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The Guardian
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Everybody was fondling underwater!': an oral history of the Rocky Horror Picture Show at 50
The Rocky Horror Picture Show was released in cinemas in late 1975 with little fanfare, but the provocative musical, with its campy parody of sci-fi and horror B-movies, fabulous costumes and rollicking songs, dug its glittering heels in and refused to let go for the next 50 years. The film was an adaptation of the hit musical The Rocky Horror Show, created by Richard O'Brien when he was an unemployed actor. The story of Dr Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), an alien, transvestite scientist, decked out like a bewitching glam rock god and hellbent on seducing everyone around him, galvanised audiences into participating in a way that had never been seen before. As its popularity grew, audiences began to take an active role in screenings – dressing up, dancing, singing along and adding their own lines of dialogue. Screenings also became safe spaces for LGBTQ+ fans, drawn to the film's unabashed celebration of queerness, sexual liberation and gender fluidity. It remains the longest-running theatrical release in film history and still plays in cinemas today. We look back with the cast and crew to find out how the film became such a cult phenomenon. The year was 1974. Actor Richard O'Brien decided to adapt The Rocky Horror Show for the big screen, working with the show's director, Jim Sharman. They kept most of the original cast but the studio, 20th Century Fox, insisted that the lead couple, Brad and Janet, were recast with Hollywood actors. Richard O'Brien, co-screenwriter, composer and Riff Raff (a 'handyman')I was approached by Mick Jagger's people to buy the rights because he wanted to play Frank. I spoke to Jim, and he went: 'No, don't do that.' I said: 'Why not?' He said: 'Well, that means we won't be able to make it.' It had never occurred to me that we'd be allowed to. By the time we got to Los Angeles, Lou Adler was the producer, and he made the overture to 20th Century Fox. Suddenly we were allowed not only to make the movie, but all be in it. The kids were allowed into the sweet shop. Jim Sharman, director and co-screenwriterI was given two options. One was a reasonable budget with rock stars and the other one was a tiny budget keeping the original team together. I said: 'Great, let's do that.' I thought it was fine to have Americans playing the Americans, and it was great to have Barry [Bostwick] and Susan [Sarandon], who were, at that time, not particularly known. Barry Bostwick, Brad (a 'hero', who stumbles across Frank-N-Furter's castle one stormy night along with his girlfriend Janet, played by Sarandon) It was interesting because [Susan and I replacing the original Brad and Janet] was a parallel to the characters coming into a new, strange world. Susan and I stepped into a very vibrant, glam, rocky environment in London. We were fish out of water; naive, wide-eyed and curious. Nell Campbell, Columbia (a tap-dancing 'groupie' and Frank-N-Furter's former lover) For [Bostwick and Sarandon] it was definitely a little difficult stepping into, basically, a theatre company because we'd all worked together for at least six months. Patricia Quinn, Magenta (Riff Raff's sister and Frank-N-Furter's 'domestic')Sharman said: 'Let's go around to [associate producer] John Goldstone's house, and take a look at the sets and the designs.' So I went and saw this pink laboratory set. I saw Transylvanians [Frank-N-Furter's alien companions] on motorbikes. I saw my dinner dress sketched by Sue Blane, the amazing costume designer, and I said: 'Oh, I'm doing this.' Tim Curry, who had cut his teeth in the stage musical as Frank-N-Furter, made his film debut as the sex-crazed, corset-wearing scientist. Bostwick I was enamoured with Tim's acting chops. To watch him balance the meanness and darkness with the charm and seduction of that character, few people could have done that. O'Brien When we did it on stage, [Frank-N-Furter] was a bit more German expressionistic theatre, a lot more gothic and ghoulish, and the makeup was rougher. But when we got into the studio, Frank became very glamorous, and it was rather lovely. Production started in October 1974, on a budget of $1.4m, for nearly two months – on location in Bray Studios and Oakley Court, a country house in Berkshire, which were both used for Hammer horror films. Sharman We shot at the Hammer Horror studios as a bit of a homage. But that proved to be a little bit impractical. I made many impractical decisions. It was freezing, the middle of winter, the conditions were far from perfect. Bostwick It was a miserable shoot. I was always wet, I was in my underwear, and every 20 minutes, the prop guy was spraying me down with ice-cold