The Rocky Horror Picture Show/ Shock Treatment (3-Disc Anniversary Edition)
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
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In The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a loving couple, a few lost monsters and a sweet transvestite from transsexual Transylvania sing and dance through a campy, sloppy salute to horror movies and sexual liberation. Bring your sense of humor. And some toast.

Brad and Janet return in Sock Treatment. The young couple appears on a campy game show called "Marriage Maze," and the result is as bizarre as it is disastrous. The show's lecherous host abducts the young woman, and sends her boyfriend to an insane asylum.

When it was first released in 1975, The Rocky Horror Picture Show hardly made a blip in the world of cinema. Within a few years, midnight screenings and audience participation made it a pop culture phenomenon. It was also enough to lead to a sequel of sorts, Shock Treatment, in 1981. One continues to live on while the other is largely overlooked, and for good reason.

Strange is an understatement for both films. Combining eccentric characters, odd locales, catchy music and S&M-inspired attire, they're both unforgettable. Although it's no classic without the audience participation factor, Rocky Horror is still a hoot. It takes a lot of the horror genre's quirks and adds a little Broadway pizzazz. It is hit-and-miss at times, but there's enough classic chaos from Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Meatloaf, et al. to hold it all together.

Other than its visuals, Shock Treatment is a mess from start to finish. With the exception of one or two songs, the music is forgettable. The biggest problem, though, is the basic fact that the film makes very little sense. Granted, Rocky Horror was strange, but there was enough of a plot to hold it together. Shock Treatment just seems to repeat itself over and over: Brad is locked up, Janet is liberated and badness is afoot behind the scenes. Maybe I missed something, but what was there didn't want to make me work it out.

Video: How's it look?
Both films are presented in solid anamorphic widescreen formats (1.66:1 aspect ratio for Rocky Horror and 1.85:1 for Shock Treatment). The colours are a little on the soft side, but overall the visuals are pretty solid.

Audio: How's it sound?
As one would hope for a couple of musicals, the audio is excellent. Both films have Dolby 5.1 Surround tracks that might possibly pull you off the couch and onto the living room dance floor. Rocky Horror also has an English mono track while Shock Treatment has a second English Surround and Spanish mono tracks.

Extras: What additional goodies are included? - The Rocky Horror Picture Show

• Two versions of the film – one cut originally for the United States and one for the UK. The only difference is the inclusion of one song ("Superheroes").
• A feature commentary with Richard O'Brien and Patricia Quinn.
• "The Theatrical Experience" really shows off what DVD can do. It shows an audience participation screening complete with shadow cast performers, reactions and an introduction from the film's fan club president Sal Piro.
• A nifty little prompter will make a seasoned Rocky Horror participant out of any Rock "virgin". It provides cues on when to participate and throw toast.
• A sing-along feature allows fans to karaoke their way through the film.
• "Rocky Horror Double Feature Video Show" is a half-hour featurette looks at the pop culture impact of the film.
• Excerpts from VH1's Behind the Music include lots of interviews from the cast.
• Pop-Up Video of "Hot Patootie!" dishes the dirt and offers up all sorts of trivia both useful and useless.
• For DVD-ROM owners there's several activities that include Masochistic Trivia Challenge, Riff Raff's Story Lab and the Rocky Horror Video Juke Box.
• Deleted musical scenes.
• Misprint and alternate credit endings.
• Outtakes.
• Theatrical trailer.
• Photo gallery.
• English and Spanish subtitles.

Extras: What additional goodies are included? - Shock Treatment

• An informative commentary from the film's fan club presidents Mad Man Mike and Bill Brennan that goes into the details of the film (they still didn't make a fan of me) as well as their experiences with audience participation screenings.
• "DTV Presents: A Shockumentary" is a retrospective featurette featuring interviews with many cast and crew. Turns out even they didn't know what the movie was about.
• "Let's Rock 'n' Roll: Shock Treatment's Super Score" is pretty self explanatory by it's title.
• Theatrical and international trailer.
• English, Spanish and French subtitles.

Closing Thoughts
This package was made with the hardcore Rocky Horror fanatics in mind. The Rocky Horror component is identical to the two-disc edition released several years ago, but Shock Treatment is new. There's a ton of excellent features that make it a worthwhile purchase – one worthy of an upgrade from the watered down single-disc version that can be found regularly for a cheap price. Consider Shock Treatment as an added bonus for those completists out there who've got to have it all.


Review brought to you by our friend Ryan @ Movie-Views.com