{"id":7955,"date":"2024-11-02T11:50:38","date_gmt":"2024-11-02T15:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=7955"},"modified":"2024-11-02T11:50:38","modified_gmt":"2024-11-02T15:50:38","slug":"the-rocky-horror-picture-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/11\/02\/the-rocky-horror-picture-show\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rocky Horror Picture Show"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Rocky Horror Picture Show <\/strong>(1975)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 20th Century Fox\/Musical-Comedy-Sci-Fi\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 100 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (sexual content\/references, brief nudity, language, some violence, drug references)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Jim Sharman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Richard O\u2019Brien and Jim Sharman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Richard Hartley (songs by Richard O\u2019Brien)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Peter Suschitzky\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: August 15, 1975 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Tim Curry, Barry Bostwick, Susan Sarandon, Richard O’Brien, Patricia Quinn, Little Nell (Campbell), Jonathan Adams, Peter Hinwood, Charles Gray, Meat Loaf, Jeremy Newson, Hilary Labow.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $112.8M (US)<\/p>\n

Rating:<\/strong>\u00a0****<\/p>\n

\u00a0It\u2019s the king of cult movies! It\u2019s the mother and father of all midnight movies! It\u2019s the ultimate interactive cinematic experience! It\u2019s The Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/strong> and there is NO substitute! I can say this with complete authority because I was a member of the Denton Dead, the Philadelphia cast that performed Rocky Horror every Saturday night circa 1994.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Rocky Horror Picture Show <\/strong>began life as The Rocky Horror Show in Britain, a hit musical play that premiered at the Royal Court Theater in London\u2019s West End circa 1973. The movie adaptation came two years later and immediately bombed at the box office. HOWEVER, it had fans that would show up to watch it again and again. They started yelling comments at the screen, throwing objects like rice, toast and toilet paper at certain scenes and dressing up as the movie’s characters. Then somebody came up with the idea of showing it on Saturdays at midnight. From that, a phenomenon was born.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Although everybody with a pulse knows the plot of The Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/strong>, here it is in a nutshell for the benefit of the few that don\u2019t. After their friends\u2019 wedding, Brad Majors (Bostwick, Megaforce) proposes to his girlfriend Janet Weiss (Sarandon, The Witches of Eastwick) and she accepts. While driving to visit their friend and former science teacher Dr. Scott (stage actor Adams) one dark and stormy night, their car breaks down. They seek shelter at a dark castle inhabited by some very strange folks. They\u2019re invited inside by the butler Riff Raff (writer O’Brien) and the maid Magenta (Quinn) where they find a party going on. After witnessing guests and castle residents perform \u201cThe Time Warp Dance\u201d, they meet the master (or is it mistress?) of the castle Dr Frank-N-Furter (Curry, Clue), a cross-dressing alien from the planet Transylvania in the galaxy of Transsexual.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Brad (\u201cA**HOLE!\u201d) and Janet (\u201cSLUT!\u201d) have arrived on a rather special night. It’s the night that Frank will unveil his\/her creation, a muscular, six-foot-tall man with blonde hair and a tan named Rocky (Hinwood). Frank intends to use Rocky as his\/her sex slave. Of course, not all goes according to plan. Biker Eddie (glitter rock star Meat Loaf), ex-lover of Frank and current lover of domestic Columbia (Little Nell), appears and does a quick number (\u201cHot Patootie \u2013 Bless My Soul\u201d) before Frank kills him with a pickaxe. Throughout the night, many sexual shenanigans occur including Frank\u2019s trysts with both Brad and Janet. Wheelchair bound Dr. Scott shows up looking for his nephew Eddie. There\u2019s a dinner party that erupts into chaos after Frank reveals what\/who the mystery meat is. It all culminates in a floor show where it\u2019s finally revealed that all the castle’s inhabitants are aliens. In the exciting finale, Riff Raff and Magenta kill Frank and Rocky and return to their home planet- the castle is their spaceship, how convenient is that?- leaving our two heroes and Dr Scott crawling around in bewilderment.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Narrated by \u201cThe Criminologist\u201d (Gray, You Only Live Twice), a distinguished gentleman with \u201cno f***ing neck\u201d, The Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/strong> is a good-natured goof on the old horror-sci-fi movies from Universal and RKO. The introductory song heard over the opening credits (\u201cScience Fiction\/Double Feature\u201d) pays tribute to the likes of Flash Gordon, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Doctor X and Forbidden Planet. Sung by O\u2019Brien, the title sequence shows a pair of disembodied lips belonging to co-star Quinn. It\u2019s one of the coolest openings I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/strong> is also reflective of the sexual revolution of the 70s where all is out in the open and everybody (except Brad and Janet) is liberated from the repressive attitudes of past decades. Frank represents our id that we are simultaneously fearful of and attracted to. His seduction of our two heroes causes them feelings they can\u2019t understand due to the squeaky clean values instilled in them by their square middle-class upbringing. That is to say, they\u2019re still virgins. It\u2019s the movie\u2019s anything goes attitude that turned mainstream audiences off, but brought in the “unconventional conventionalists” who got it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I\u2019m not even going to attempt to review The Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/strong> like a normal movie. There\u2019s absolutely nothing normal about it. It is the very definition of the term \u201ccampy\u201d. That being said, there are a great many things I like about it. The songs are GREAT! I\u2019m especially fond of \u201cSweet Transvestite\u201d and \u201cTouch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a Touch Me\u201d. Tim Curry\u2019s unique take on the mad scientist character is the best thing about The Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/strong>. He is the true centerpiece in this menagerie of weirdos and freaks. He\u2019s just awesome.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0As you all surely know, people who regularly attend The Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/strong> also participate in the action. Usually, there is a cast that acts along with the on-screen events. Audience members yell out “call back lines” in response to certain events or the often goofy dialogue. When asked what she thinks of Rocky, Janet replies, \u201cI don\u2019t like men with too many muscles.\u201d The common audience response to this line is \u201cJust one BIG one!\u201d Then there are the props I mentioned in the first paragraph. When one character says \u201cA toast!\u201d, everybody throws toast at the screen. When Brad exclaims \u201cGreat Scott!\u201d, everybody throws toilet paper. Get the idea?<\/p>\n

