12 Movies Challenge: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

This piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the actors currently on strike, the films being covered here wouldn't exist.

by Julian Spivey
In December I saw something called the “12 Movies Challenge” on Facebook. The premise was that you would have 12 months to watch 12 movies recommended by 12 friends. I don’t often participate in such social media challenges but being a movie buff I felt this might be an interesting way to get out of my comfort zone a bit when it comes to watching movies.

My Facebook buds gave me some films that I’ve been meaning to watch and I pretty much front-loaded those on the list – though not explicitly stated in the challenge rules I am opting to watch one film a month.

A Best Picture winner like “Out of Africa” is an obvious choice for me to get to at some point – that point is now going to be March of this year. But there are certain movies I’m not really looking forward to all that much – I’m looking at you “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken,” my August selection. Then there’s the acclaimed stuff that isn’t really up my alley like the anime feature “Spirited Away,” which I’ve scheduled for November. That will truly be me getting out of my comfort zone.
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Here are the 12 movies recommended to me and the months I’ve assigned myself to watch them:
 
January: “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” (1983)
February: “Till” (2022)
March: “Out of Africa” (1985)
April: “Legally Blonde” (2001)
May: “The Devil Wears Prada” (2006)
June: “The Birdcage” (1996)
July: “Morning Glory” (2010)
August: “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” (1966)
September: “Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006)
October: “Rocky Horror Picture Show” (1975)
November: “Spirited Away” (2001)
December: “The Last Laugh” (1924) 

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Photo: 20th Century Fox

Well, that was weird. Not necessarily in a bad way, though. I had never seen “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” I never felt the need to do so, as it’s considered a cult film and in my mind that’s usually synonymous with “not so great” or “flat-out bad.” But “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” was my assigned movie for October from my friend Ashtynn.
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I was pretty interested in ‘Rocky Horror’ from the start with the opening sequence of those iconic lips (belonging to Patricia Quinn with Richard O’Brien providing the voice) singing “Science Fiction/Double Feature,” which I immediately thought, “hey, this is a pretty good song for a supposed campy cult film.” The song basically sets the entire film up as a loving tribute to science fiction and horror B movies from the ‘30s throughout the ‘60s and it’s a perfect way to do so.

One of the movie's most notable performances, and one of the few I’d heard before despite not seeing the movie, “Dammit Janet,” comes right at the beginning before we even really get into what is the very loose plot of the film. It introduces us to the newly engaged Brad (Barry Bostwick) and Janet (Susan Sarandon). It’s a fun and catchy number, but it didn’t take me very long to realize why Bostwick isn’t a name that went on to mean a whole lot in the film, unlike Sarandon, who wasn’t far away from stardom. In a movie filled with kooky, likely intentionally campy performances he stood out as particularly rough – if he intended it that way I apologize, but it was rough.

Brad and Janet get caught out with a flat tire on a stormy night and end up in a castle right out of “Frankenstein,” hence the title of the next song “Over at the Frankenstein Place,” which leads into what must be the film’s most famous number – “The Time Warp,” which I’m sure you’re well acquainted with even if you’ve never seen ‘Rocky Horror.’ It’s an inescapable part of nearly every Halloween party playlist.

The songs at the beginning of the movie really click off at a rapid pace, one leading right into another and “The Time Warp” goes right into the entrance of Tim Curry’s Dr. Frank-N-Furter with “Sweet Transvestite,” one of the more risqué numbers in the movie, but oh so sweet of a performance by Curry. Once he enters the film there’s never another second of it that he’s not the main focus and star of this show – sorry Brad and Janet – but it’s hard to beat Curry doing his best David Bowie glam rock.

We got a nice early rock & roll tribute with Eddie’s performance, by real-rocker Meatloaf two years before he became one of the biggest rock stars in the world with 1977’s Bat Out of Hell, of “Hot Patootie – Bless My Soul.” Eddie was apparently Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s previous masterpiece before Rocky Horror, played by the Greek God-looking Peter Hinwood, and, well, wasn’t as much to Frank’s liking.

And here’s where the movie started to trail off for me. ‘Rocky Horror’ is really only fun when the musical of it all is in full force and, maybe it’s just me, but all the fun songs are front-loaded in the first 45 minutes to an hour of the film and things start to get a bit boring from that point – about the time Dr. Everett Scott, played by Jonathan Adams, shows up and we realize Dr. Frank-N-Furter and his servants Riff Raff (O’Brien) and Magenta (Quinn) are aliens from planet Transsexual.

I know ‘Rocky Horror,’ directed by Jim Sharman and co-written by Sharman and O’Brien based on O’Brien’s stage play, was an independent film distributed by 20th Century Fox when it came out in 1975 and has gained in popularity through its cult status over the years, but I can’t help but wonder what the reaction to it must’ve been when released. I’m sure the “freaks” (meant lovingly) must’ve enjoyed the hell out of it, while the squares must’ve been freaked out of their gourds by it – mostly by the sexual liberation and queer themes and not necessarily the scares (which aren’t really there).

I found ‘Rocky Horror’ to be weird in a mostly delightful way. I wonder how many viewed it that way in the mid-to-late ‘70s or even later when coming upon it at one of those much-talked-about midnight showings where theater goings sang and acted along with it?