'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' (1975), a Strange Musical that Just Might Make You Wear Lingerie!

Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick) and Janet Wiess (Susan Sarandon) are engaged to be married and she catches the bouquet at the wedding of two friends. On their way home in a torrential thunderstorm, Brad's car gets a flat tire and the couple seeks help at the spooky castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), a transvestite and mad scientist trying to build his own man after several failed attempts. The doctor is hosting a party with a large group of Transylvanians in honor of his latest attempt, Rocky Horror.

It should come as no surprise that "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" began as a British musical/stage play with a Broadway production at the Belasco Theater in New York on March 10, 1975 and ran for 45 performances starring Tim Curry. It was revived in 2001.

This musical movie was released to theaters on September 26th, 1975, so I guess this review is just in time for the 35th anniversary of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." It bombed when it was first released but, after a few years, the midnight cult classic weekend picked up steam and has been playing with a weekend since, making it the longest theatrical run in history.

This is my second viewing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." For years, I always thought it was a weird phenomenon before my first viewing a few years ago and I thought it was very entertaining. But, after this second viewing, it kind of lost some of its appeal. I guess some of the appeal was in the curiosity of it all and it lost some of its shock value for me. I will probably draw some heat for saying that but I am just being honest with myself. I watched it with my musical-loving young nurse (her first viewing) and her only comment was "interesting," which sounds like she didn't like it very much.

Why has "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" spawned such a huge cult following? It has to be because of the quirky, eccentric, taboo and just plain weirdness of everything in this musical movie that pulls at the inner yearning to let go of society's morals and accepted etiquette. I have to think that much of the drag queen/transvestite community is this movie's largest fan base but I could be wrong.

Aside from the weird side of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," it is also a musical satire of the low-budget and campy science fiction B movies of the 1950s. I recognized many of the 50s movies mentioned in many of the songs and can see much of the satirical references which made me feel more a part of the movie.

In addition to that, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" really hypes up the audience participation like no other movie I have seen. This is another of the big draws for the hard-core fans because they feel like the songs are speaking specifically to them.

The recurring midnight showings are much more than simple viewings. Audience members dress up in elaborate costumes, sing along with the songs and they even bring props, such as rice, water pistols, newspapers, flashlights, cigarette lighters, rubber gloves, noisemakers, toilet paper, confetti, toast, party hats, bells and cards, which they use during various scenes.

Tim Curry definitely is eccentric and flamboyant as Dr. Frank-N-Furter. His character really makes this movie exponentially weirder than it would have been without him. Curry proves that he can successfully off almost any role he chooses.

Susan Sarandon doesn't really stand out as Janet Weiss but gives a good performance nonetheless.

Barry Bostwick gives an okay performance as Brad Majors but never really stand out as great. I wish Steve Martin had received the part instead because he is a much more energetic actor.

Richard O'Brien pulls double duty as the writer of the musical and taking the part of Riff Raff, Dr. Frank-N-Furter's butler for most of the movie. O'Brien performs so many roles in this movie that his time on screen rivals that of Curry. He is a great singer and I really liked some of his songs (not all of them mind you). It's a little mind-boggling to know that he put together this production so much on his own and then going on to play for so long in the movie as well!

Patricia Quinn, as Magenta (Dr. Frank-N-Furter's maid and Riff Raff's sister), and Nell Campbell, as Columbia (Dr. Frank-N-Furter's groupie), were the definite eye candy from my straight male perspective. I can't choose between the two, so I will take both! And on top of that, ahem, they both gave good performances.

Peter Hinwood gave an odd performance as Rocky Horror, Dr. Frank-N-Furter's latest experimental creation. He was an odd choice because he is unable to sing. While he is athletic-looking he's not really that muscular and my nurse asked me if his chest was real -- I'm not really curious to find out but he didn't look big enough to require a body suit of some kind.

Meatloaf gives a phenomenal performance as Eddie, a delivery boy Dr. Frank-N-Furter used for a past experiment that didn't turn out as expected and he escaped into the walls of the castle. I believe he's the only musical superstar in this movie and he and Richard O'Brien steal the show with their singing ability. I would have liked to see Meatloaf with a bigger "live" role.

Jonathan Adams plays Dr. Everett V. Scott, Brad and Janet's professor at the school, Dr. Frank-N-Furter's rival scientist and Eddie's uncle I believe. He has a German accent which is perfect for a castle of a mad scientist. He performed the role of the criminologist in the stage musical. I do have to admit that seeing him with pantyhose on was quite disturbing.

Charles Gray plays The Criminologist, the narrator of the movie. He gives a good performance but throughout the musical, he goes on for several short scenes to narrate the story and to describe how to do "The Time Warp" dance. I just found this to be a bit quirky and distracting for me at least. It's probably better in the stage version.

