Rocky Horror Picture Show is a cult classic musical that parodies science fiction and monster films. The plot follows a newly engaged couple who seek refuge in the mansion of a cross-dressing mad scientist. The film has spawned a successful midnight movie tradition with audience participation and the use of props. The original film and stage version stars Tim Curry as Dr. Frank. Despite its success, the film was panned by American critics for its overt sexuality. Rocky Horror Picture Show remains a controversial film that enjoys continued cult success.
Rocky Horror Picture Show is one of the most famous cult films ever made. The film is a musical that parodies science fiction and monster films, and is only slightly changed from its 1973 stage version, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show. In 2005, the film was inducted into the Motion Picture Archives of the United States Library of Congress, as it was deemed historically significant.
The plot of Rocky Horror Picture Show follows Janet and Brad, a newly engaged couple, as their car breaks down and they are forced to take refuge in the nearby mansion of cross-dressing mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter. Dr. Frank invites them to watch his latest experiment, which brings the handsome Rocky Horror to life. Rocky, who is supposed to be Dr. Frank’s boyfriend, prefers Janet, much to Frank and Brad’s horror. After considerable confusion and the arrival of Janet and Brad’s old professor, it is revealed that Frank and his minions, Riff-Raff and Magenta, are aliens. The two minions kill Frank and Rocky, take off in a spaceship, and leave the humans behind to deal with their much larger concept of reality.
Rocky Horror has spawned a successful midnight movie tradition since it opened. At the show, male spectators usually dress in women’s clothing, as Dr. Frank does, while female customers wear lingerie. First-time viewers are expected to wear white, to symbolize their Rocky Horror virginity. Inside the theatre, the audience sings freely and recites lines from the film. The raucous event is also punctuated by the use of props at specific times.
The props used in Rocky Horror Picture Show shows are thrown or used in reference to certain jokes or jokes. When, on screen, someone offers a toast at dinner, audience members throw pieces of toast at the screen. When Brad and Janet’s car breaks down in the rain, the audience spray water guns and hold newspapers over their heads. A controversial use of the scene comes during the song “Over at the Frankenstein Place”, as customers are supposed to be holding a lit lighter. Flames are generally prohibited in theaters, so this particular prop is sometimes frowned upon by theater managers.
The original film and stage version stars Tim Curry as Dr. Frank. Curry, a noted comedian, created the role on the London stage and went on to perform it in several other stage productions. Curry, along with many of the other actors, preferred not to talk about the film after they left, as he felt its cult popularity overshadowed some of his more serious work. His portrayal of Dr. Frank as a moody upper-class British transvestite is cemented in the minds of fans and the cult world as a stunning performance.
Although the stage version was successful worldwide, many American critics panned the film and its overt sexuality, despite many positive reviews of the music in the show. In 1976, New York movie theaters began showing the film at night and encouraging people to come in costume. Over the next three years, the trend would spread across the country, with over 200 theaters showing the film weekly.
Rocky Horror Picture Show is an adult musical with both horror and explicit sexual content. As such, it is usually considered unsuitable for children, but is popular with teenagers and college students. Some fans hold viewings on Halloween, in homage to both the dress-up aspects and the film’s monster flick. In the 21st century, Rocky Horror Picture Show remains a film that enjoys continued cult success while being continually controversial with much of the world community.
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