THE OLD QUEEN script years back and I remember that there's some stuff about FBI agents, one of them Brad's brother I seem to recall, that actual presages THE X-FILES by a couple of years. I also remember that Magenta was dead but RiffRaff kept her corpse around to fuck. There's a load of new song lyrics written into the script, but I'd strangle kittens to get a copy of any demo recordings O'Brien may have made of them. (But then again, I'd strangle kittens for a Crunch bar.)
Also, if you look around, there's a pre-last minute rewrite of SHOCK TREATMENT floating around called THE BRAD AND JANET SHOW. It opened up the film a bit with alot of outdoor location shooting in Denton. It was when 20th Century Fox slashed tehir budget at the last minute, that they did the rewrite and made everything surrealistic by moving it into the TV studio.
And yes, "Shock Treatment" and "Little Black Dress" are great numbers, but I also like "Breakin' Out," a perfect, dumb garage punk song. -
Anyone who can watch the film and think its bad or *unintentionally* funny just doesn't get it and never will.
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Jul 02, 2008 7:34:04 AM CDT
I couldn't disagree with you more, Quint, and here's a review th
by ed okin
"Shock Treatment", aside from being a hellava lot of fun, seems to be Richard O'Brien's dig at the whole RHPS phenomenon.
Forget about this being a RHPS sequel. It's not. The whole tone is different. RHPS was an affectionate salute to B-science fiction movies of the 50's married to the seventies punk rock movement. "Shock Treatment", if it is related to RHPS at all, is a satire of the whole RHPS fan culture. Consider: "Shock Treatment" takes place in a TV studio where the audience lives 24/7. They live for the highs received from Denton TV, yet are a pretty conservative lot on the whole. Isn't that like the typical RHPS audience where straight laced Brad and Janet types go to the show, enjoy the freakiness for two hours, then go back to their normal, suburban lives? "Shock Treatment" goes to great lengths to satirize the horrors of suburbanity, and the costumed entertainers they worship. The most blatant example? Two of the main characters, who profess to be doctors, turn out to be character actors. Character actors who have great fun in costume and in the end, drive off into the sunset, in a cool new car, back to suburban normalcy.
And you know what? I have barely scratched the surface of what makes "Shock Treatment" so clever. If you've read anything recent written about it, you know the film is a huge piss take on reality television, and a prescient(by over 20 years)parody of our current culture which makes stars of...well, whomever the TV industry, film industry, and Hollywood publicists tell us we should think of as stars. Paris Hilton? Vin Diesel? Even Jude Law. Did we discover these people? No, they were foisted upon us,we were TOLD they were stars, much as Janet is in "Shock Treatment". When Janet wakes up and realizes she wants her real life back, another cute chick is pimped up and easily accepted.
"Shock Treatment" is a very smart movie that works on the intellectual level RHPS did not. Hey, I love RHPS, but it operates from a gut, instinctual level. "Shock Treatment", if you give it a chance, will make you think about the media's grip on society, make you take a second look at the "stars" adorning the covers of magazines such as Entertainemt Weekly, give you a whole new take on the audiences lining up for RHPS every Halloween (unlike the 80's when we went every month or weekend), and, having been made in 1981 (!) add no surprise to the fact that Richard O'Brien is a prescient futurist who made a killing in the stock market.
Heck, I haven't even talked about the fact that "Shock Treatment"s use of primary colors, editing, and music video style sequences, predates the birth of MTV by at least a year. This movie could be called a template for the 80's music video boom.
Lastly, I have to comment on one facet which will either a) draw RHPS fans and non fans to check this move out or b) disregard this entire review. I absolutely, unequivocally, LOVE the music in this movie. Every song is fun in the best tradition of the short lived "rock musical" genre (I often sing a somewhat edited version of "Lullaby" to my kids at bedtime)and, on screen, every song is presented with a strong sense of atmosphere. Come to think of it, this IS "Shock Treatment"s greatest commonality to RHPS, except in RHPS, the atmosphere was dark and cluttered, in "Shock Treatment", it's bright and sterile. Two different settings. Two different themes. Both brilliantly achieved.