Being a musical, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" boasts several fun and popular songs with something for everyone.

We have the opening, "Science Fiction/Double Feature," lip-synched by a disembodied pair of sexy female lips and sung by an unseen Richard O'Brien with a reprise at the end of the movie. This really is my favorite song of the movie because it is an epic song that takes us on a journey into the science-fiction B-movies of the 50s, which this movie is satirizing.

Probably the most popular song of the movie is "The Time Warp" but for some reason this was one of my least favorites. I suppose it was the goofy looking dance that went with it. I will probably bring heat from fans for this one.

A very fun, entertaining and well-sung "Hot Patootie Bless My Soul" is performed by a young Meatloaf. From the looks of those his waistline, I think he needed a major diet but he really puts out a great song here.

"Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me" is one of Susan Sarandon's songs here but the voice doesn't sound like her but maybe I'm wrong. This is a very sexual song and not one of my favorites but we do get to see Sarandon in her bra and panties get groped, so it could have been worse.

I think "Don't Dream It Be It" is the slowest and most meaningful number of the movie and Tim Curry, if it really is his voice, sounds terrific.

Now as for the rest of the songs, I didn't like them as much as some of the few I listed above.

A few of the more transvestite-like songs, like "Sweet Transvestite," "I Can Make You a Man" and "Once in a While," were a bit disconcerting at times but they add to the weirdness of this musical movie. I guess it just bugs me to see Tim Curry in lingerie! I believe "Once in a While" was used in a deleted scene in which Dr. Frank-N-Furter, gets freaky with Brad.

Some of the songs, like "Dammit Janet," "Planet, Schmanet" and "Eddie's Teddy," sound like they were just tossed together to rhyme without much effort. "Eddie's Teddy" sounded cheesy to me but I did like the part about staying sane inside insanity.

"I'm Going Home" felt very odd for a guy to sing but it had an okay tune to it in a sad way.

Some songs are not memorable to me including "Over at the Frankenstein Place," "The Sword of Damocles," "Rose Tint My World," "Fanfare," "Wild and Untamed Thing" and "Superheroes"

I do have to point out that "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" is a very sexual movie -- anyone who disagrees must have been watching another movie. None of the sex is shown onscreen and is never blatant but it's definitely there. It's kind of like flirting with a stranger, using innuendo and provocative states of undress with underwear, bras and lingerie of all sorts to excite you -- it's never as good as the first time.

We have Tim Curry in drag and being bisexual with Brad, Janet, Rocky, probably Columbia and others. Brad allows him to "perform" for him before moving on to Janet, who quickly accepts him, before she has fun with Rocky. Sheesh, it's like a sexual soap opera! On top of that, there are tons of men in drag and some weird relationship between Magenta and her brother and Riff Raff that is hinted at. This movie is definitely not for children who probably wouldn't understand most of the innuendo and men in drag.

"The Rocky Horror Picture Show" is 100 minutes long, which is quite lengthy for me but about average for musicals. It ended before I completely lost interest but it was borderline for me. Diehard fans probably wish it was twice as long.

Overall, as I said above, I liked the "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" after my first viewing but not so much after my second view which leads me to believe that a third view will be even less effective on me unless I wait several years for it to fade from my memory. Still, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" is an entertaining musical at its weirdest and it deserves at least one viewing by everyone, if just to see what all the hype is about. On the other hand, you might become a diehard fan -- it's always good to try most things at least once but I don't expect to be trying on lingerie anytime soon!

Rating: 3.5/5

Trivia:

Tim Curry, Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn and Nell Campbell recreated their roles from the original stage production and Jonathan Adams played the Narrator. Meatloaf previously played Eddie in the original Los Angeles stage production.

Some famous celebrities wanted to play many of the roles in the movie. Mick Jagger wanted to play Dr. Frank N. Furter, Steve Martin auditioned to play Brad and Vincent Price was offered the role of the Criminologist but had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts.

The castle used in the movie is known as Oakley Court and was built in 1859. It was used in several Hammer horror films, such as "The House in Nightmare Park" (1973), "The Reptile" (1966), "The Brides of Dracula" (1960) and "Man in Black" (1949).

Peter Hinwood (Rocky Horror) couldn't sing so he lip-synched and the vocals were later dubbed by Australian singer, Trevor White.

This is Tim Curry's first feature film.

Quotes:

Riff Raff: With a bit of a mind flip...
Magenta: You're into a time slip...
Riff Raff: And nothing can ever be the same.
Magenta: You're spaced out on sensation. HAH!
Riff Raff: Like you're under sedation!
All: Let's do the time warp again!

Frank: Don't dream it, be it.

Columbia: I said hey listen to me. Stay sane inside insanity, but he locked the door and threw away the key.

*Note: This was written by an Associated Content contributor. Sign up (link) to start publishing your own movie articles.