Why is the Rocky Horror Picture Show a Classic Halloween Movie?

Every year, Halloween rolls around and people get excited for trick-or-treating, Halloween parties, scary movies and . . . The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Okay, not everybody gets excited for The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It is about as distasteful and in your face as you can get. It has a horrible plot, bad (I mean, really bad) costumes, horrible musical numbers and some extremely racy content. It is not exactly a family holiday film . . . for most of us. The question is, how could a movie with an honest review like that above be so popular for so long (it was released in 1975)? The answer is because we love crap. Seriously, we do.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show Music

The music in this delightfully horrible Halloween flick is the real draw. It is not good in a good way. It is awesome in a bad way. What's even better, fans make it worse. While Susan Sarandon is on screen singing her heart out as Janet to the love of her life, Brad, fans who watch the film or performances of it shout obscenities at her. Okay, I did not say it was in good taste. I mean, the best song in the movie is a song sung by Tim Curry about him being a "sweet transvestite from Transsexual Transylvania-ha-ha." Oh, did I mention Meatloaf? He shows up for a great musical number, only to become dinner. Yes, meatloaf was for dinner in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I cannot believe I almost forgot to mention the Time Warp. You thought Thriller was fun Halloween dancing. Ha!

Sexual Preference in The Rocky Horror Picture Show

I know many people are sensitive on the subject of sexual preference. I am not and neither are the makers of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Brad and Janet are the lead characters, at first and they are about as stuffy as they come. Then, they get lost and wind up in a big scary house that is owned by a mad scientist transsexual alien (played by a lingerie-clad Tim Curry). The mad scientist is trying to create the perfect man (a body builder type in a golden Speedo). There is a hint of incest, a hint of lesbianism, blatant homosexuality and tons of fun, if you are into that kind of thing.

The Fans of The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Okay, the whole movie is silly, distasteful fun, for some of us. That is great, but that did not keep The Rocky Horror Picture Show going for all this time. What kept The Rocky Horror Picture Show going was the insane dedication of the fans. These crazies (I love you guys) go to live performances year after year. They dress like characters from the movie, throw rice, shout obscenities, call first-timers "virgins" and just have a good time all-around. The fans are what have made this lowbrow (comedy?) movie into a lasting hit.

Sure, some of you are bound to hate this film. Some of you will never even bother to find out if you hate this film. Either way, it will continue to do well. It will be the Halloween flick for goofballs, gays, lesbians, fun-lovers and fans of Tim Curry's red lipstick for years to come.