The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Rating: 4/5
Starring: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O’Brien, Patricia Quinn and Little Nell.
Director: Jim Sharman
Year: 1975
I know that you’re thinking this is a weird choice of film to review however on Halloween my better half and I were presented with the opportunity to see it in the cinema as a special event. This has got me thinking that it would be a great film to review and one of my personal favourites. I first seen this film when I was around 14 years old and it was on late one night on BBC2. Fellow pupils in my class at school had spoken about it a lot and out of curiosity I decided to give it a go. If I am totally honest, the first time I seen it I was totally shocked and didn’t like it. It was also my first experience of seeing a man dressed up as a woman and was quite scared by it to be honest!
The film opens with a pair of red lips singing to the opening song ‘Science Fiction: Double Feature’. The opening scene is at a wedding and we are immediately introduced a young couple attending the wedding. Brad Majors (played by Barry Bostwick) is the best man at the wedding and his girlfriend Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon) is the maid of honour. As the bride throws the bouquet, Janet is there to catch it and this prompts Brad to propose to Janet right outside the church and so they decide to tell their good news to Dr Everett Scott, an old high school teacher of the couple. There is also a criminologist on hand to tell us the story of what exactly happened to Brad and Janet and what strange adventures they encountered on their journey.
It is a cold, dark and wet night and Brad and Janet are on their way to see Dr Scott however they are stopped short when their tyre blows. The couple see a castle back down the road and decide to seek shelter where they can use a phone to call someone to help them fix the car and be on their way. It appears that this is no ordinary castle and it is in fact house to aliens from the planet Transylvania who are having a party for their ‘master’. They soon realise that there is no escape and soon they become hostage in the castle where strange events unfold.
There are so many memorable moments throughout this film that are sheer genius – Frank n Furter bringing his creation to life, the bedroom scene involving three main characters, the conversation around the dinner table and of course the floor show. Tim Curry is absolutely fantastic in his role as Frank n Furter and is definitely the film’s main star. My other two favourite characters are Riff Raff and Magenta and the relationship that is observed between the two of them. It has a good storyline where you have to guess what exactly the relationship is between them and is it more than a brother-sister relation? The ending leaves you reeling and wanting to find out exactly what happened to Brad and Janet and how will they ever recover from such events?
This is definitely one of my favourite films of all time and my favourite musical. I have seen the live theatre version, which is just as good as the film. The songs are absolutely fantastic and well written by Richard O’Brien. This is a cult classic that will remain in the hearts of millions throughout the world.
Good Points: The music score is fantastic and you really can’t help but sing along! Tim Curry’s performance as Frank n Furter is outstanding as if the acting from Richard O’Brien and Patricia Quinn.
Bad points: It’s not that I don’t like the ending it’s that I think that it could be better. After Riff Raff and Magenta blast the castle into outer space and Janet, Brad and Dr Scott are left crawling on the planet’s face I was thinking that they could have maybe expanded on it.
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