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Rocky Horror Picture Show!
Welcome to Dark_Lorde's RHPS review.
Well, never has there been a truer use of the saying “They don’t make movies like that anymore”. I’m unsure what mind altering, psychosis inducing drugs the writers were taking when they came up with this movie (it was the mid-70s so I’m sure there were an abundance of them to choose from) but my god it’s weird and that’s to say the very least. This 1975 freak-out-a-thon is the quintessential cult classic. Its cult status it typified by it allegedly having the longest running cinematic release in history due to its regular midnight screenings and capped off by countless stage productions all over the world (it was a stage show before a movie).
Craig McLachlan as Dr Frank-N-Furter. Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the theatre!
While watching Rocky Horror I was wondering if the cast not knowing of the movie’s longevity had to stop and think “What the hell have a gotten myself into here?” and probably the more apt “This monstrosity is going to be career suicide”. Despite what must have appeared to be the end of it all for everyone involved most of the cast have gone on to long and illustrious careers. Most notably Susan Sarandon who is still pumping out movies and runs a ping pong company (true story), Barry Bostwick who starred opposite Michael J. Fox in Spin City as the hapless Mayor, Richard O’Brien (also the movie’s writer) now voices the father in one of my favourite cartoons Phineas and Ferb, Meatloaf whose career has held out long enough to poison the ears of anyone who witnessed his off-key performance at the 2011 AFL Grand Final and Tim Curry who went on to scare the crappola out of everyone as Pennywise in Stephen King’s It (plus he’s the concierge in Home Alone 2 and supplies one of the funniest moments of the movie).
Need someone to scrub your back?
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is most famous for one thing, the music. Anyone who has been to a wedding has probably done one of these three dances. The Chicken Dance, YCMA or the Time Warp (we’ll throw in the Nutbush and the Macarena into that group as well). Everyone knows the Time Warp and everyone has been dragged up on to a dance floor at some stage of their life to dance along usually with your mum, aunties and grandmother (zimmer frame included) not too far away. Even though I hadn’t seen this movie in years I seemed to remember nearly all the music. This was probably down to the fact that mum had the soundtrack on cassette and it got a regular play in the car along with Michael Crawford sings the hits of Andrew Lloyd Webber (slightly disturbing, I know). I’ve never understood musicals and how songs suddenly break out. Imagine if it was real life, someone breaks out in a song and dance and not only does no one think it’s weird but everyone else happens to already know the lyrics and choreography and joins it. Just one question, where does the music come from? I’d like to think there’s man with a ghetto blaster (showing my age there with that 80’s reference) charged with pressing play at the appropriate moment. “She broken into song, press play George, PRESS PLAY!”
And I was like EMILIO!!!
The Rocky Horror Picture Show starts off with Brad (Bostwick) and Janet (Sarandon) getting engaged after their friend’s wedding and hitting the road to celebrate with their high school science teacher. Now, I don’t know about you but when I have some good news I would usually be sharing it with say, my family or a close friend first rather than a member of my high school’s faculty. On the way to said teacher’s house (on a stormy night, as always) Brad and Janet breakdown and seek refuge at a local castle. After being welcomed by the Time Warp things really get a bit kooky. Enter Dr Frank-N-Furter (Curry), a transvestite alien from Transsexual Transylvania. Dr Frank-N-Furter and his band of weirdo followers are creating a man for let’s say “pleasurable” reasons and Brad and Janet get taken along for the ride. It’s hard to write about what happens after this point because it was all a mash of song, dance and storyline that defies the meaning of the word “plot”.
I have to say that I seriously lost interest in this movie about a third of the way through. I’m not sure if I just missed the point of the whole thing but it all seemed like a massive mess. It’s like it was made just to push the boundaries of the time (much like Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat and Bruno movies). For the sake of controversy this movie had, cross-dressing, murder, incest, all sorts of sexual references, innuendo and cannibalism (Meatloaf was carved up like well, meatloaf). Not a bad effort to cram all that into an hour and 40 minute movie.
Unfortunately, I just didn’t like this movie but I can see why others would love it. After all, the time warp is a very catchy song. I’m giving the Rocky Horror Picture Show 1.5 “Rockies” out of 5.
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