Tim Curry stars as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, "a sweet transvestite from Transsexual Transylvania" in this kinky sci-fi/horror cult musical comedy. It is based on a flop stage musical and is narrated and commented on by the Criminologist (Charles Gray).
The Criminologist: "I would like, if I may, to take you on a strange journey....Crawling, on the planet's face...some insects, called the Human Race. Lost in Time, and lost in space... and in meaning."
Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick) and Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon), a normal couple, are stranded in a rain storm and take refuge in an isolated creepy old castle filled with degenerate weirdos. Handyman Riff-Raff (Richard O'Brien) invites them in and they spend the night.
Janet: "Brad, please, let's get out of here."
Brad: "For Godssakes, keep a grip on it, Janet."
Janet: "But it seems so unhealthy here."
Brad: "It's just a party, Janet."
Janet: "Well, I wanna go!"
Brad: "Well we can't go back to the car unless we get to a phone."
Janet: "Well ask the butler or someone!"
Brad: "Just a moment, Janet. We don't want to interfere with their celebration."
Janet: "This isn't the Junior Chamber of Commerce, Brad!"
The engaged couple try to cope with the madness, which centres on Frank N. Furter's experiment with creating Rocky Horror (Peter Hinwood)--a blond homoerotic muscular boytoy. Frank says, "So come up to the lab, and see what's on the slab. I see you shiver with antici...pation."
Magenta (Patricia Quinn) and Riff-Raff remove the couple's wet clothes and give them lab coats. Frank animates the body of Rocky, who "is good for releaving my tension". Eddie (Meat Loaf) emerges from a freezer storage vault on a motorcycle. Half of his brain is now in Rocky's head. Frank murders Eddie with a pickaxe, then after a bridal procession takes Rocky to his boudoir.
Frank-N-Furter: "It was strange the way it happened. Suddenly... you get a break! All of the pieces seem to fit into place. What a sucker you've been, what a fool. The answer was there all the time. It took a small accident to make it happen. An Accident. And that is how I discovered the secret. That elusive ingredient, that... spark that is the breath of life... yes I have that knowledge! I hold the key to life...itself!"
Later that night, Frank disguises himself as Brad and has sex with Janet. Then he disguises himself as Janet and has sex with Brad. Magenta and Riff-Raff watch the seductions on TV monitors, then torment Rocky. Janet sees Rocky crying and seduces him. Dr. Everett Von Scott (Jonathan Adams), Brad's former science teacher and Eddie's uncle, pays an unexpected visit. During an awkward dinner, Dr. Scott says he has come for Eddie. Frank reveals that Eddie was the main course of their meal.
The Criminologist: (reading from dictionary) "Emotion: Agitation or disturbance of mind; vehement or excited mental state. It is also a powerful and irrational monster. And from what Magenta and Columbia eagerly viewed on their television monitor, there seemed little doubt that Janet was, indeed... its slave."
There is a chase scene around the castle with all the main characters. It ends in the lab where Frank uses a "Medusa Ray" to turn them into statues. Frank dresses them for a show, releases them from suspended animation, and they perform a cabaret act. Then they plunge into a swimming pool.
Magenta and Riff-Raff arrive and announce they are returning to planet Transsexual in the galaxy Transylvania without Frank, whom they kill with a ray gun. The castle blasts off, taking Magenta and Riff-Raff back to Transsexual. Brad, Janet, and Dr. Scott are left lying in an empty field where the castle once stood.
Also in the cast are: Nell Campbell (Columbia), Jeremy Newson (Ralph Hapschatt), Hilary Labow (Betty Munroe Hapschatt), Gina Barrie (Bridesmaid), Petra Leah (Bridesmaid), Koo Stark (Bridesmaid), and Frank Lester (wedding father). The Transylvanians are played by: Perry Bedden, Chrisopher Biggins, Gaye Brown, Ishaq Bux, Stephen Calcutt, Hugh Cecil, Imogen Claire, Tony Cowan, Sadie Corre, Fran Fullenwider, Lindsay Ingram, Peggy Ledger, Annabel Milner, Pamela Obermeyer, Tony Then, Kimi Wong, Rufus Collins, and Henry Wolf. The script is by Jim Sharman and Richard O'Brien. Music and lyrics are by Richard O'Brien. Jim Sharman directed.
The first two songs are first-rate: "Time Warp" and "Sweet Transvestite". The many other songs are mediocre at best, and only serve to advance the plot. This is usual for musicals, which generally have only one or two good songs. People who listen to the second-rate songs repeatedly become familiar with them and enjoy them--but they're still crap. The other songs are: "Science Fiction - Double Feature"; "Dammit, Janet"; "Over at the Frankenstein Place"; "The Sword of Damocles"; "I Can Make You a Man"; "Hot Patootie"; "Once in a While" (cut from film); "Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a Touch Me"; "Eddie's Teddy"; "Planet Schmanet Janet"; "Don't Dream It, Be It"; "Wild and Untamed Thing"; "I'm Going Home"; and "Superheroes".
The Criminologist: "It's just a jump to the left."
Everybody: " And then a step to the right!"
The Criminologist: "With your hands on your hips"
Everybody:
"You bring your knees in tight!
But it's the pelvic thrust
That really drives you insane
Let's do the time warp again!"
The lips in the opening song "Science Fiction - Double Feature" belong to Patricia Quinn and the singing is by Richard O'Brien, who actually wrote the original stageplay and also the terrible spin-off sequel movie. Tim Curry originally auditioned for the role of Rocky by singing Little Richard's song "Tootie Fruity". Director Jim Sharman was so impressed he cast him as Dr. Frank-N-Furter.
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW was one of the first movies to be shown at special Midnight screenings. It quickly developed a phenomenal subculture of audience participation. Patrons dressed up as their favorite characters, spoke and sang along with the movie sound track, tossed popcorn around the theatre, and so on. This film is fast paced, trashy, weird, subversive, and great fun. It's certainly not for everybody, and for some it is probably more entertaining in a theatre as a participation movie.
Quotes from Tim Curry:
"One of the best things that ever happened to me was ROCKY HORROR being a total flop in New York as a play. I mean, it was a disaster, and it was the night of the long knives as far as the critics were concerned."
"I'm proud of that character (Frank-N-Furter). I have no intention of disowning it. There's no point in saying, 'I'm not the Fonz.' And I did it for so long. At the beginning, it was just another play, the fifth I was doing at that theater (The Royal Shakespeare Company). It just clicked and went on and took so long to surface as a film. Now it's a minor religion. I don't think you can worry too much about how the public sees you."
"I don't really think THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW has typecast me. That was a long time ago and I have done a lot since then. But there are a lot of people who seem to associate me only with that project."
"I ran up and down ladders in high heels." (for ROCKY HORROR)
"I did that show (ROCKY HORROR) forever. I did six months in London, six months in L.A., and then I did the movie, and then a couple of months in New York. It was enough ... The cult thing has always been a bit peculiar to me, because it's so much more here than it is in England. It's always bewildering to me again when I first come back to America. "Rocky" acolytes still try and get in touch with me. But people don't go through my garbage anymore, or line up in front of the apartment building."
(Speaking to a crowd at a ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW convention)
"It's so comforting to know that there are so many people in this world sicker than I am."
The semi-sequel to ROCKY HORROR is the seldom-seen SHOCK TREATMENT (1981). Basically it's an inferor rip-off of part of MELVIN AND HOWARD (1980), about TV game shows. SHOCK TREATMENT has the same director, and some of the same cast from ROCKY HORROR. The dreadful music sounds identical to ROCKY, with the same production. Brad and Janet (played by different actors) are trapped on a TV game show and try to escape. Do yourself a favour and don't get trapped in this horrible movie. There's no escaping the fact that it's so bad it's unwatchable.
