Rocky Horror Picture Show stands tall as the longest-running movie in history, still having showings 50 years after its initial release.
This year, I went to the Buskirk-Chumley Theater in Bloomington to be a part of the Rocky Horror experience, as this cult classic provides more engagement than a simple movie. Every Halloween season for the past 50 years, since the film’s release on Sept. 29, 1975, the movie has been shown in theaters across the nation. The movie has remained iconic for a number of reasons, one of which is the movie-going experience.
It is standard practice in Rocky Horror showings that prop bags are either given out or sold to each guest before the film begins. These prop bags are filled with things relating to the film that moviegoers are supposed to use when a specific point in the film is reached. For example, it is raining at the beginning of the movie, so people use water guns to spritz the air. Glow sticks are handed out during the song “There’s a Light.” These prop bags are an integral part of the Rocky Horror experience, and part of why it has remained so popular.
The moviegoing experience also includes a practice that I’ve found unique to this cult classic called “callbacks.” This concept encourages audience participation in the experience; they are responses to lines or actions the characters do in the film or simply name-calling characters. It is not expected of someone to know all of the callbacks when seeing the film, but it is fun to have a few to blurt out throughout the film, as it is, at its heart, an interactive experience.
The experience of the film is not the only reason why it is so well regarded as a cult classic. The plot of Rocky Horror centers around a newly-engaged couple, Brad and Janet, who get stranded on a rainy road after their engagement and end up at the mansion of mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter, played by the legendary Tim Curry. There, they encounter a barrage of strange experiences and timeless songs. There isn’t a word to describe how utterly weird this film is, even in today’s day and age. You can only imagine how it was received when it initially came out. It is camp in its highest form. Even with all of the film’s eccentricities, everything is well blended, even if you cannot exactly tell what is going on at some points. Aside from that, the characters are great, the songs are addictive and timeless, and you truly cannot take your eyes away from the screen.
One gripe I have with this film is the pacing and how they introduce new subjects without any sort of foreword or afterword, which is somewhat confusing. It is a movie that sometimes takes a few watches to actually understand, aside from the surface-level plot, as you may catch yourself wondering how the characters ended up in the situation that they did if you look away from the screen for a minute. It was very impressive and progressive for its time, and we are 50 years past the initial release.
You can see Rocky Horror in theaters every year in October in a number of different establishments, or simply watch it at home and memorize some callbacks in time for the next Rocky Horror season (rockyhorror.com). UIndy Theatre also puts on its very own shadow-cast production of Rocky Horror once a year.
