The Rocky Horror Picture Show
1975 · Directed by Jim Sharman
Original language: English
- comedy
- science fiction
- horror
The story
After getting a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, newly engaged couple Brad and Janet encounter the eerie mansion of the flamboyant, seductive Dr Frank-N-Furter and a variety of eccentric characters. Through elaborate dance and rock music, the mad scientist unveils his latest creation: a perfect, muscular man.
What it’s like
Lurid, saturated theatricality: a sound stage dressed in violet, hot pink and electric blue, with garish make-up, glitter, and corsets glinting under stage lights, all shot with the unsubtle, staged energy of a midnight revue. The sound is 1950s rock and roll pastiche, pounding and bright, with bursts of campy choreography and sing-along numbers that break the flow every few minutes. Think of the feel of a Halloween-night midnight screening: loud, communal, and deliberately ridiculous, a camp fantasy of a sweet young couple pulled into a castle of gleeful decadence. The register is bawdy comedy with a rock-opera heart, and the tone runs from playful and cheeky to openly sexual; there is sexual content throughout, including group sex and innuendo, transvestism, and a seduction-driven plot, but the violence is cartoonish and mostly comic, with mild horror-movie menace rather than real dread or gore. The arcs are loose and fast: an innocent pair loosening up and changing, a charismatic host who is in control until he isn't. Best for people who want a raucous, irreverent night out in a room, dressing up, singing along, and laughing at the excess, not for anyone seeking something gentle or quiet.
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