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Also, there are plenty of very sly references to RHPS in ST.
1) Judge Oliver Wright is thought by some to be the same character as the Criminologist. I think its a stretch, so your mileage may vary.
2) When Judge Wright and Betty are scanning microfilm to discover Brad and Farley's common parentage, you can see briefly an old newspaper headline reporting on a UFO being spotted over Denton by several people. This is assumed to be Frank N Furter and the Transylvanians arrival.
3) There's a load of other little nods- the American Gothic painting makes a return appearance, the Medusa/De-Medusa lightening bolt insignia shows up again, as does Frank's thrown, though this time its spray-painted black. -
Dude, that is so cool that you sing "lullabye" to your kids!
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Well said! Lullaby is one of my favorite sequences in the film. Bitchin' in the Kitchen is a great song too! Just not a film for everyone is all.
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So I run two Rocky Horror floorshow casts, the ones in Pittsburgh PA and Morgantown WV. I completely understand why someone can hate both the Rocky Horror experience and Shock Treatment - it's not for everyone. However, once either of those clicks for you, it's there forever. Now, I won't watch Rocky unless I'm in a theater because it doesn't feel right; I'll watch Shock Treatment once every two or three months, sometimes more, and the soundtrack is phenomenal once you just throw it in and feel like dancing around like a moron. I hated this film my first time around, so I say give it one more shot and see if it clicks because if it does, it'll stay with you forever.
In addition, Shocky can't be looked at as a sequel to Rocky - they're two completely different entities from two completely different experiences. The second film is not a direct sequel to the first and was never intended to be. As such, separate the two films and watch this on its own. If you want to go back and look at the Rocky references later (Sal Piro on the phone, "UFOs spotted over Denton" on the newspaper, the arcade game Spaced Invaders II) good on you. -
"And also, how do you make a Rocky Horror sequel that doesn’t acknowledge anything that happened in the first movie?" Well, maybe because it isn't a sequel! It is true that it started as a sequel, with Janet giving birth to Frank's baby, but that script was scrapped. A few songs were saved from the original script, but the only thing Shock Treatment has in common with Rocky Horror is the names of the two main characters. If you watch Shock Treatment expecting a sequel to Rocky Horror, you will be severely disappointed. If you look at it as an original film, it's an amusing satire of reality TV (which didn't exist at the time) and manufactured celebrity. It's too bad it was so poorly directed and choreographed, though.
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of all the great movies you haven't seen, you wasted your day on this rubbish?
This feature just moved from 'must read' to 'check the title first.' -
If not, PLEASE add it to your list!
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Wouldn't that be batter TBers? I mean, reading this review made me laugh the whole time...thinking about Quint suffering, now that's comedy.
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seriously, you admit this in public? At least furries have wits enough to put on suits and hide inside them when they go about acting like complete idiots.
Everytime I saw one of those Sweeney Todd castaways walking into the theater, I just felt bad for them that they were so desperate to have someone else notice them, that they had to dress up in Cat-in-the-Hat leggings and dented stovepipe hats, and cavort around like marionettes up and down the food court. To the last, everyone who saw them felt a mixture of sadness for them, and repulsion of them.
Hope you have fun showing kids pictures of you in your assclown costumes throwing twinkies at each other in a movie like it was some kind of Woodstock for retards. They'll be so proud. -
Choose MeCutter's WayInto The NightCar WashThe WanderersNational Lampoon's Class ReunionNight HawksBritannia HospitalOver The EdgeCooley HighThe Comfort of StrangersMishima: A Life In Four Chapters
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That is all.
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You're a dead end, deadbeat, nowhere mister with the kisser of a Mississippi alligator's sister!
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You're not just looking at a fast food king, just another well-known face. You're not looking at the king of anything. You're looking at an ace! You're looking at a goddamn ace!
That is all. -
the only problem I had with the film were the places yuo could tell where the pauses were written in to the dialog in anticip.....pation of audience responces.
