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Shock to the System: A Donald Strachey Mystery Photos

Shock to the System: A Donald Strachey Mystery (2006)

A scene from the film "Shock to the System: A Donald Strachey Mystery."

View All Photos (29)

Movie Info

After the mysterious demise of a client, private detective Donald Strachey (Chad Allen) infiltrates a therapy group for gay people who want to become straight. He takes on the group's founder (Michael Woods) to prove that his client's death was not a suicide.

Rating:

R (Some Sexual Content|A Violent Image|Nudity|Language)
Genre:

crime, gay and lesbian, drama, mystery and thriller
Original Language:

English
Director:

Ron Oliver
Producer:

Kirk Shaw
Writer:

Ron McGee
Release Date (Streaming):

Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA):

$3.7K
Runtime:

1h 31m
Production Co:

Shavick/Insight Studios

Cast & Crew

Chad Allen
Donald Strachey

Morgan Fairchild
Phyllis Hale

Sebastian Spence
Timmy

Michael Woods
Dr. Cornell

Daryl Shuttleworth
Detective Bailey

Anne Marie DeLuise
Lynn Cornell

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for Shock to the System: A Donald Strachey Mystery

All Critics (8) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (4) | Rotten (4)

While the idea would certainly seem to hold promise for interesting social commentary, the script by Ron McGee lacks the necessary bite, as does the rote direction of Ron Oliver.

August 14, 2006

Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter
This is a sly, refreshingly grown-up gay entertainment, though rather less satisfying as a thriller.

August 4, 2006 | Rating: 3/5

Nathan Lee
New York Times
Where film noir is often punch-drunk with a jab of snappy patter and a left hook of world-weary cynicism, Shock tries to clinch with understanding.

August 3, 2006 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Michael Ordoña
Los Angeles Times
... director Ron Oliver applies a thin veneer of straight-to-cable pseudo-gloss without finding a workable tone, and the cast lacks the charisma and chemistry to make the genre and gender-bending register as more than novelty.

August 2, 2006

Jim Ridley
Village Voice
A perfectly respectable second entry in the saga of gay private eye Donald Strachey.

July 27, 2006

Robert Koehler
Variety
Pity there was no room for Phyllis Diller or Carol Channing here, because then the film might have had a leg up on Scooby-Doo and the Creepy Castle.

July 16, 2006 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine
It's certainly a pleasant enough way to kill 90 minutes.

August 5, 2006 | Rating: 2.5/4

Pam Grady
Reel.com
Were it not for the fact that the hero and many of the major supporting characters are gay... this breezy, disposable film could as easily have been a mainstream network pilot for a McMillan and Wife-style series.

August 4, 2006 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide