The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

“Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Rocky Horror Picture Show cult is the extent to which it evokes and weirdly resurrects, as if in a haunted house, a form of cinema as community that once flourished in the U.S., when Hollywood was still in its heyday. At that time, going to the cinema was automatically a social event, a night at the movies, even a collective form of self-expression — a moment when one felt proud rather than embarrassed to be sitting next to other people in the dark.” — Jonathan Rosenbaum, Sight & Sound

SYNOPSIS

Equal parts glam-rock musical, gothic horror spoof, and midnight-movie phenomenon, Richard O’Brien and Jim Sharman’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show has spent five decades seducing audiences to abandon inhibition in favor of pure, joyous spectacle. When wholesome newlyweds Brad (Barry Bostwick) and Janet (Susan Sarandon) seek refuge in the castle of the flamboyant Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), they stumble into a delirious world of mad science, sexual liberation, and irresistible musical excess. Featuring unforgettable songs, outrageous costumes, and Curry’s legendary star-making performance, The Rocky Horror Picture Show transcended its initial box-office failure to become the longest-running theatrical release in cinema history. Don your fishnets, practice your callbacks, and let’s do the Time Warp again.