"F for..." "F for..."
the songs were great! My favorite is "in my own way" but they shoulda done what they did with RHPS and put it on the stage first to try it out. and I'm totally with Ed on the prophetic nature of the movie vis a vis the "instant celebrity" angle -
Jul 02, 2008 11:26:17 AM CDT
And how the hell do you make Jessica Harper look unattractive?
by alkeoholic77
You throw acid in her face?
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The title track, bitchin in the kitchen, and the duel between the brothers, just to name a few.
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A fine choice sir.
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Will break your heart. My mom and @$$hole step-dad dragged me to this (like they dragged me to every other movie they couldn't find a babysitter for... thanks) in 1980, or 82, whenever it came out, I was around 10 or 12, and it's just beautiful. Just a beautiful movie that will wrench your guts. And yes, even with the spasm-inducing presence of Jane Fonda, I was still able to enjoy it.
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That's the clever name of the song you remember, Bitter. And its a great song. I was about to write a response to Quint's oddly (for Quint) offbase review. But Ed Okin did if for me. I was a huge RHPS fan myself. But "Shock Treatment" only played onscreens in New York (and I think Detroit)so I never saw it before the advent of videotape. But I had the soundtrack. And I fuckin' LOVED the soundtrack. I loved those songs. When I finally saw the movie years later, I was already in love with it. Predisposed if you will... And it still stands up! Its the film from my collection I pull down and watch more than any other. I'm very very disappointed in Quint. Yeah, the fanboy haters, they I can understand, but Quint usually has such an astute head for film. I can take he didn't like it, but to reductively dismiss it the way he did, to NOT see the obvious qualities and presience, to not allow the things Ed wrote in his review? It's a surprise. Maybe he just wanted a direct sequel to Rocky and couldn't get past the point that it really wasn't. I don't know.
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The songs are catchy as hell, especially the title one. I was disappointed in the film too, but like others have pointed out, it nails the reality tv genre, which you didn't even mention. And it took you this long to see it even tho you claim to be a RHPS fan? Fer shame.Denton, Denton, you've got no-pretension...
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It's funny. If I had written a glowing positive review of this movie, the talkback would be full of people calling me an idiot for liking it. It's strange how that works sometimes... I don't hold a grudge with anyone who digs the movie, it's not my thing. I think it misfired on all levels. On the surface a song like Bitchin' In the Kitchen is funny, but the way they shoot it and the way they recorded it was dull in every aspect. I guess my biggest problem is that it always felt like they were trying to replicate the success of Rocky Horror instead of letting the movie do that itself. When I talk of the original being natural and earnest, I mean it. Watch Curry in the original, especially during the Sweet Transvestite number... just how he lives in the moment, is so comfortable with the world and the character that you buy Frank. There was nobody like that in Shock Treatment, nobody to be your anchor.And I don't buy that "don't view it as a direct sequel" argument. If they didn't want me to bring my thoughts of Rocky Horror into the movie, then Brad and Janet shouldn't have been in it. That's the danger with sequels and remakes, you bring the original in with you and I don't buy the "forget the original" argument for any other sequel or remake, why should I buy it here?Arcadian, the whole point of the list is to see a ton of movies I've been meaning to watch, but haven't seen. There are all sorts of those movies, not just classics. If I focused on those I'd be no better than if I just focused on '80s cheese or '70s drama or '90s independent film. The holes in my film knowledge span all the decades of cinema so we'll run the gamut here, which is, I think, the fun of movie watching. Going from an obscure British Drama to a Rocky Horror Picture Show sequel and then by the end of the week I'm diving into a series of John Wayne movies, all connected by the incestuous industry! At least that's my take on it.
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Qunit for typing: "being a real big ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW fan. And I mean a fan of the movie..."
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This is one of those can't win things. It's a big audience, and you're gonna torque off some of it no matter what you do. You don't have to defend your opinions: you're the big shot film critic. Also you are right. That there movie was pants, but I DO like the idea of the plot that you put forth.
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I kind of prefer not knowing the fate of Brad and Janet after the castle takes off. The only clue you get to their fate is the line in the song: "Darkness has taken/ Brad and Janet" I always kind of imagine them getting back together - just in a much more open-minded and sexually adventurous relationship.
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Fans are sold on this to this day.
I used to be in a cast in NYC about 10 years ago. I love the show, but ST takes it's time to grow, there aint now way you're gonna have a pos review in one showing. Did you fall in love with RHPS in the 1st viewing?
On another note, S is done live at RHPS conventions. It's becomes very much alive (ba-dum-dump) with a floorshow. anyway, I had to re-watch classics like LOST and HEAT another time before I got around to likeing them. It's great u review a movie a ay, but it aint cool and it aint enough time to do justice. Heres me as Farley Flavors btw: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN3niH_S-k4 -
Bless you ArcadianDS. Just pissed myself!
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about frank n furters mother back on the home planet??
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Anyone who can seriously try and make an argument against Quint's review is fooling themselves. I like RHPS, but giving ST a chance was one of my few cinematic regrets.
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The pauses seemed very deliberate in the writing. The music was catchy but the lyrics got very corny at times. If they only had brushed up the dialouge and lyrics "But they didn't!" If they only had overcome the strike and had some exterior shots...."But they didn't!" If they had the budget to recruit some lead actors back for the "equal" "But they didn't!"
"what have they done to Frankenfurter!!!!"
This movie had some potential but the film was hasitly rushed and they banked on too much formula and not enough ingenuity. It's not horribly awful,,,, it's not anywhere great..... "Have a Movie!" as in Have a day! :.|
Even though, I purchased this on DVD last year when it came out. BTW Jeremy Newsonis the only actor to reprise his role from TRHPS, Ralph Hapshat role. -
With RHPS are the best, been to it too many times, twice this year already, two more times next month. I dress as Frank, i do call backs, i throw shit, but not to make fun, but to have fun.
Rocky Horror is possibly my favorite film ever.
And yes Quint Nell is hot as fuck in this flick. -
Jul 03, 2008 7:38:36 AM CDT
Playing doctor and nurse, it can be good for your health
by excaliburffolkes
I've seen clinics with those gimmicks in Tangiers
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Who cares? We only care how to find these celerbities. Lucky me. I found Hilton on a celeb and millionaire dating site. Its name is like 【wealthybeauty.c o m】 or something
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totally caught me by suprise. It has great songs and a very dark storyline. It had a very bloody streak for a musical from the 70's. I loved the character of BEEF, and the caricature of death rock stars. It was just a fun dark ride of a movie.
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But since I can't sit though RHPS, I'll never look for this drek. Phantom of the Paradise should be remade, but thinking about it, it will involve rap and Miley Cyrus type music - so don't bother.
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The sun never sets... on those who ride into it...
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let me preface this by saying i like rocky horror but i'm not a superfan. the non relation between the films isn't an issue at all for me. so on with my little review/response.
I can't believe people are saying this movie is poorly directed. I think it's an awesome film with a truly original look. This is coming from someone who loves over the top stylistic films like ken russel movies, Fassbinders Querelle, and some fellini stuff like cassanova (remember that awesome celophane ocean?). I'm glad the original production plans were scrapped. The whole minimalistic tv studio/mental ward look is completely inspired and wonderfully designed. It reminds me of derek jarmans set designs for the Devils mixed with the color use of a julien temple film. I also really love the red tinted break room with the all the blinds. Just "the Night time time for byes byes" scene alone shows how brilliant the direction, colors, and design are. The way the camera pans back and forth looking through the differnt windows and the different scenes is so great. And the song's are great too! maybe it takes a couple listens for them to sink in but I prefer the music in Shock Treatment over rocky horror, but i guess i'm more of a fan of the more new wave style in shock treatment. Really the only bad song i can think of is "look what i did to my id"
Also there needs to be more mention of how great cliff de young and Humphy Barries are in this film. Sure there wasn't a single character as great as Curry was in Rocky Horror but they came close and were bizarre and extremely entertaining.
The movie has faults, like the plot is completely shallow, and some of the songs just seem thrown in for the heck of it, but for me it's a fantastic looking movie with fun acting and catchy songs. it's basically my go-to movie when i'm home at night, sipping on whiskey and want something fun to watch.
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