\u00a0The most important thing to know about The Rocky Horror Picture Show <\/strong>is that EVERYBODY takes part in the Time Warp Dance. You have to; it\u2019s a requirement! It should also be mentioned that first-time attendees are referred to as \u201cvirgins\u201d and must endure a harmless \u201cvirgin sacrifice\u201d in the pre-show.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Obviously, the best way to view The Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/strong> is in a theater with a boisterous crowd. It\u2019s just not the same watching it at home on video. That is, unless you bring the show to your home which I don\u2019t recommend. It can get messy.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It\u2019s hard to believe The Rocky Horror Picture Show <\/strong>has been around for almost 50 years. It\u2019s amazing how popular it still is after all these years. It\u2019s still shown regularly, still Saturdays at midnight, at theaters around the country. I haven\u2019t been since \u201907, but I\u2019m always willing to see the show. It\u2019s great fun. As a performer, I\u2019m a bit past my prime, but I can still cut it as an audience member. Besides, you never forget how to Time Warp (\u201cIt\u2019s just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right.\u201d) I have a feeling The Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/strong> will be around forever.\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 20th Century Fox\/Musical-Comedy-Sci-Fi\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 100 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (sexual content\/references, brief nudity, language, some violence, drug references)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Jim Sharman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Richard O\u2019Brien and Jim Sharman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Richard Hartley (songs by Richard O\u2019Brien)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Peter Suschitzky\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: August 15, 1975 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Tim Curry, Barry Bostwick, Susan Sarandon, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8005,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cool-cult-flicks","category-musical"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/The-Rocky-Horror-Picture-Sh.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7955"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8007,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7955\/revisions\/8007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}