Shock Treatment, known as Traitement de choc is a French/Italian production starring the legendary actor Alain DeLon in one of his most outrageous roles, iconic French actress Annie Giradot and directed by Alain Jessua. The film is a cult favorite among fans of the genre.

The story is about what lengths a person is willing to go through to look younger and the consequences. A woman, Helene Masson(Annie Giradot, Maigret Sets a Trap) is experiencing anxiety over aging (she is ONLY 38 mind you), decides to go to an age rejuvenation clinic run by Doctor Devilers(Alain DeLeon, Diabolically Yours) and his partner Dr. Berbard (Michel Duchaussoy, The Killing Game) for a well-known, popular miracle treatment. Her visit, which starts out as a lot of fun with naked runs on the beach with other patients, slowly turns horrific when people at the clinic start dying. Patients are also receiving mysterious injections and feeling sick to the point where they faint right in front of Helene. The curiosity to learn why this is happening causes her to investigate the happenings at the clinic where she discovers the terrible secret of the miracle treatment. Maybe next time just use aging cream!

Shock Treatment does have its, dare I say, ‘shocking moments’. In all honesty, I found it to be a dull, slow moving affair with a predictable finish. There was not as much tension or suspense in the finale as there could have been. Shock Treatment does have generous amount of nudity, featuring scenes of full-frontal nudity of both men and women. Part of the treatment includes swims in the sea, showers, baths and the dreaded seaweed sauna, hence the abundant amount of skin. There is also some gore, but nothing too potent that you would see in a zombie movie. One of the aspects of the film that I liked was the cinematography by Jacques Robin, which captures a wealth of breathtaking scenery.  

Shock Treatment arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films. Given a 2K scan from the original uncut interpositive, the movie looks about as good as it will get. The image appears to have been sourced from StudioCanal as their logo appears at the films’ beginning. The picture quality is strong with beautiful crisp colors in the outdoors under vibrant blue skies. Interiors also look fantastic with great depth and deep textures. Black levels are solid. Flesh tones are accurate, and details are immaculate to the point where you can clearly see tan lines of some of the characters during the nude beach, swimming and sauna scenes.

English and French DTS HD master audio 2.0 are the tracks offered. Despite them being identical, the French track sounds much more subdued, while English track is robust, sounding a bit louder and more aggressive. Despite the English track being the stronger of the two, the mono for both audio options are clear with dialog and the various noises from the film sounding fine without any distortions. English subtitles are offered for this release.

There are some supplements for this release, consisting of interviews.

Alain Jessua – The Lone Deranger is an interview with Bernard Payen, Curator at The Cinémathèque Française. Koering’s Scoring is a discussion with soundtrack composer René Koering

Director’s Disorder – is another interview with Director Alain Jessua. Drumrunning is a featurette with René Koering providing a commentary on three sequences. A trailer is the last of the extras

I will also mention there was a limited-edition slipcover and CD soundtrack for this release by Severin Films.

Fans of this genre should really enjoy this sleazy classic offered by Severin. The package includes some insightful extras on top of a 2K restoration, making this release a must have!

Shock Treatment

Director- Alain Jessua

Cast- Alain Delon, Annie Girardot

Country of Origin- US

Distributor – Severin Films

Number of Discs – 1

Reviewed by – David Steigman

Date-11/29/20