Director: Dick Sharman
Year: 1975
Country: UK
Language: English
Let's do the time warp again! While I'm not a particular fan of musicals nor films with a cult following (I have continually said that Fight Club and A Clockwork Orange are two of the worst films I have ever seen) Rocky Horror Picture Show is quite an exception! It is a journey into madness and hysteria, one of the strangest films I saw in my teens and likely one of the strangest films you will ever see, unless you venture into the world of experimental film. The charcters. like Dr. Frank N. Furter (Tim Curry), are bizarre and instantly memorable. The songs are catchy, you may find yourself singing "Hot Patootie" on your way to school or work ow wherever young people go these days.
Rocky Horror Picture Show stars a young newly engaged vanilla couple known as Brad Majors ( Barry Bostwick) and Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon) who encounter a very serious problem when their car has a breakdown in the middle of what seems like nowhere during a thunderstorm. However they see a light (over at the Frankenstein Place) and attempt to reach it. In their attempt to make contact they find themselves at the castle of a most peculiar madman, the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. He's just a sweet trasvestite from transsexual Transylvania...or is he? He allows the couple to stay until the storm passes, though it is unlikely they want to stay as they stumble upon a party in which people do the "time warp" in anticipation of Frank n Furter's most devious surprise.
When the film hit American Theatres in 1975 it was largely ignored by both critic and casual film-goer. It was a complete flop, that would have closed down within weeks and never heard of again until a low level Hollywood Executive suggested to his bosses that the failing Rocky Horror Picture Show be turned into a midnight cult movie. The rest is history. The film was playing at midnight showings all across the world with fans showing up hours before the film was being screened and dressed up as their favorite characters. A rare time in American History when men could dress up in women's clothing and not be considered homosexual. The shows within the theatres were often more entertaining than what was shown onscreen. There were great dances onstage and sang the songs in unison. These film-goers were like a weird family.
I would have loved to participated in all the craziness of the midnight theater showings. While Rocky Horror Picture Show is a unique experience it seems extremely tamed when seen at home. It's not one of those films that you should watch on your own, because it's more of an interactive film to see with friends. Any Rocky Horror party can only be a cheap imitation of what once was amazingly great. Have times changed or has the film become dated? It's all fun with little intelligence, but when the "fun" is taken away what kind of film is this?
In conclusion, Rocky Horror Picture Show is a unique film, filled with entertaining songs but unfortunately it seems to be a product of a time that has long past. It will never reach the peak it once had. Thus it seems dated but still entertaining and weird enough to be loved and admired. It's a cult film that's not bad, but neither is it amazing. Still enjoyable to see Meatloaf at the peak of his career. 3/5
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