The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) Movie Discussion

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing pretty well. Sorry for my absence over the last two weeks. I got a cold at Comiccon that popped up two days after I posted last here on the blog, and then last week I had a medical appointment. I'm back today though, and I wanted to write about my experience watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show for the first time last night. This isn't a review per se. I'm just gonna talk about the movie and my experience watching it. Let's get into it!

The Rocky Horror Picture Show was first released in North America on September 26th, 1975. So I guess, I'm talking about this movie only three days before its 50th Anniversary. One of the reasons I think that this movie didn't do well when it first came out is because of the era it came out in. Critics at the time said that Tim Curry seemed to be having the most fun when filming the movie and you could see it on screen. Which is true as that's one of the things I noticed when watching the movie last night.

The cast is really good, and Tim Curry was amazing in the role. Barry Bostwick, who I know as Mayor Randall Winston in the 1998 sitcom, Spin City, kind of surprised me because anything I've ever seen him in, which isn't a whole lot, he usually steals the show. Not this time. In fact, his character, whose name is Brad, barely does anything, which places the focus solely on Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Curry) and his fellow alien beings. Which was refreshing even from the kinds of aliens I'm used to seeing in Star Trek and Star Wars.

I'd never seen this movie before last night. I'd heard of it, but had never seen it. I actually had the chance to see it in either 2004 or 2005 when my high school's Student Council organized a Rocky Horror Picture Show Night. However my parents couldn't give me a ride to the school for the viewing, and none of my friends could drive yet, so I wasn't able to go. That was probably the first time I'd heard of the movie. 

Naturally, it was mentioned on The VHS Club Podcast last week during their episode on cult classics. Not realizing that I had access to it via Disney+, I didn't really think anything of it. But, after dinner last night I went on Disney+ to see if Empire Records was on there so that, maybe, I could do another virtual movie night with Katie (and Nat this time) from The VHS Club, like she and I did with Clueless earlier this year. It is, so yay. However, having watched Katie and Nat's episode on cult classics last week, when I saw that Empire Records was on there, I went back to the search function, and typed in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" thinking that there was no way it could be on there, not knowing that it was released by 20th Century Fox, which Disney owns now. Sure enough, it popped up and that's when I decided that that would be the movie I would watch for last night.

With it being a movie that came out pre-internet, and it being a cult classic, I was able to escape knowing anything about the movie throughout the course of my life. So, I had no idea what to expect when I put on the movie last night. Aside from Tim Curry being in it, it being a musical, and it being based on a stage show, I didn't know a thing about the movie before watching it. Even Katie and Nat kept things really vague when they talked about the movie on the show last week, since it wasn't the focus of the episode. So I was surprised throughout the movie, which was fun.

At this point in my life, I've seen more movies (and shows) that Tim Curry is in than I have movies (and shows) that he isn't in. But seeing him in his film debut was a real treat, because I've enjoyed him in everything I've seen him in, including Home Alone 2. I loved Richard O'Brien, the originator of the stage show the movie is based on, as Riff Raff as well. 

I don't really know if I can pick one favourite song from the movie. However the two songs I enjoyed the most were "The Time Warp" and "Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me". The beats were just really good on those two songs. 

I'm never going to a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, as it would be too overwhelming for me, but I will definitely watch the movie again in the future. I had so much fun watching it last night and I was so nervous going into it because it's such an iconic movie. It was fun and if you've never seen it before, I highly recommend watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show on streaming, on DVD or, if you really feel you can manage it, one of the midnight showings.

I think that's going to be it for me for today. I'll be back soon for another blog post at some point. Don't know when yet though. Until then have a great rest of your day and I will talk to you all later. Take care.