water, because they apparently didn't know how to heat up water in England at the time. So, Susan got pneumonia, and everybody had colds. I remember cursing a lot before scenes when the guy had to come by. At one point, I took the spray and started spraying him, just so he got a taste. Campbell It was hilariously unglamorous … Mercifully, I had a fantastic silk padded dressing gown which got me through the shoot because we were half naked a lot of the time. We would have to hike to the bathrooms. And we were all being paid a very small amount. Quinn Everything was a bit of a surprise on this film. Nothing was explained. [The dining table scene didn't have] anything to do with the play. Tim Curry was told to pull the tablecloth off the table in one fell swoop. Underneath was Meat Loaf [who played Eddie, a motorcyclist murdered by Frank-N-Furter]. I thought: 'Oh my God,' because nobody told us. I got hysterics. Richard said to me: 'Shut up.' It was hilarious, and it's all in the film. There was no time to make mistakes. Bostwick The orgy in the swimming pool … We ended up on the stage, wet, in high heels, trying to do the high kicks. It took every bit of balance, energy and camaraderie to do that. Everybody was kissing and fondling underwater. And then when we got out, we went into a little warming booth. We had a cup of tea, and as we were leaving, it caught on fire. Everybody was afraid it was going to burn down the whole set, and we would be shut down. We got out just in time. They used an unusual technique to get the opening scene. Quinn Jim said: 'Have you ever seen Man Ray's Lips, the painting?' 'Never.' He said: 'We could have your lips miming to Science Fiction.' They [erased] my face completely and painted my lips. I started to do it but the lips kept going out of frame. The lighting guy said: 'You see that lamp, that's clamped in that clamp? Bring it down and clamp her head.' So they brought over [the clamp] and screwed in the top and the sides so I was clamped … The most famous lips in cinema history. The intense shoot meant that no one had time to socialise. O'Brien We were there first thing in the morning at six o'clock. You went home, straight to bed, to get up the next day. We didn't have time to party. Bostwick I don't remember having dinner with anybody. I think I got to know the makeup guy better than anybody else … I was experiencing London for the first time. I spent my time at flea markets if I had a day off. Quinn We were exhausted. I never even got to know Susan. Barry said to me once: 'You never liked me.' And I said: 'No, I didn't, because I thought you were Brad' – you know, that dull person. There was no time for chit-chat. Bostwick There was a lot of pot going around in the ranks of the Transylvanians. The film flopped on its release in August 1975 and was panned by critics. O'Brien We had our first viewing of the movie. We all left a little bit depressed. It seemed slow to me. It was a fast 90 minutes on stage. The film seemed more dreamlike, languid. I thought: 'God, people should have picked up their cues a bit quicker.' Campbell It was my big break, so the fact that it disappeared without a trace was very disappointing. Bostwick It never opened in New York. Then I found out later that it hadn't been a big hit when it opened in London. The film was rereleased in midnight screenings in April 1976, with word-of-mouth spreading during its run at New York's Waverly Theater (now the IFC Center). Fans started to yell out their own responses to lines during screenings, and 'shadow casts' dressed up as the characters and lip-synced their own performances in front of the screen. The film was embraced by the queer community, who found a sense of belonging in these immersive screenings. O'Brien I was at home one day, and someone said to me: 'Have you heard about your movie?' I said: 'Yes, opened and closed.' 'No, it's doing this midnight business.' That was a surprise. Sharman In a funny way, I felt it would find that audience. Quite irrationally, because there was no reason why it would. But I always felt that there was something special about it. Lou understood the potential and persuaded people at Fox, who had more or less washed their hands of it, to start playing it at late night [screenings]; and so it grew. Quinn When I was in South Africa, people said it was being banned for corrupting the youth. They said it had been banned in Germany for cannibalism. I thought: 'Wow, we're going to be a hit.' The first Magenta [fan] ever to dress as me became one of my closest friends. Bostwick It started out as a gay event … The audience were outcasts, in a way, from their own society. They found their family there. They found someplace to go and be seen. They were exploring who they were authentically in the world, and they were witnessing something in the film that they had never seen