The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Concept and development

Richard O'Brien was living as an unemployed actor in London during the early 1970s. He wrote most of The Rocky Horror Show during one winter just to occupy himself.^[10][11] Since his youth, O'Brien had loved science fiction and B horror movies. He wanted to combine elements of the unintentional humour of B horror movies, portentous dialogue of schlock-horror, Steve Reeves muscle flicks, and fifties rock and roll into his musical.^[12] O'Brien conceived and wrote the play set against the backdrop of the glam era that had manifested itself in British popular culture in the 1970s.^[13] Allowing his concept to come into being, O'Brien states "glam rock allowed me to be myself more".^[14]

O'Brien showed a portion of the unfinished script to Australian director Jim Sharman, who decided to direct it at the small experimental space Upstairs at the Royal Court Theatre in Sloane Square, Chelsea, London, which was used as a project space for new work.^[10] O'Brien had appeared briefly in a stage production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar, directed by Sharman, and the two also worked together in Sam Shepard's The Unseen Hand. Sharman would bring in production designer Brian Thomson.^[15] The original creative team was then rounded out by costume designer Sue Blane, musical director Richard Hartley, and stage producer Michael White, who was brought in to produce. As the musical went into rehearsal, the working title, They Came from Denton High, was changed just before previews at the suggestion of Sharman to The Rocky Horror Show.^[10][16]

Having premiered in the small 60-seat Royal Court Theatre, it quickly moved to larger venues in London, transferring to the 230-seat Chelsea Classic Cinema on King's Road on 14 August 1973, before finding a quasi-permanent home at the 500-seat King's Road Theatre from 3 November that year, running for six years.^[17] The musical made its U.S. debut in Los Angeles in 1974 before playing in New York City as well as other cities.^[15] Producer and Ode Records owner Lou Adler attended the London production in the winter of 1973, escorted by friend Britt Ekland. He immediately decided to purchase the U.S. theatrical rights. His production would be staged at his Roxy Theatre in L.A.^[18] In 1975, The Rocky Horror Show premiered on Broadway at the 1,000-seat Belasco Theatre.^[19]

Filming and locations

Set in the fictional town of Denton, the film was shot at Bray Studios and Oakley Court, a country house near Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, and at Elstree Studios^[20] for post-production,^[21] from 21 October to 19 December 1974. Oakley Court, built in 1857 in the Victorian Gothic style, is known for a number of Hammer films.^[22][23] Much of the location shooting took place there, although at the time the manor was not in good condition.^[24] Most of the cast were from the original London stage production, including Tim Curry, who had decided that Dr Frank N. Furter should speak like the Queen of the United Kingdom, extravagantly posh.^[14] Fox insisted on casting the two characters of Brad and Janet with American actors, Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon.^[15] Filming took place during autumn, which made conditions worse. During filming, Sarandon fell ill with pneumonia.^[12] Filming of the laboratory scene and the title character's creation occurred on 30 October 1974.^[25]

The film is both a parody and tribute to many of the science fiction and horror movies from the 1930s up to the 1970s.^[10] The film production retains many aspects from the stage version, such as production design and music, but adds new scenes not featured in the original stage play.^[15] The film's plot, setting, and style echo those of the Hammer horror films, which had their own instantly recognisable style (just as Universal Studios' horror films did).^[26] The originally proposed opening sequence was to contain clips of various films mentioned in the lyrics, as well as the first few sequences shot in black and white, but this was deemed too expensive and scrapped.^[15]

Costumes, make-up, and props

In the stage productions, actors generally did their own make-up; however, for the film, the producers chose Pierre La Roche, who had previously been a make-up artist for Mick Jagger and David Bowie, to redesign the make-up for each character.^[27] Production stills were taken by rock photographer Mick Rock, who has published a number of books from his work.^[28] In Rocky Horror: From Concept to Cult, designer Sue Blane discusses the Rocky Horror costumes' influence on punk music style, opining "[It was a] big part of the build-up [to punk]." She states that ripped fishnet stockings, glitter, and coloured hair were directly attributable to Rocky Horror.^[10]

Some of the costumes from the film had been originally used in the stage production. Props and set pieces were reused from old Hammer Horror productions and others. The tank and dummy used for Rocky's birth originally appeared in The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958). These references to earlier productions, in addition to cutting costs, enhanced the cult status of the film.^[29]

Costume designer Sue Blane was not keen on working for the film, until she became aware that Curry, an old friend, was committed to the project. Curry and Blane had worked together in Glasgow's Citizens Theatre in a production of The Maids, for which Curry had worn a woman's corset. Blane arranged for the theatre to loan her the corset from the other production for Rocky Horror.^[30] Blane admits that she did not conduct research for her designing, had never seen a science fiction film, and is acutely aware that her costumes for Brad and Janet may have been generalisations.

