I'm a BIG RHPS fan but, seriously, it's not a good movie. Take away the audience and what you have is a stupid, confusing movie with good acting and great musical numbers. "Shock Treatment" is a lot like that. Some good acting and fantastic musical numbers...but that's about it. The plot is confusing and vague (WHY is Janet becoming a star? What do her parents have to do with anything? Why lock up Brad? What are the Judge and Betty Hapschatt doing in this movie?) and (compared to "Rocky") VERY tame (it's PG).
Jessica Harper replaces Susan Sarandon as Janet Weiss and she's a good choice. She seems a little lost at times (not her fault, the script is against her) but mostly is very good and sings better than Sarandon (although that doesn't take much). Cliff De Young replaces Barry Bostwick as Brad Majors and he's horrible. He manages to overact and underact and his singing is.....um, unmemorable. Also Barry Humphries plays Bert Schnick, an evil TV host. He's loud, annoying and very unfunny...unfortunately, he has a major role. Richard O'Brien and Patricia Quinn (who looks wonderful) are a brother and sister doctor team and are good. Nell Campbell is uproarious as a nurse and her boyfriend (played by Rik Mayall) is also very good but they are both sadly underused. Charles Gray does what he can with a nothing role.
The set design is impressive (with WAY too much red lighting) and the songs are very good and performed with gusto by the entire cast (LOVE the title tune!). Still, it's not a good movie. If only comes to life during the music numbers. It's worth seeing for those and some of the performances. Otherwise, it's a waste.
Also, O'Brien (who wrote it) disowns this film now--what does that tell you?
Jessica Harper replaces Susan Sarandon as Janet Weiss and she's a good choice. She seems a little lost at times (not her fault, the script is against her) but mostly is very good and sings better than Sarandon (although that doesn't take much). Cliff De Young replaces Barry Bostwick as Brad Majors and he's horrible. He manages to overact and underact and his singing is.....um, unmemorable. Also Barry Humphries plays Bert Schnick, an evil TV host. He's loud, annoying and very unfunny...unfortunately, he has a major role. Richard O'Brien and Patricia Quinn (who looks wonderful) are a brother and sister doctor team and are good. Nell Campbell is uproarious as a nurse and her boyfriend (played by Rik Mayall) is also very good but they are both sadly underused. Charles Gray does what he can with a nothing role.
The set design is impressive (with WAY too much red lighting) and the songs are very good and performed with gusto by the entire cast (LOVE the title tune!). Still, it's not a good movie. If only comes to life during the music numbers. It's worth seeing for those and some of the performances. Otherwise, it's a waste.
Also, O'Brien (who wrote it) disowns this film now--what does that tell you?