Film Review
No other film embodies the notion of a cult phenomenon more vigorously
than
The Rocky Horror Picture Show,
a bawdy, totally unhinged concoction of Gothic horror and seventies
rock 'n' roll that still manages to draw audiences with a penchant for
fishnet stockings and glam makeup. Thirty-five years on, it
continues to play at several theatres around the world, a record which
no other film in history has matched. This cinematic
one-off has such a dedicated fan following that it has
practically acquired the status of a religion, one that exists to
celebrate individuality and rejoice in unbridled camp
outlandishness.
The concept started out as a modest musical stage play,
The Rocky Horror Show, written by
actor-musician Richard O'Brien and first performed at the Royal Court
Theatre in London in 1973. The play's success in the UK led
producer Lou Adler to stage it in the US with members of the original
London cast, including the star Tim Curry. With the
Rocky Horror
play proving to be a reliable money-spinner, director Jim Sharman and producer Lou Adler
sold the idea of a film adaptation to 20th Century Fox, although the
studio had some reservations about the project and the budget was set
at a modest 1.4 million dollars. Fox's concerns were borne out
when the film bombed on its initial release, largely as a result of
some highly unfavourable reviews which painted the film as deeply
offensive. An initial box office disaster was subsequently
reversed when the US distributor took the brave decision to release it
for midnight showings, even catering for audience participation during the
screening. A few years after its disastrous premiere,
The Rocky Horror Picture Show had
become an unprecedented cult phenomenon, and it remains so to this day.
It is perhaps not too difficult to see why the film has acquired such a
dedicated fan following. Gothic horror, science-fiction and rock
'n' roll - the film's three central ingredients - all have cult appeal,
so put them altogether, along with a comicbook plot and a dash of seedy
(but mild) eroticism, and it is no surprise that it attracts fans like
pins to a magnet. Anyone who expects this to be a great piece of
cinema will be disappointed, however. Structurally, the film is a
mess, unevenly paced and climaxing with a totally muddled ending.
The dance sequences are generally poorly staged and the
musical numbers are, with one or two very notable exceptions, painfully banal. There
are two things that save
the film and make it worth watching: its extravagant design and Tim
Curry's tour de force performance as the transvestite from transsexual
Transylvania.
The design of
The Rocky Horror
Picture Show was heavily influenced by B-movie sci-fi and
horror films, and part of the fun of the film is spotting all the
references to these classic movies, which range from Murnau's
Nosferatu
to the original
Flash Gordon
via
Bride of Frankenstein.
There is even a small homage to Jean-Luc Godard's
Bande
à part, if you care to look for it. The castle
exterior and some of its interiors were shot at Oakley Court in Berkshire, the
location of many a Hammer horror film, something which contributes that
essential aura of Gothic decay and eeriness to the proceedings.
Watch closely and you should be able to recognise the props from those
old Hammer movies.
Then there is Tim Curry. Arrayed in black laced-up corset, garter
straps and the obligatory fishnet stockings, Curry is a one-man fashion
statement and brings so much style and energy to the film that it is
exhausting just to watch him. There is no word in the
English language that can describe Curry's performance.
'Camp' doesn't even scratch the surface. He burns the
celluloid like Greta Garbo's Goth transvestite superbitch alter ego and somehow manages
to make the artistic mess he is thrown into cohere into a satisfying
glam-tinctured whole. Yes, there are some spirited turns from Richard O'Brien as
the creepy servant Riff Raff and Meat Loaf as brain-donor Eddie, but
this is inevitably Tim Curry's show - and what a way to make your film
debut.
Like all highly spiced dishes,
The
Rocky Horror Picture Show is not a film that will appeal to
every taste. A kitsch spectacle of camp excess that luridly
exhorts the pleasures of the flesh (including cannibalism) is unlikely
to appeal to the mainstream, but for devotees of the weird and
wonderful its eccentric charms are virtually irresistible. Its
central theme of "Don't dream it, be it" is one that will always strike
a chord with those who refuse to have their lives governed by rules and
convention, whilst devotees of Gothic horror and seventies rock will
love it pretty well by default. So, as Frank N. Furter and his
ghoulish entourage return to Earth for another fun-filled fright fest
and give themselves over to absolute pleasure for our delight, put on
that mascara, slip into those fishnet accoutrements and let's do the
timewarp again...
© James Travers 2010
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
One wet November evening, Brad Majors and his fiancée Janet
Weiss find themselves stranded in the middle of nowhere when their car
breaks down. They come across an ancient castle where they hope
they can telephone for help. Invited into the castle by a
ghoulish manservant named Riff Raff, Brad and Janet are confronted with
the bizarre spectacle of a Transylvanian Convention, which comprises a
collection of strange aliens dancing to rock and roll numbers.
The castle's owner, an outrageously dressed transvestite named Dr Frank
N. Furter, then puts in an appearance and lures his guests into his
scary pink-tiled laboratory. Here, Brad and Janet watch in amazement as Frank
brings to life his creation, a perfectly formed specimen of Aryan
beauty named Rocky Horror. Frank's triumph is interrupted by the
arrival of Eddie, the delivery boy who donated part of his brain to
Rocky. On discovering that Eddie has been messing around with
Frank's helpmate Columbia, the mad scientist takes an axe to him,
before dragging Rocky off to his bridal suite. Transformed into
stone statues by Frank in a fit of pique, Brad and Janet's adventure
would appear to be over. But no, the evening has only just begun
and there are plenty of other surprises in store...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.