The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Several of you wrote in to suggest I review The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I was not planning to do this, because it’s really not a Frankenstein movie per se (indeed, the name Frankenstein is never uttered). However, one of you pointed out that Mad Monster Party doesn’t include the name Frankenstein in the title, and I reviewed that. Plus, the lead character in Rocky Horror is Frank-N-Furter, which obviously is a reference to Frankenstein. So I relent.

For the one of two of you who aren’t already aware, the Rocky Horror Picture Show is a comedic take on the B-grade monster movies of the 1950s and 1960s. It also is shot through with sexual references and themes. Still, it’s pretty tame by today’s standards, and it’s not nearly as scandalously sexual as, say, Andy Warhol’s Flesh for Frankenstein (which I’m definitely not reviewing for this series). Oh, and Rocky Horror is also a surprisingly good musical. Now, there’s been a ton of reviews and commentary on this movie, so I’m not going to attempt to compete with them. Instead, let’s just consider this as a Frankenstein film…

The Plot: Brad and Janet, two just-engaged and prudish young lovers, are driving home from a wedding when their car breaks down. They seek help at a roadside castle (as one does). There, they encounter Dr. Frank-N-Furter, who’s a transvestite, bisexual, mad scientist dressed in a black corset, fishnet stockings, and such.

Frank-N-Furter is campily played by Tim Curry in his first movie role…a role for which he will forever be associated. Anyway, FNF (I’m tired of spelling out Frank-N-Furter) has created a man (“with blond hair and a tan,” who is “good for relieving my tension.” If you get the drift.) FNF has transplanted into this creature half a brain from Eddie, a 1950’s greaser/biker played by Meat Loaf. OK, so I guess there’s a least a dim glimmer of the Frankenstein theme here…

FNF had kidnapped Eddie, and his uncle Everett Scott comes to the castle looking for him. After a bunch of sexual shenanigans and some great songs, Eddie is dead, the new creation (named Rocky) is in love with Janet, and FNF, fed up with everyone, turns them into statues. He reanimates them for a final dance sequence, when suddenly his supposedly faithful handyman shows up with a laser gun and announces he’s beaming the castle and its contents back to the planet of Transexual in the galaxy of Transylvania.

The handyman kills FNF, Rocky picks up his body and carries it to the top of an RKO Radio Pictures prop on the stage, and the handyman kills him too. The whole castle is then transported to Transylvania, and somehow Brad and Janet manage to escape.

The Monster: Frank-N-Furter’s creature, Rocky, is a buff blond stud in gold hotpants. The only attempt they made to link him to the basic Frankenstein story is they hid his belly button….because he’s not born of woman.

Rocky was played by Peter Hinwood, who was a model with no significant acting experience. (In this movie he didn’t even sing his own songs, which were dubbed.) After Rocky Horror, Hinwood essentially retired from show biz and became an antiques dealer.

The Atmosphere: The look and feel of this movie is at the center of its popularity. (It certainly isn’t the plot!) The sets are cartoonish monster movie sets with a castle and a laboratory and a few skeletons. Notably, much of the movie was filmed on location at a British country estate named Oakley Court–the site of a number of Hammer productions! Many of the props used in the movie had been used in Hammer films, as well. According to the infallible Wikipedia, “The tank and dummy used for Rocky’s birth originally appeared in The Revenge of Frankenstein.”

The film includes references to a number of old movies, both generic and specific. The characters are outlandishly dressed (or undressed, as the case may be). And the whole thing is suffused with a collection of surprisingly catchy pop-rock tunes with witty lyrics, set to choreographed dancing. Yes, it’s an unlikely setup, and the critics initially hated the movie, but it became a cult classic on the midnight movie circuit, and audience members would come time and again to speak the lines along with the movie, dress up as their favorite characters, and otherwise become involved in proto-cosplay. Oh, and the movie has turned out to be the longest-running theatrical release in movie history.

General Comments: I admit that I watched this movie a couple of times in the theater in the 1970s. And I confess to finding it entertaining. I still think it’s well done, unique, and entertaining, and it has a catchy soundtrack that’s far better than most musicals of the era. Admittedly, its story falls flat. Not only is the plot paper thin, but it really has very little to do with the Frankenstein tale other than there is a mad scientist who creates a man. So, don’t think you can watch this as a way to fake your book report on Mary Shelley’s book. Still, as a visual and auditory experience, it’s worthy.

Tomorrow, we continue our look at the less serious Frankenstein efforts, with Frankenstein 90. I’m watching a DVD from the library (as I can’t find it online). But here are a few scenes to give you a flavor of it.