Shock to the System, Free to Watch on Hulu

This is our second entry in what we hope to be a weekly feature of free, but more importantly recommended, films of mystery and suspense on Hulu.

This week's title: Shock to the System.

Richard Stevenson introduced Albany private investigator Don Strachey in 1981 in the mystery Death Trick and since then has written 11 more books in the series. Four of these titles were adapted into made-for-television movies, starring Chad Allen as Strachey, which initially aired on the cable network Here! Shock to the System is the fifth book in the series but was the second to be filmed.

Here's a summary of the film:

When hard boiled private eye Donald Strachey (Chad Allen) finds his latest client dead, an apparent suicide, Albany's favorite gay detective smells a rat and decides to take matters into his own hands. With the help of his straight-laced but adoring husband and his occasionally too-eager assistant, Strachey's investigation leads him on a dark and dangerous trail into the world of gay conversion therapy — a twisted mix of psychology and religion designed by a doctor to turn homosexuals straight.

We've seen — and enjoyed — all four of these telefilms, publishing three of our reviews on Mr. E. Reviews. (The review for Shock to the System has apparently been lost; we know it was written but it has somehow disappeared.) The storyline in the present film, as in the others, is credibly plotted, though maybe not quite as clever as it could have been. We think Chad Allen nails his role, however, not only here but in all of the movies, becomes Donald Strachey in such a way that it is hard to imagine anyone else playing the character. His portrayal of Strachey is one of the strongest aspects of the film. We're less enthusiastic about his screen partner, Timmy Callahan (played by Sebastian Spence), who varies from being warm and caring to cold and distant — and we don't think this is the intent of either the director or the screenwriter. It's as if he can't quite figure out how to play the character.

Shock to the System is rated R for some sexual content, nudity, language and a violent image. We've embedded it below, but free films on Hulu aren't generally available for very long. (The film is also available on DVD.)