YMMV / Shock Treatment

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • It has been suggested that the Studio Audience, easily prompted and directed by the various hosts (and Farley Flavors), might have been something of a commentary on Rocky Horror audiences.
  • Likewise, thanks to Wild Mass Guessing, some fans of the movie now consider Cosmo and Nation to simply be Riff Raff and Magenta in disguise, and Judge Oliver Wright to be the Criminologist.
    • And, depending on whether you consider her to be still alive, Columbia to be Nurse Ansalong.
• Awesome Music:
  • "Denton, U.S.A." qualifies, in spite of the fact that its not an entirely accurate description of Denton.
  • "Bitchin' in the Kitchen" is often a favorite for Refuge in Audacity, depicting materialistic consumers of The '80s empathizing with their appliances more than each other.
  • "Farley's Song" is a delightfully eighties Villain Song that somehow manages to make Farley seem larger than life even though he's only appearing on a relatively small TV screen.
  • "Little Black Dress" is the most Rocky-esque of the soundtrack:
    Cosmo: Ever since I was a little boy,
    Dressing up has always been my greatest joy!
  • "Shock Treatment", of course.
  • "Looking for Trade". Jessica Harper's singing has definitely improved since Phantom of the Paradise (and they avoid the mistake that film made of having her dance).
  • "Look What I Did to My Id" is a fun song giving us solos from each of the couples working under Farley.
  • "Breaking Out" is a energy filled rock song that helps set the mood during Brad's escape from Dentonvale.
  • "Anyhow, Anyhow" is a catchy finale, with "Denton, U.S.A." making an Ironic Echo.
• Common Knowledge: No, John Candy is not playing one of the DTV audience members.
• Director Displacement: Like the first movie, Shock Treatment is more often associated with creator and writer, Richard O'Brien rather than director, Jim Sharman.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Nurse Ansalong, as Nell Campbell plays her as slutty as possible.
• Fan Nickname:
  • "Shocky".
  • Some shadowcasts affectionately refer to this movie as a "thing" and an "abortion".
• Genius Bonus: "Remember Lieutenant Orpheus? He disappeared into that Underworld show and never came back".
• He Really Can Act: A lot of viewers didn't realize that Brad and Farley were both played by the same actor until they were told.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • At heart, this is about what we now would call reality TV.
  • Brad looks and sounds almost exactly like Ben Folds does today.
• Just Here for Godzilla:
  • Fans who don't like this movie compared to the first one will usually admit that it's worth watching for the songs.
  • Richard O'Brien dislikes the movie over its rewrites and confusing plot but likes the songs and how it predicted reality TV two decades early.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Rik Mayall as "Rest Home" Ricky.
  • Officer Parker is played by Christopher Malcolm, who would later be best known for playing Justin in Absolutely Fabulous.
  • Brenda Drill is played by Claire Toeman, who would later be best known for playing Zo Dudgeon in Comrade Dad.
  • Harry Weiss is played by Manning Redwood, who would later be best known for playing Bob Conley in A View to a Kill.
  • Neely Pritt is played by Betsy Brantley, a year prior to her Star-Making Role as Kate in Five Days One Summer.

• So Bad, It's Good: Watch Shocky without comparing it to its predecessor, and it definitely holds its own as a camp classic.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: Musical Hell complained about "Little Black Dress" sounding to similar to the "Time Warp" from the previous movie.
• Values Resonance: Many find the film's depiction of DTV eerily similar to modern-day Reality TV, including the hollow nature of the fame it provides and how temporary it usually is.

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