before; that there is an alternative way of being. Campbell In the beginning, there weren't that many things [they would call out to the screen]. Now they pretty much call out after every line. The original things were very witty and hilarious. But now – and I know that my fellow cast members agree – it's too much because you can hardly hear anything without them screaming out. Sharman People said: 'Are you horrified that your film is being used as wallpaper for a party?' I said: 'No, it's fantastic.' Sharman and O'Brien teamed up again for Shock Treatment, a loose follow-up to The Rocky Horror Picture Show released in 1981, which featured several of the same characters. O'Brien The first draft had Rocky (a creature created by Frank-N-Furter and played by Peter Hinwood in the original film) rising from the grave, pulling Frank's body from the rubble and dragging him back to Dr Scott (Jonathan Adams) to get him reanimated. The producers liked it. Jim said: 'No, we're not doing that.' Everything was reworked and Shock Treatment came up. It's a flawed piece. I'm not happy with it, truthfully. Sharman I felt Rocky Horror Picture Show was self-contained and resisted the idea of a sequel. Having moved on, I was also cautious about 'putting the band back together'. I was, however, keen to work with Richard again. We depicted an America enslaved by reality TV run by a megalomaniac. It didn't fly – maybe the satire seemed too dark and far-fetched for the time – though it has proved prophetic. The Rocky Horror Picture Show went on to gross more than $115m worldwide and is now the longest-running film release in cinema history. It continues to screen around the world. O'Brien I find it astonishing. People try forever to write something which has legs. It's like a musical that was written in a 13-year-old boy's bedroom … [LGBTQ+ fans] come and say that it was something that changed their lives. They found that they weren't alone, that somehow there was a place for them in the world. They weren't going to be laughed at, ridiculed. Bostwick I think that my kids, if they have children, will be able to take their children to it and say: 'That was your grandfather, and they used to call him 'asshole' [a common refrain called out by the audience during fan screenings] for his whole life. But he wasn't. He was a great dad. He was just associated with this iconic story.' I'm very proud of it, and I'm a champion for its worldviews. Campbell We're the only positive cult I can think of. The great joy has been what this film means to so many people. It is still difficult for a lot of people to come out as gay or cross-dressers or bisexual or trans. This 50-year-old film still brings people together because of the shadow casts. I've met so many people that have met their partners that way. Sometimes at a screening I will meet an entire family dressed up as the characters. It's just marvellous. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is screening at selected cinemas across the UK from 22 August
The Guardian
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Everybody was fondling underwater!': an oral history of the Rocky Horror Picture Show at 50
The Rocky Horror Picture Show was released in cinemas in late 1975 with little fanfare, but the provocative musical, with its campy parody of sci-fi and horror B-movies, fabulous costumes and rollicking songs, dug its glittering heels in and refused to let go for the next 50 years. The film was an adaptation of the hit musical The Rocky Horror Show, created by Richard O'Brien when he was an unemployed actor. The story of Dr Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), an alien, transvestite scientist, decked out like a bewitching glam rock god and hellbent on seducing everyone around him, galvanised audiences into participating in a way that had never been seen before. As its popularity grew, audiences began to take an active role in screenings – dressing up, dancing, singing along and adding their own lines of dialogue. Screenings also became safe spaces for LGBTQ+ fans, drawn to the film's unabashed celebration of queerness, sexual liberation and gender fluidity. It remains the longest-running theatrical release in film history and still plays in cinemas today. We look back with the cast and crew to find out how the film became such a cult phenomenon. The year was 1974. Actor Richard O'Brien decided to adapt The Rocky Horror Show for the big screen, working with the show's director, Jim Sharman. They kept most of the original cast but the studio, 20th Century Fox, insisted that the lead couple, Brad and Janet, were recast with Hollywood actors. Richard O'Brien, co-screenwriter, composer and Riff Raff (a 'handyman')I was approached by Mick Jagger's people to buy the rights because he wanted to play Frank. I spoke to Jim, and he went: 'No, don't do that.' I said: 'Why not?' He said: 'Well, that means we won't be able to make it.' It had never occurred to me that we'd be allowed to. By the time we got to Los Angeles, Lou Adler was the producer, and he made the overture to 20th Century Fox. Suddenly we were allowed not only to make the movie, but all be in it. The kids were allowed into the sweet shop. Jim Sharman, director and co-screenwriterI was given two options. One was a reasonable budget with rock stars and the other one was a tiny budget keeping the original team together. I said: 'Great, let's do that.' I thought it was fine to have Americans playing the Americans, and it was great to have Barry [Bostwick] and Susan [Sarandon], who were, at that time, not particularly known. Barry Bostwick, Brad (a 'hero', who stumbles across Frank-N-Furter's castle one stormy night along with his girlfriend Janet, played by Sarandon) It was interesting because [Susan and I replacing the original Brad and Janet] was a parallel to the characters coming into a new, strange world. Susan and I stepped into a very vibrant, glam, rocky environment in London. We were fish out of water; naive, wide-eyed and curious. Nell Campbell, Columbia (a tap-dancing 'groupie' and Frank-N-Furter's former lover) For [Bostwick and Sarandon] it was definitely a little difficult stepping into, basically, a theatre company because we'd all worked together for at least six months. Patricia Quinn, Magenta (Riff Raff's sister and Frank-N-Furter's 'domestic')Sharman said: 'Let's go around to [associate producer] John Goldstone's house, and take a look at the sets and the designs.' So I went and saw this pink laboratory set. I saw Transylvanians [Frank-N-Furter's alien companions] on motorbikes. I saw my dinner dress sketched by Sue Blane, the amazing costume designer, and I said: 'Oh, I'm doing this.' Tim Curry, who had cut his teeth in the stage musical as Frank-N-Furter, made his film debut as the sex-crazed, corset-wearing scientist. Bostwick I was enamoured with Tim's acting chops. To watch him balance the meanness and darkness with the charm and seduction of that character, few people could have done that. O'Brien When we did it on stage, [Frank-N-Furter] was a bit more German expressionistic theatre, a lot more gothic and ghoulish, and the makeup was rougher. But when we got into the studio, Frank became very glamorous, and it was rather lovely. Production started in October 1974, on a budget of $1.4m, for nearly two months – on location in Bray Studios and Oakley Court, a country house in Berkshire, which were both used for Hammer horror films. Sharman We shot at the Hammer Horror studios as a bit of a homage. But that proved to be a little bit impractical. I made many impractical decisions. It was freezing, the middle of winter, the conditions were far from perfect. Bostwick It was a miserable shoot. I was always wet, I was in my underwear, and every 20 minutes, the prop guy was spraying me down with ice-cold water, because they apparently didn't know how to heat up water in England at the time. So, Susan got pneumonia, and everybody had colds. I remember cursing a lot before scenes when the guy had to come by. At one point, I took the spray and started spraying him, just so he got a taste. Campbell It was hilariously unglamorous … Mercifully, I had a fantastic silk padded dressing gown which got me through the shoot because we were half naked a lot of the time. We would have to hike to the bathrooms. And we were all being paid a very small amount. Quinn Everything was a bit of a surprise on this film. Nothing was explained. [The dining table scene didn't have] anything to do with the play. Tim Curry was told to pull the tablecloth off the table in one fell swoop. Underneath was Meat Loaf [who played Eddie, a motorcyclist murdered by Frank-N-Furter]. I thought: 'Oh my God,' because nobody told us. I got hysterics. Richard said to me: 'Shut up.' It was hilarious, and it's all in the film. There was no time to make mistakes. Bostwick The orgy in the swimming pool … We ended up on the stage, wet, in high heels, trying to do the high kicks. It took every bit of balance, energy and camaraderie to do that. Everybody was kissing and fondling underwater. And then when we got out, we went into a little warming booth. We had a cup of tea, and as we were leaving, it caught on fire. Everybody was afraid it was going to burn down the whole set, and we would be shut down. We got out just in time. They used an unusual technique to get the opening scene. Quinn Jim said: 'Have you ever seen Man Ray's Lips, the painting?' 'Never.' He said: 'We could have your lips miming to Science Fiction.' They [erased] my face completely and painted my lips. I started to do it but the lips kept going out of frame. The lighting guy said: 'You see that lamp, that's clamped in that clamp? Bring it down and clamp her head.' So they brought over [the clamp] and screwed in the top and the sides so I was clamped … The most famous lips in cinema history. The intense shoot meant that no one had time to socialise. O'Brien We were there first thing in the morning at six o'clock. You went home, straight to bed, to get up the next day. We didn't have time to party. Bostwick I don't remember having dinner with anybody. I think I got to know the makeup guy better than anybody else … I was experiencing London for the first time. I spent my time at flea markets if I had a day off. Quinn We were exhausted. I never even got to know Susan. Barry said to me once: 'You never liked me.' And I said: 'No, I didn't, because I thought you were Brad' – you know, that dull person. There was no time for chit-chat. Bostwick There was a lot of pot going around in the ranks of the Transylvanians. The film flopped on its release in August 1975 and was panned by critics. O'Brien We had our first viewing of the movie. We all left a little bit depressed. It seemed slow to me. It was a fast 90 minutes on stage. The film seemed more dreamlike, languid. I thought: 'God, people should have picked up their cues a bit quicker.' Campbell It was my big break, so the fact that it disappeared without a trace was very disappointing. Bostwick It never opened in New York. Then I found out later that it hadn't been a big hit when it opened in London. The film was rereleased in midnight screenings in April 1976, with word-of-mouth spreading during its run at New York's Waverly Theater (now the IFC Center). Fans started to yell out their own responses to lines during screenings, and 'shadow casts' dressed up as the characters and lip-synced their own performances in front of the screen. The film was embraced by the queer community, who found a sense of belonging in these immersive screenings. O'Brien I was at home one day, and someone said to me: 'Have you heard about your movie?' I said: 'Yes, opened and closed.' 'No, it's doing this midnight business.' That was a surprise. Sharman In a funny way, I felt it would find that audience. Quite irrationally, because there was no reason why it would. But I always felt that there was something special about it. Lou understood the potential and persuaded people at Fox, who had more or less washed their hands of it, to start playing it at late night [screenings]; and so it grew. Quinn When I was in South Africa, people said it was being banned for corrupting the youth. They said it had been banned in Germany for cannibalism. I thought: 'Wow, we're going to be a hit.' The first Magenta [fan] ever to dress as me became one of my closest friends. Bostwick It started out as a gay event … The audience were outcasts, in a way, from their own society. They found their family there. They found someplace to go and be seen. They were exploring who they were authentically in the world, and they were witnessing something in the film that they had never seen before; that there is an alternative way of being. Campbell In the beginning, there weren't that many things [they would call out to the screen]. Now they pretty much call out after every line. The original things were very witty and hilarious. But now – and I know that my fellow cast members agree – it's too much because you can hardly hear anything without them screaming out. Sharman People said: 'Are you horrified that your film is being used as wallpaper for a party?' I said: 'No, it's fantastic.' Sharman and O'Brien teamed up again for Shock Treatment, a loose follow-up to The Rocky Horror Picture Show released in 1981, which featured several of the same characters. O'Brien The first draft had Rocky (a creature created by Frank-N-Furter and played by Peter Hinwood in the original film) rising from the grave, pulling Frank's body from the rubble and dragging him back to Dr Scott (Jonathan Adams) to get him reanimated. The producers liked it. Jim said: 'No, we're not doing that.' Everything was reworked and Shock Treatment came up. It's a flawed piece. I'm not happy with it, truthfully. Sharman I felt Rocky Horror Picture Show was self-contained and resisted the idea of a sequel. Having moved on, I was also cautious about 'putting the band back together'. I was, however, keen to work with Richard again. We depicted an America enslaved by reality TV run by a megalomaniac. It didn't fly – maybe the satire seemed too dark and far-fetched for the time – though it has proved prophetic. The Rocky Horror Picture Show went on to gross more than $115m worldwide and is now the longest-running film release in cinema history. It continues to screen around the world. O'Brien I find it astonishing. People try forever to write something which has legs. It's like a musical that was written in a 13-year-old boy's bedroom … [LGBTQ+ fans] come and say that it was something that changed their lives. They found that they weren't alone, that somehow there was a place for them in the world. They weren't going to be laughed at, ridiculed. Bostwick I think that my kids, if they have children, will be able to take their children to it and say: 'That was your grandfather, and they used to call him 'asshole' [a common refrain called out by the audience during fan screenings] for his whole life. But he wasn't. He was a great dad. He was just associated with this iconic story.' I'm very proud of it, and I'm a champion for its worldviews. Campbell We're the only positive cult I can think of. The great joy has been what this film means to so many people. It is still difficult for a lot of people to come out as gay or cross-dressers or bisexual or trans. This 50-year-old film still brings people together because of the shadow casts. I've met so many people that have met their partners that way. Sometimes at a screening I will meet an entire family dressed up as the characters. It's just marvellous. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is screening at selected cinemas across the UK from 22 August
Irish Times
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Linus O'Brien on The Rocky Horror Film Show: ‘Rocky has tangibly saved lives. It created a real sense of community'
In the larger pantheon of cult cinema, few titles have the staying power – or the fishnetted pizazz – of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. First staged in a tiny upstairs space – with 60 seats in total – at the Theatre Royal in London in 1973, the bizarro, brilliant and singalong musical The Rocky Horror Show somehow evolved into a theatrical warhorse and midnight movie juggernaut. Remarkably, Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror, a new documentary directed by Linus O'Brien, son of Richard O'Brien (who wrote the original stage show and starred as Riff Raff in the 1975 movie), is the first feature-length project to chronicle the musical's buoyant history. 'It's very strange,' says the director. 'A lot of people have commented on how weird it is that something like Rocky hasn't been given this kind of attention and on this scale before. I feel very privileged and lucky to be the one to do it, to be honest. I've known the story for so long. I've known my dad's personal journey. It was really a question of taking everything that I knew and making sure it got on camera.' READ MORE The Rocky Horror Picture Show follows a newly engaged couple, Brad and Janet (played by Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon), as they stumble upon a mysterious castle after their car breaks down. Inside, they meet Dr Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), a flamboyant, cross-dressing scientist, who unveils his latest creation: a muscular, artificially-made man named Rocky. As the night unfolds, the couple is drawn into Frank-N-Furter's riotous world of sexual liberation and showstopping musical numbers. 'You can put on your favourite album, pretty much anytime, and revisit it,' says O'Brien. 'That's another huge strength of Rocky. If the songs were only half as good as they are, we wouldn't be talking about it today. But the songs are as good as any other soundtrack that's ever been written. Obviously, I'm biased, but you can put it next to The Wizard of Oz and West Side Story, in my opinion.' Whereas many lavish, starry West End productions have floundered, Rocky Horror logged some 3,000 productions on its first run and has endured for over five decades, outlasting many other pop culture trends. No other musical can compete with Rocky's global fan clubs, nor the shadow casts that re-enact its every move in real time. O'Brien's new film brings together various fans, including Jack Black and Trixie Mattel, plus the original cast and creatives to recount the rollicking fall and rise of the scrappy, queer-favoured musical. We also encounter Tim Curry, whose outrageous turn as the intergalactic, polyamorous Frank-N-Furter is a huge part of its enduring cult appeal. I would consider Star Wars a cult. I would consider Harry Potter a cult. But Rocky stands out because it is one of the largest and definitely the first in many ways — Linus O'Brien Post Rocky Horror, Curry went on to have a Hollywood career in It, Legend, and Clue. Sadly, the beloved actor suffered a stroke in 2012. He uses a wheelchair and has required assistance with daily tasks ever since. Aside from voiceover work, Strange Journey marks Curry's first film appearance since 2010. 'It took about six months to get Tim Curry on board. Not because he was resistant – it was more a question of scheduling and timing,' O'Brien says. 