Review by Stuart O'Connor
Stars Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell,
Jonathan Adams, Peter Hinwood, Meatloaf, Charles Gray | Written by Richard O'Brien & Jim Sharman
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £19.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 100 minutes | Directed by Jim Sharman
Prepare to be taken on a strange journey... Newly-engaged nerds Brad (Bostwick) and Janet (Sarandon) take refuge at the castle of mad scientist Dr Frank N Furter (Curry, a transvestite from the planet Transsexual, in the galaxy Transylvania) during a rainstorm and get caught up in all sorts of sexually depraved goings on. Oh, and a touch of murder and cannibalism, just for fun.
Where do I start to descibe just what a magnificent movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show is? If you've never seen this utter delight (and why ever not?) then give yourself over to absolute pleasure. And even if you've seen it dozens of times, isn't it worth one more go round with Frank's favourite obsession? Especially as it's now making its way to Blu-ray for the first time to celebrate its 35th anniversary.
Based on the stage play written by Richard O'Brien (who playes Riff raff in the film), The Rocky Horror Picture Show was a box-office flop when released in 1975. But it gained a cult following on the midnight movie circuit, where audiences dress up as the characters and actively participate in the film, and is considered to be the longest-running theatrical release in film history. It's a bizarre rock-n-roll/horror/sci-fi/B-movie/comedy/sex romp with an insane plot and some absolutely wonderful songs. Best known of those is Time Warp, but for me Science Fiction, There's a Light (Over at The Frankenstein Place), Damnit Janet, Sweet Transvestite, Hot Patootie and Touch-A Touch-A Touch-A Touch Me knock it into a cocked hat. The film starts strongly, but sags a little in the second half and ends on quite a down note (which I love – it's a real kick in the gut: "And crawling on the planet's face, some insects, called the human race. Lost in time, and lost in space ... and meaning).
Curry, as the cross-dressing Frank, absolutely steals the whole shebang, but Bostwick and Sarandon are lovably sweet, innocent and goofy (for a brief time, anyway) as Brad and Janet. And it's even got Meatloaf in it – how cool is that? I've seen this film more than 50 times (and the live stage show about a dozen; I even know the lyrics for several of the songs off by heart) and it never gets old. In the immortal words of queen bitch Frank himself: A mental mind fuck can be nice.
EXTRAS ★★★?? There's a cornucopia of extra stuff on the disc. Kicking off, we have an audio commentary with Richard O'Brien and Patricia Quinn; an alternative opening, in black and white (the colour kicks in at Time Warp); The Midnight Experience, which consists of four in-feature components: The Late Night Double Feature Picture-in-Picture Show (a live "shadowcast" performance with Rocky Horror Show cast members from around the globe), Trivia Track (little-known facts about the film that pop up while you watch), Vintage Callback Track (taken from the 1983 Rocky Horror Picture Show Audience Par-tic-i-pation album), and Prop Box (recreates the in-cinema audience-participation feel with objests to "throw" at the screen during the film); A Rocky-oke Sing It Special Feature! (a karaoke singalong, with words on the screen, to the songs Science Fiction/Double Feature, Dammit Janet, Over At The Frankenstein Place, Time Warp, Sweet Transvestite, Sword of Damocles, I Can make You a Man, Hot Patootie, Touch-A Touch-A Touch Me, Eddie, Wise Up Janet Weiss, Rose Tint My World/Floor Show, Fanfare/Don't Dream It, Wild & Untamed thing, I'm Going Home, Superheroes); a two-part, one-hour featurette on The Search For The 3th Anniversary Shadowcast ; the three-minute featurette Mick Rock (A Photographer); Mick Rock's Picture Show (A Gallery); A Few From The Vault (Deleted Musical Scenes, Outtakes, Alternate Credit Ending, Misprint Ending, Rocky Horror Double Feature Video Show, form 1995, Beacon Theatre, New York City 10th Anniversary celebration, Pressbook Gallery, Poster gallery, two theatrical trailers). Yep, pretty awesome stuff indeed.