Classic Movie Review: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

The Rocky Horror Picture Show was remarkably ahead of its time. This bizarre burlesque of science fiction and monster movie tropes, by way of the musical, anticipates an entire subculture of sexuality and entertainment. Screenwriter Richard O’Brien was a genius and an outsider whose unique vision was perhaps too far ahead of its time in 1975 when the film was released to modest acclaim.

O’Brien would continue to show how ahead of his time he was with his follow-up feature Shock Treatment which presaged the era of reality television by a couple of decades. But it remains The Rocky Horror Picture Show where the genius of Richard O’Brien shines through. The film is a bizarre, spectacular and groovy musical populated by wild characters and an even wilder and unconventional story.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show tells the story of Brad and Janet (Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon), a pair of newlyweds whose car broke down outside of a strange looking mansion somewhere in Texas. Seeking to get out of the rain and get some help for their car, Brad and Janet attend to the mansion and find it in the midst of a swinging party where oddballs in outlandish costumes are engaged in a remarkably well choreographed dance.

Brad and Janet are eventually ushered into the laboratory of their host, Dr Frank N Furter (Tim Curry), a cross-dressing madman or madwoman, who, on this night, proclaims that he/she is bringing new life into the world. Frank claims to have created a perfect specimen of manhood that he/she is calling Rocky (Peter Hinwood). However, Rocky’s big reveal is nearly ruined by the arrival of Eddie (Meatloaf, in his feature film debut), a delivery boy whose brain, Dr Frank stole and gave to Rocky, or, at least part of it.

Eventually it is decided that Brad and Janet must spend the night at the castle. The couple is separated into different bedrooms and are each seduced by Frank. Janet then ends up in bed with Rocky and all hell begins to break loose with the arrival of Brad and Janet’s college professor who is also Eddie’s uncle and an alien hunter. All of this comes together with a series of songs as The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a musical that adheres to the tropes of the classic Hollywood musical by way of the punk underground.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a dizzying spectacle, a vibrantly strange and alluring movie with a punk-pop edge. The songs are catchy and exciting, especially The Time Warp, the song that transcended the movie to make it on to pop radio, even as the movie was not an immediate hit in theaters. Time Warp is a novelty song but it is a great novelty song, a wildly catchy and alive tune with an absolutely awesome hook.

By all accounts, The Rocky Horror Picture Show should have arrived and left theaters with little fanfare but few movies tapped the subculture in the way Rocky Horror did. The embracing of outre subjects, for 1975, like Transsexualism, homosexuality, and cross-dressing as well as the beguiling performance of Tim Curry made the film an object of obsession among an under-served minority audience eager for movies that stood apart from the norm.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show could not have been further from mainstream tastes when it was released and that is exactly what made it so iconic on the midnight movie circuit. The film is at once a safe alternative to the grind-house terrors of the 70’s horror genre that dominated the circuit and yet still outrageous enough to keep the squares away. That plus the unique invention of audience participation at screenings have kept Rocky Horror in the culture far longer than most movies that have attempted to tap the subculture. Few films are so far ahead of their time as The Rocky Horror Picture Show has proven to be.

On a personal note, I came to The Rocky Horror Picture Show almost by accident. I was trying to impress a girl who was a fan and we watched it together on Halloween night nearly 25 years ago. The girl did not remain impressed with me but I was deeply impressed by the movie. Being of mainstream taste at the time, I was drawn in by how unconventional The Rocky Horror Picture Show was while at the same time being recognizably conventional in structure.

This might appear incredibly naive and potentially embarrassing, but here goes, I credit falling in love with The Rock Horror Picture Show for my awakening to the world. I was once very conservative and closed minded and while I only watched Rocky Horror to impress my date, something forever changed in how I saw the world after that first watch. What had once been a subject of fear and misunderstanding took on an appearance that was friendly, funny, and inviting.

I went from fearing a culture that I believed clashed with masculinity to laughing and singing along with some of the most exciting and different movie characters I’d ever seen. Not long after, I attended a public show of Rocky Horror and participated with fellow fans and, for the first time, spent an evening with men dressed as women, women dressed as men and some of the most flamboyant personalities I had ever met at the time.

I was desperately sheltered for much of my early life. Rocky Horror opened the world to me in a way I never could have imagined. Today, I am a proud and loyal ally of the LGBTQ community and I can credit this ridiculous cult movie for nudging me out of my shell and helping me to see the world just a little bit differently. For that reason, among many others, The Rocky Horror Picture Show will always have a special place in my movie loving heart.