When I designed Rocky, I never looked at any science fiction movies or comic books. One just automatically knows what spacesuits look like, the same way one intuitively knows how Americans dress. I had never been to the United States, but I had this fixed idea of how people looked there. Americans wore polyester so their clothes wouldn't crease, and their trousers were a bit too short. Since they're very keen on sports, white socks and white T-shirts played an integral part in their wardrobe. Of course, since doing Rocky I have been to the United States and admit it was a bit of a generalization, but my ideas worked perfectly for Brad and Janet.^[30]

The budget for the film was US$1,600,000, far more than the stage production budget, but having to double up on costumes for the film production was expensive. For filming, corsets for the finale had to be doubled for the pool scene, with one version drying while the other was worn on set. While many of the costumes are exact replicas from the stage productions, other costumes were new to filming, such as Columbia's gold sequined swallow-tail coat and top hat and Magenta's maid's uniform.^[30]

Blane was amazed by the recreation and understanding of her designs by fans.^[30] When she first heard that people were dressing up, she thought it would be tacky, but was surprised to see the depth to which the fans went to recreate her designs. Rocky Horror fan Mina Credeur, who designs costumes and performed as Columbia for Houston's performance group, states that "the best part is when everyone leaves with a big smile on their face," noting that there's "such a kitschiness and campiness that it seems to be winking at you."^[31] The film still plays at many theatre locations and Rocky Horror costumes are often made for Halloween, although many require much time and effort to make.^[32]

Title sequence

The film starts with the screen fading to black and oversized, disembodied female lips appear overdubbed with a male voice,^[29][33] establishing the theme of androgyny to be repeated as the film unfolds.^[34] The opening scene and song, "Science Fiction/Double Feature", consists of the lips of Patricia Quinn (who appears in the film later as the character Magenta and as 'Trixie the Usherette' in the original London production, where she also sings the song) but has the vocals of actor and Rocky Horror creator, Richard O'Brien (who appears as Magenta's brother Riff Raff). The lyrics refer to science fiction and horror films of the past and list several film titles from the 1930s to the 1960s, including The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Flash Gordon (1936), The Invisible Man (1933), King Kong (1933), It Came from Outer Space (1953), Doctor X (1932), Forbidden Planet (1956), Tarantula (1955), The Day of the Triffids (1962), Curse of the Demon (1957), and When Worlds Collide (1951).^[10]

Home media

A Super 8 version of selected scenes of the film was made available.^[51] In 1983, Ode Records released The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Audience Par-Tic-I-Pation Album, recorded at the 8th Street Playhouse. The recording consisted of the film's audio and the standardised call-backs from the audience.^[52]

A home video release was made available in 1987 in the UK.^[53] In the US, the film (including documentary footage and extras) was released on VHS on 8 November 1990, retailing for $89.95.^[39]

The film was released on DVD on 23 October 2000 for the film's 25th anniversary.^[54] This one is a THX certified two-disc set that features the original theatrical version and an extended version.^[55] A 35th anniversary edition Blu-ray was released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in the US on 19 October 2010. The disc includes a newly created 7.1 surround sound mix, the original theatrical mono sound mix, and a 4K/2K image transfer from the original camera negative. In addition, new content featuring karaoke and a fan performance were included.^[56] A 45th anniversary edition Blu-ray was released in September 2020 by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment under the 20th Century Home Entertainment label.^[57]

In October 2021, the film was added to Disney+ on the Star hub for users in locations such as the UK, Ireland and Canada.^[58]

Origins

The Rocky Horror Picture Show helped shape conditions of cult film's transition from art-house to exploitation style.^[68] The film developed a cult following in 1976 at the Waverly Theatre in New York, which developed into a standardised ritual. According to J. Hoberman, author of Midnight Movies, it was after five months into the film's midnight run when lines began to be shouted by the audience. Louis Farese Jr., a normally quiet teacher, upon seeing the character Janet place a newspaper over her head to protect herself from rain, yelled, "Buy an umbrella, you cheap bitch." Originally, Louis and other Rocky Horror pioneers, including Amy Lazarus, Theresa Krakauskas, and Bill O'Brian, did this to entertain each other, each week trying to come up with something new to make each other laugh. This quickly caught on with other theatre-goers and thus began this self-proclaimed "counter point dialogue", which became standard practice and was repeated nearly verbatim at each screening.^[11] Performance groups became a staple at Rocky Horror screenings due in part to the prominent New York City fan cast.^[41] The New York City cast was originally run by former schoolteacher and stand-up comic Sal Piro and his friend Dori Hartley, the latter of whom portrayed Dr. Frank N. Furter and was one of several performers, including Will Kohler as Brad Majors, Nora Poses as Janet, and Lilias Piro as Magenta, in a flexible rotating cast.^[69] The performances of the audience were scripted and actively discouraged improvising, being conformist in a similar way to the repressed characters.^[70]

On Halloween in 1976, people attended in costume and talked back to the screen, and by mid-1978, Rocky Horror was playing in over 50 locations on Fridays and Saturdays at midnight. Newsletters were published by local performance groups, and fans gathered for Rocky Horror conventions.^[42] By the end of 1979, there were twice-weekly showings at over 230 theatres.^[42] The National Fan Club was established in 1977 and later merged with the International Fan Club. The fan publication The Transylvanian printed a number of issues, and a semi-regular poster magazine was published as well as an official magazine.^[68]

