The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Red = Spoilers 

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a musical about a young couple who are driving when their car breaks down and they have to walk to this old castle to see if they have a phone. But they’re in for the night of their lives as the castle belongs to the transvestite Dr. Frank N. Furter! And he’s making a man in his laboratory! That would probably seem a lot more fiendish if you could hear me cackling as you read it, but you can only do so much with the printed word, you know… The Rocky Horror Picture Show has long been a cult classic with movie fans because of the culture that’s been created around it. It gets played late nights in movie theaters and people dress up as characters from the movie and there’s even a “script” to follow while you’re watching along with everyone else.  

What’s it about? The movie starts with a pair of disembodied lips, singing about science fiction movies, creating an overall feel of androgyny for the movie. Then we move on to a wedding, where a young couple is getting married. When the bride throws the bouquet, it is caught by Janet Weiss, the girlfriend of Brad Majors. The newlywed groom says, “you might be next” and heads off on his honeymoon. The next thing you know, Brad is breaking into song, engaging to Janet. Next, on the way to their high school science teacher’s house, their tire blows out and they have to walk back to a nearby castle to look for a phone. When they knock on the door, they find out that the owner of the house, Dr. Frank N. Furter, is having a party that night. Dr. Frank N. Furter comes down from his laboratory and introduces himself. He’s scantily clad, to say the least. After his introduction song he invites Brad and Janet upstairs into his laboratory. Everybody follows him up there and he begins to start the process of bringing to life a man that he created. He succeeds and Rocky pops out of the tank of water wrapped in bandages. Soon after, a motorcyclist breaks out of the freezer and sings about how much he loves rock and roll until Frank N. Furter kills him. Brad and Janet are both shown to separate rooms where Frank N. Furter visits them both and seduces each of them. Meanwhile, Riff Raff and Magenta torment Rocky, who escapes the bridal suite that he and Frank N. Furter were staying in and hides in the tank that he was born in. Janet finds him hiding in the tank and ends up seducing him as Magenta and Columbia watch on bedroom monitors. Dr. Scott, who is now a UFO investigator for the government, comes to the castle in search of his nephew, Eddie. Eddie sent Dr. Scott a letter saying aliens were here and they had an evil plan. Everyone discovers Janet and Rocky together in the tank, which enrages Frank. He then calls everyone to dinner which everyone soon finds out is made from Eddie. In the ensuing chaos, Janet runs into Rocky’s arms, which infuriates Frank even further, causing him to chase Janet out of the dining hall and up the stairs towards his lab where he turns her into a nude statue. Brad, Rocky, Columbia and Dr. Scott are also turned into statues. They’re all taken to a stage and painted up and put in corsets where they are unfrozen one by one to put on a stage show. Eventually Riff Raff and Magenta come out and reveal that they’re taking over and going back to their home planet without Frank. They then kill Frank and Columbia, and try to kill Rocky, but he’s laser proof.  

What’s good? The songs are great. It’s a great soundtrack. There’s no denying that. It’s certainly an entertaining movie. Anybody I know who’s seen it has seen it multiple times. It’s not something you only see once and be done with it. It’s one of those movies that you’re probably gonna see a whole bunch of times in your lifetime.  

What’s bad? Well, it was made in 1975, so the cameras are kind of grainy. The special effects are cheesy at best. And you know exactly how to do the Time Warp… 

The actors? Tim Curry will always be one of the greatest actors of all time. From clowns, to pirates, to devils, there’s nothing he can’t do. Everyone else here did a fantastic job as well. This movie wouldn’t have been such a success for the last 40-something years if they hadn’t.  

The effects? Hardly anything noteworthy. Mostly practical effects. Some blood and makeup here and there. The laser effects at the end and the smoke machine during the stage show, but nothing to write home about.  

You’re not supposed to throw rice. You’re not supposed to throw rice anymore. It makes birds’ stomachs explode. And that’s just mean to birds… 

Enter at your own risk. There’s a big sign that says “Enter At Your Own Risk”. I mean, it seems pretty risky to me. But that’s just my opinion… 

Why’d they strip them first? Why’d all those people come up and take Brad and Janet’s clothes off before they took them up to the laboratory? And why did they just let them? Why didn’t they stop them when they started unbuckling their pants and stuff? 

They just look like dyes. Those valves he was opening just looked like a bunch of multi-colored dyes that he was emptying into that tank. I don’t know what the “spark of life” is, but it seems like it’s just a mixture of six or seven different colored dyes… 

Rocky’s tights are tight. Rocky’s tights are really tight. Like, he could probably go up a size or two. I don’t know if that’s just Frank’s prerogative or not. Probably… 

Why’s Eddie in that freezer? What’s Eddie doing in that freezer, anyway? How’d he wake up? Was there an alarm clock? He just kinda busted out of there for no reason. And on a bike, no less. If Frank did take part of his brain, how’d he wake up again? He’s only got half a brain now… 

Frank N. Furter murders Eddie. Frank straight up kills Eddie with an ice pick. He wasn’t even like “whoops” about it or anything. He just flat out murdered him with that ice pick.  

Janet gave up quickly. Janet gave in rather quickly to Frank’s seduction techniques. It didn’t take more than a try or two to convince her to have sex with him and cheat on Brad. She was like “No, no, no… okay.” 

Is he flogging Riff Raff? Was Frank literally flogging Riff Raff in the elevator? He was literally whipping him against the doorway as the elevator was coming to the top floor.  

What’s that stage set up for? What’s that stage for, anyway? Is there normally a floor show? Are there other floor shows? Probably. This seems like a rather eccentric place where lots of singing and dancing occurs. There’s probably floor shows all the time.  

Is Rocky laser proof? Did he mean to make Rocky laser proof, or did that just kind of happen? Because he didn’t know Rocky was laser proof until after he was already dead. So, he wouldn’t really know it worked.  

So, yeah. Go and see The Rocky Horror Picture Show if you haven’t already. Because it’s one of those movies that you’re supposed to see in your lifetime. And aside from that, it really is a great movie with an awesome soundtrack. And as always, keep on watching, with a smile on your face…