Is Shock Treatment A Rocky Horror Picture Show Sequel? Continuity Explained
The 1981 horror musical film Shock Treatment directly utilizes elements of the cult classic film Rocky Horror Picture Show. While there is undeniable continuity bridging both films together, the connective tissue between them may not be strong enough to consider Shock Treatment a real sequel. This pseudo-sequel does not reference its predecessor, though a nearly identical style and cast of returning actors and characters work to justify its placement in a shared universe.
Shock Treatment blends comedy and horror into a satirical narrative about reality television and marital trouble. In the film, an unhappy husband and wife Janet Weiss and Brad Majors, who are played by Jessica Harper (star of Dario Argento’s Suspiria) and Cliff De Young, live in Denton, USA. The town itself is a television studio where its residents live as stars, crew members, or live studio audiences. Janet is catapulted into stardom after she and her husband Brad participate in a game show called "Marriage Maze" where she wins a prize that separates her from him. He is sent to Dentonvale, a reality series based around a mental hospital where he’s unwillingly detained and treated. The narrative of the film closely resembles that of The Truman Show where there are overseers to a televised reality which control your every move. The plot vastly deviates from its supposed predecessor Rocky Horror Picture Show which follows a married couple who stumble across a castle of sexually liberated extraterrestrials from the planet Transsexual.
Related: Tim Curry's Role In The 2016 Rocky Horror Picture Show Remake
The reason continuity exists between Shock Treatment and Rocky Horror Picture Show is namely because of the returning lead characters Brad and Janet. In
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