Performance groups in the Los Angeles area originated at the Fox Theatre in 1977, where Michael Wolfson won a look-alike contest as Frank N. Furter, and won another at the Tiffany Theater on Sunset Boulevard. Wolfson's group eventually performed in all of the L.A. area theatres screening Rocky Horror, including the Balboa Theater in Balboa, The Cove at Hermosa Beach, and The Sands in Glendale. He was invited to perform at the Sombrero Playhouse in Phoenix, Arizona.^{[citation needed]} At the Tiffany Theatre, the audience performance cast had the theatre's full cooperation; the local performers entered early and without charge. The fan playing Frank for this theatre was a transgender performer, D. Garret Gafford, who was out of work in 1978 and trying to raise the funds for a gender reassignment while spending the weekends performing at the Tiffany.^[41][71] Presently, the live action rendition of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is available for attendance in various locations in Los Angeles, typically Saturday nights at midnight.^{[citation needed]}

By 1978, Rocky Horror had moved from an earlier San Francisco location to the Strand Theatre located near the Tenderloin on Market Street.^[72] The performance group there, Double Feature/Celluloid Jam, was the first to act out and perform almost the entire film, unlike the New York cast at that time. The Strand cast was put together from former members of an early Berkeley group, disbanded due to less than enthusiastic management. Frank N. Furter was portrayed by Marni Scofidio, who, in 1979, attracted many of the older performers from Berkeley. Other members included Mishell Erickson as Columbia, her twin sister Denise Erickson as Magenta, Kathy Dolan as Janet, and Linda "Lou" Woods as Riff Raff. The Strand group performed at two large science fiction conventions in Los Angeles and San Francisco, were offered a spot at The Mabuhay, a local punk club, and performed for children's television of Argentina.^[41]

Legacy

Annual Rocky Horror conventions are held in varying locations, lasting days. Tucson, Arizona has been host a number of times, including 1999 with "El Fishnet Fiesta", and "Queens of the Desert" held in 2006.^[73] Vera Dika wrote that, to the fans, Rocky Horror is ritualistic and comparable to a religious event, with a compulsive, repeated cycle of going home and coming back to see the film each weekend.^[11] The audience call-backs are similar to responses in church during a mass.^[11] Many theatre troupes exist across the United States that produce shadow-cast performances where the actors play each part in the film in full costume, with props, as the movie plays on the big screen in a movie theatre.^[74][75] O'Brien's Orchestra, formerly known as the Queerios (based in Austin, Texas), is the longest running shadow-cast in Texas.^[76]

The film has a global following and remains popular.^[77] Subcultures such as Rocky Horror have also found a place on the Internet.^[78] Audience participation scripts for many cities are available for download from the internet.^[29] The internet has a number of Rocky Horror fan-run websites with various quizzes and information, specializing in different content, allowing fans to participate at a unique level.^[34]

LGBT influence

Members of the LGBT community composed a large part of the Rocky Horror cult following: they identified with the embrace of sexual liberation and androgyny, and attended show after show, slowly forming a community. Judith A. Peraino compares Brad and Janet's initiation into Frank N. Furter's world to the self-discovery of "queer identity", and to the traditional initiation of "virgins" in the shadow screenings.^[79] June Thomas describes the midnight screenings in Newark, Delaware as a "very queer scene", which increased visibility for the LGBTQ community: "The folks standing in line outside the State in fishnets and makeup every Saturday night undoubtedly widened the sphere of possibilities for gender expression on Main Street."^[80][81]

The Rocky Horror Picture Show remains a cultural phenomenon in both the U.S. and U.K.^[82][83] Cult film participants are often people on the fringe of society who find connection and community at the screenings,^[84] although the film attracts fans of differing backgrounds all over the world.^[85]

"Bisexuality, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Me", by Elizabeth Reba Weise, is part of the publication, Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out (1991), an anthology edited by Loraine Hutchins and Lani Kaʻahumanu^[86][87] about the history of the modern bisexual rights movement that is one of the first publications of bisexual literature.^[88]

Cultural influence

The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been featured in a number of other feature films and television series over the years. Episodes of The Simpsons, The Venture Bros.,Cold Case, Tuca & Bertie, The Boondocks, Glee, The Drew Carey Show, That '70s Show, Deutschland 86, and American Dad! spotlight Rocky Horror, as do films such as Vice Squad (1982), Halloween II (2009), and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012).^[39] The 1980 film Fame featured the audience reciting their callback lines to the screen and dancing the Time Warp,^[89] the dance from the stage show and film, which has become a novelty dance at parties.^[90] Director Rob Zombie cited Rocky Horror as a major influence on his film House of 1000 Corpses (2003),^[91] while the film's fan culture of cosplaying and audience participation during screenings laid the groundwork for the similarly influential cult following surrounding Tommy Wiseau's The Room (2003).^[92][93] Rocky Horror also inspired John McPhail's zombie musical Anna and the Apocalypse (2018).^[94]