Review of The Rocky Horror Picture Show

An uproarious, enthralling and erratic low-brow performance art amalgamation of vividly-coloured punk and kitsch, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" is Jim Sharman's wildly entertaining musical filled with delightfully wacky characters and melodious music. Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the sweet transvestite from Transylvania, played to extravagantly eccentric perfection by Tim Curry, captures the inscrutable queerness of the proceedings, embodying the inveterate theatricality and zaniness of the ensemble with boundless verve. Combining allusions to musclemen, rock'n'roll, science-fiction and B-movie horror tropes, the film's florid visuals, outlandish style and deliberately economical-looking sets are attributable to its derivative nature, perhaps owing to the fact that the props and set pieces were reused from actual Hammer productions. Developed entirely from its parody elements, the film's wispy plotting and unreservedly stage show adaptation script give way to an embracing of sexual liberation and madcap psychedelia, with the garish visuals, effervescent set pieces and snappy songs placed in the foreground for maximum audience involvement. Ensnaring two restrained, wholesome personifications of middle America within the confines of a castle owned by Frank-N-Furter, who is served by a hunchbacked handyman and a Gothic maid, provide the foundation for organised, episodic chaos; the film pays tribute to recognisable principals of theatre, cinema and music as well as fashions, yet the costumes, props and even make-up went on to become influential in their own right, affecting styles, looks and crazes for years to come. From the portentous dialogue, unintentional humour, and innumerable inspirations mirror not only the glam era, but also the stilted, hilarious repressiveness and cultural callbacks to the 1950s. Exposure to such unabashed androgyny and visible sexual fluidity naturally leads to the release of the straight-laced hero and heroine's inner camp, Frank's wily seduction of them both and the animation of his musclebound creation Rocky, hence the title, cement its status as a pansexual romp that prefigured its own fandom in the Transylvanians. Raucous, riotous and downright bizarre, this iconic 1970s musical launched a cult following and deservedly so; the celebratory sincerity, reckless abandon and abundance of quirks and details encourages ritualistic viewing, let alone endless soundtrack replays. Once the Time Warp kicks off, just try and stop yourself from dancing and singing along. Oddly compelling and mesmeric, you'll be hard-pressed to find many musicals as spirited and fun as this.