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While that brief synopsis seems relatively straightforward, Shock Treatment never makes it clear if there is any more to Denton than the populace glimpsed here. If everyone from the town has become part of the spectacle (as in the finale, where they all happily line up to commit themselves to DTV’s “insane asylum”), then to what end is Flavors pursuing his plans? Have Brad and Janet dodged a bullet again, surviving another “mad scientist’s” attempts at enslavement, or are they like the lame boy unable to follow The Pied Piper, left behind from the fun and games. I am willing to wager there is a far angrier version of Shock Treatment than the one released, one that exists perhaps on the cutting room floor or in deleted scenes. Shock Treatment flirts with the larger ideas of a world enthralled to the media apparatus, but settles for an old-fashioned tale of “separated at birth” twins to drag the film along towards a lackluster conclusion.

Director Jim Sharman pushes the claustrophobia of the confined setting for all it’s worth. Instead of long tracking shots to suggest an infinity of hallways and corridors, rooms are rendered as cages, shots are steered through apartment blinds or steel bars and surveillance cameras/television monitors filter much of the action through their harsh lens. In the right hands, this could have led to a tightening of paranoia, bound up in a catchy satirical shell. Instead, it underwhelms and reminds me of nothing so much as the cover of REO Speedwagon’s album from the same year, Hi Infidelity.

In the first scene of Rocky Horror, as Brad launches into Dammit Janet following their mutual friends’ wedding, a giant billboard can be glimpsed behind them in the churchyard. It reads Denton: The Home of Happiness and bears a valentine heart smack dab in the middle. Even though most of that film takes place in Frank’s castle, the idea has been planted about the outside world that Brad and Janet come from, that there might be more tales to tell from the “happy” homes in Denton. After seeing Shock Treatment, I find myself still waiting for those stories.

Next time - I have never seen Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. I will be remedying that oversight forthwith.

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