Rocky Horror Picture Show

Revision as of 22:46, 8 August 2014

Rocky Horror Picture Show

This article is not intended to be a comprehensive review of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The film (and play) is well-covered on the web and in various other media. This article is intended to serve as an introduction and summary. For a complete listing of cast and credits, please see the IMDB link at the end of this article.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a 1975 film, produced by Michael White, directed by Jim Sharman, starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O'Brien, Meat Loaf and others, and distributed by Twentieth Century Fox. It is a film adaptation of the stage musical The Rocky Horror Show, written by Richard O'Brien.

Genre and Meaning

Richard O'Brien as Riff Raff

Riff Raff, Frank, Magenta

Meat Loaf as Eddie

Susan Sarandon as Janet

If there is only one thing to be agreed upon, it is that The Rocky Horror Picture Show should not be taken too seriously. Although the story line is a tragedy in the classical sense, it's a fun film to watch. There's lot of music, dancing, costumes, eye candy for those of any persuasion, humor, and the story is easy to follow. There are a couple of awkward scenes, a couple of grotesque scenes, and a couple of scenes depicting violence. There are some brief sex scenes but they are tastefully presented. Some very brief female frontal nudity appears in the "floor show" scene.

The film is often interpreted as a satire or spoof on the low-budget horror films of the 1950s and early 1960s.

Plot Synopsis

The story line begins with protagonists Brad Majors and Janet Weiss attending the wedding of their friends as honor attendants. Brad proposes to Janet, she accepts, and the two take off to share their joy with Dr. Everett Scott, a former science teacher, in whose class the two first met.

As night falls, Brad's car develops a flat tire, and the two set out walking in search of a telephone to call for help. They come upon a castle and become entrapped in a bizarre celebration hosted by Dr. Frank-N-Furter ("Frank"), who has just created a humanoid monster dubbed Rocky.

Dr. Scott, now with a government agency in charge of investigating UFOs, appears at the castle in search of his lost nephew, Eddie, who was kidnapped by Frank to be used as raw materials for creating Rocky.

Musical Numbers

(In order of sequence in the original release of the film.)

"Science Fiction-Double Feature"
"Dammit Janet (I Love You)"
"There's a Light (Over at the Frankenstein Place)"
"Time Warp"
"Sweet Transvestite"
"Sword of Damocles"
"In Just Seven Days I Can Make You a Man"
"Hot Patootie – Bless My Soul, aka Whatever Happened to Saturday Night"
"Touch a Touch a Touch Me"
"Eddie's Teddy"
"Planet Schmanet Janet"
"Rose Tint My World"
"Don't Dream It, Be It"
"Wild and an Untamed Thing"
"I'm Going Home"
"Super Heroes" (abridged version)

Audience Participation

How to do the Time Warp

Trivia and Miscellanea

The overture (Science Fiction, Double Feature), presented during the opening credits, is sung by Richard O'Brien and lip-synced by Patricia Quinn, who played the character Magenta in the film.

The customary and expected Twentieth Century Fox logo is presented at the very beginning of the film. However, instead of the expected trumpets, Alfred Newman's fanfare is rendered on a honky-tonk piano.

Although filmed, the song Once In A While, which appeared in the stage version, is omitted from all known releases of the film.

Only a snippet of the song Super Heroes, which appeared in its entirety in the stage version, appears in the earlier releases of the film. Most later releases include the entire song.