It took me 40 years to see this movie!
If you’re as scared of Tim Curry as I am, this is the Halloween movie for you. I also thought it would be the perfect one to finish my Horror Movie-cation with, considering this year is the 40th anniversary!
The movie starts when two white bread folks leave a friend’s wedding together. But first they declare their undying love for one another.
They then drive into the woods, get lost, and wander into a nearby castle.
I can’t even count the number of gifs of people fainting I’ve used in the past 13 reviews.
The head of the house, Frank N. Furter, is a mad scientist who has created a creature for his sexual desires.
His name is Rocky. And yes, this did come out the year before Sylvester Stallone’s Best Picture winning boxing flick.
Mayhem, sex, and violence fills the rest of this loopy narrative. Wait, I totally forgot to mention it’s a musical!
The movie was released in London to decent audiences, but then failed to raise its numbers as it expanded. It even cancelled a Halloween premiere in New York City because of the lack of success of the previous screenings.
It did, however, begin a midnight screening circuit, where a cult following developed. The rest is history! Forty years later, it is considered one of the longest running films in history, making $138 million while regularly playing in theaters across the country. The cult status was probably achieved due to the interactive nature of the viewing experience, where the audience participates in callbacks that serve as their own additional script for the film.
Sadly, my first introduction to Rocky Horror was through Glee.
And then Perks of Being a Wallflower!
Not to mention, up until last night I had seen the film twice at actual screenings without ever having finished it. But now I have! It’s crazy to see how much the film has impacted our culture. It’s absurd, carnivalesque style is regularly referenced in LGBTQ (especially Bisexual) discourse, and its celebration of the abnormal is definitely a welcomed voice in the fringes of society. But it really is just a fun and crazy movie.
Rocky doesn’t care about your heteronormative bullshit.
And, not surprisingly, Fox has decided to remake The Rocky Horror Picture Show as a two-hour TV special, helmed by Kenny Ortega (of High School Musical fame). Laverne Cox has been cast as Frank N. Furter.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see if this lives up to the original!
And thus concludes my 13 Film Horror Movie-cation! It’s been a real treat to immerse myself in the exciting world of horror cinema this month, and now I’m definitely ready for Halloween!
No comments:
Post a Comment