The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Moving on from the riotous cult stage show which was born in a small studio theatre in the early 70s, this movie version is a well-cast, outrageous romp showcasing the absurdity and sci-fi obsession of Richard O'Brien's inventive musical.

The small cast - the wonderful Tim Curry as Frank 'n Furter (the sweet transvestite from transsexual Transylvania'); Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon as the odd science students Brad and Janet; Patricia Quinn as Magenta ('a domestic'); Little Nell as Columbia ('a groupie'), Jonathan Adams as Dr Scott; Meat Loaf as Eddie; Richard O'Brien himself as the handyman Riff Raff; Peter Hinwood as the muscle man Rocky, created by Frank in a spoof on Frankenstein; and Charles Gray having a great time as the Criminologist - are all really good, and the songs are terrific, from the madness of 'The Timewarp' and 'Sweet Transvestite', to the ethereal 'There's a Light' and 'I'm Going Home', by way of the rocky 'Whatever Happened To Saturday Night?' and the film-reference heavy 'Science Fiction Double Feature'.

Great, great fun and the floor show sequence in particular, showcasing Frank's obsession with Fay Wray and the RKO cheapies, is exceptional, with its statues in basques and its huge swimming pool. Trash, yes, but classy trash, and most enjoyable.

A time(warp)less classic!

As a film, it could be better, but it's funny and bizarre enough for us to see it at least once in our lives.

This is one of those films that everyone should see at least once in their life. It's a pretty good comedy musical where satire meets nonsense intensely, in a film adaptation of an English play that had been successful at the time. I don't know much about the stage version, I don't even know if there are any concrete differences, but I can say that the film gives us exactly what it promises.

The story told is probably the film's biggest weakness: anyone who likes logic and a story with some consistent structure will be disappointed with this purposefully disjointed, sloppy and surrealistic script, where an innocent and foolish engaged couple ends up lost in a storm and ends up in a gothic mansion. There lives the bizarre Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a kind of mad scientist who is proudly gay, transvestite and from “Transsexual Transylvania”, presumably another planet or dimension. He has just created a man for his sexual pleasure and is celebrating this effusively with other strange characters, such as his enslaved servants.

From the moment the couple enters the mansion and meets its owner and his guests, the film stops and starts to hiccup a lot: the director had no good ideas to present from then on and limited himself to recreating the play in a cinematic environment. Obviously, the film has an intense sexual energy that challenges us to awaken our sexuality, to explore our bodies, pleasure and sexual identity. Sexual maturity, sexual identity and homosexuality are strong themes that underlie the script and fit well into the era in which the film appeared (remember, the Sexual Revolution was still leaving its marks at this time). Furthermore, the Counterculture was experiencing an intense moment at the time and made its aesthetic and visual contribution, which was very noticeable in the sets and costumes.

The film has some anthology-worthy scenes,...

I'm afraid to say that seeing this very recently on the big screen without an huge degree of audience participation showed the film up rather poorly for what is has has now become - tame! Barry Bostwick ("Brad") and new wife Susan Sarandon ("Janet") find themselves stranded in the kooky manor house of "Dr. Frank N. Furter" (the excellent Tim Curry) just as he is about to unveil his newest invention - the epitome of sexual perfection; every person's wet dream... "Rocky Horror" (Peter Hinwood). It doesn't take long for the corrupting influences to dazzle our naive newlyweds, and soon just about nothing is off limits. The superbly written, catchy songs are the stuff of movie legend, as it the marvellously camp contribution from Richard O'Brien ("Riff Raff") but 45 years on, the innuendo-ridden script and gender-bending routines have lost almost all of their punch. As a cinema experience without good company, loads of noise, fishnets and red wine - it's all just a bit flat now.