The Rocky Horror Picture Show

*****

Reviewed by: Gabriella Trybalska

The Rocky Horror Picture Show
"Possibly the best musical ever written."

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is... hmm, very difficult to describe.

Think gothic horror colliding with rock musical, shot through with kinky transvestitism, a twist of sci-fi and a large dose of humour.

Copy picture

The story follows straight couple, Brad and Janet (Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon), who, when their car breaks down, find themselves lost in the middle of nowhere, as it is getting dark. They knock on the door of a very scary house for some assistance.

Here we are introduced to the charismatically camp, Frank N. Furter (Tim Curry), his hunchback butler Riff Raff (a wan-looking Richard O'Brien) and a bunch of outlandish house guests: Magenta (from the planet Transsexual), Columbia and Edie (who lives in the freezer), and not forgetting Dr "zeig heil" Scott.

This is positively the worst night that Brad and Janet could have come knocking: Dr Frank's little project, Rocky, is being brought to life.

The Rocky Horror Show almost faded into obscurity when it first came out in 1975, that was until it began to be aired in the midnight slots and quickly earned a cult following.

A social phenomenon, it has brought new meaning to the term "audience participation" with Rocky Horror fans putting on their own show that is almost as important as the film itself.

Fans typically don transvestite garb, sing along and dance in the aisles, in front of the screen, bring their own props for squirting or throwing around the room at appropriate moments, and add their own lines (to a script which many fans probably remember better than the scriptwriter himself).

The songs that O'Brien helped pen are fantastic: taking on a life outside of the film. Who hasn't found themselves jumping around to the Time Warp at some late night shindig?

Curry's larger-than-life performance as Frank N. Furter is utterly brilliant (especially his singing) from the beginning to the stunning ending.

This is possibly the best musical ever written.

Reviewed on: 08 Apr 2001
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show packshot
Gothic horror meets rock musical.
Amazon link

Director: Jim Sharman

Writer: Jim Sharman, Richard O'Brien

Starring: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Little Nell, Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn, Jonathan Adams, Peter Hinwood, Meat Loaf

Year: 1975

Runtime: 105 minutes

BBFC: 12A - Adult Supervision

Country: GB


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