'Everyone else was very accommodating. I have a lot of personal connections, which really helped. I obviously have a front-row seat to my dad's work, and I've heard all the stories over the years in different parts. So when it came to doing interviews, I could ask questions I kind of already knew the answers to, and still gain more insight.' [ Richard O'Brien: I don't know that we could make The Rocky Horror Show today Opens in new window ] The show's original cast – including Curry – brought the production to Los Angeles in 1974, where it lit up the stage at The Roxy. The film version followed shortly after, shot on a shoestring budget, while the show was gearing up for a Broadway debut. The Broadway production folded quickly after 45 performances and some unkind reviews. The film adaptation similarly flopped upon release in 1975. Audiences were confused by the unconventional mix of sci-fi, horror, camp and sexual themes. However, it found new life through midnight screenings, particularly in New York. Fans began dressing up as characters, shouting lines at the screen, and creating a unique interactive experience. The movie's mantra – Don't dream it, do it – resonated deeply with marginalised groups, including the LGBTQ+ community. The raucous late-night screenings at the Classic in Harold's Cross were a Dublin legend up to the cinema's closure (with, of course, a last outing for Rocky Horror) in 2003. One of the people featured in the documentary is Sean Waters, who was once a homeless runaway. 'He talks about how he was safe from 10 to four every Friday and Saturday night at screenings,' O'Brien says. 'His story speaks for thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands. It was a place people could go and be themselves before we even had the phrase 'safe space'.' O'Brien is still moved by what Rocky achieved. 'It's overwhelming sometimes,' he says. 'Rocky has tangibly saved lives. After our premiere at South by Southwest, a man came to the stage and said, 'If it wasn't for Rocky Horror, my wife wouldn't be alive.' Those moments stick with you. It's much deeper than just frivolous fun. Rocky created a real sense of community for people who've felt disenfranchised or marginalised, not just because of sexuality or gender, but because they never quite fit in.' Richard O'Brien in Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror The subject matter is close to home for the director, who movingly films his father's return to the New Zealand street where he spent his teenage years. Rather appropriately, the good people of Hamilton have erected a statue of Riff Raff in the town centre. It's a lovely scene that plays like a home movie. 'I've never known my life without Rocky Horror in it,' says O'Brien, who was less than a year old when his father's musical became the talk of London. 'It keeps popping in at different times, like at conventions or new stage productions, or anniversaries. It has just always been in the background for me. I have a real personal relationship to it over the years, and I'm continually very influenced and surprised by the relevance Rocky has today.' In some of the documentary's most teary scenes, O'Brien senior discusses his lifelong struggle with gender identity, describing himself as existing on a spectrum between male and female. He has stated he feels 70 per cent male and 30 per cent female and has used oestrogen to balance his hormones, finding it helped with his sense of self. 'My dad doesn't like to go too deep emotionally, because he's so sensitive. We both are. So when he opened up in the film, it came out in a natural, light way,' the younger O'Brien says. But Rocky is no longer simply his story. Richard O'Brien recalls an encounter with a fan who told him: 'It doesn't matter what you think about Rocky Horror any more, Richard. Because it's not yours. It belongs to us, not to you.' [ Rocky Horror Show review: I heard one person behind me complaining about the heckling Opens in new window ] You certainly can't argue with the numbers. To date, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has grossed more than $226 million against a modest $1.4 million budget. It's the longest-running theatrical release in history, continuously screening in cinemas for nearly 50 years, and viewed by more than 60 million people worldwide. That legacy continues. A Broadway revival in 2000 ran for over a year, and another is slated for 2026 at Studio 54. The stage show lands annually at Dublin's Bord Gáis Energy Theatre; movie screenings are still routine in Ireland and everywhere else. In an era of mass marketing and manufactured fanship, it's the real deal. 'There's still no demystifying that; it's still a strange, magic thing,' says O'Brien. 'Audiences make cults. There are other cults. I would consider Star Wars a cult. I would consider Lord of the Rings a cult. I would consider Harry Potter a cult. But Rocky stands out because it is one of the largest and definitely the first in many ways. It happened before nerd culture and Comic-Con made cults become mainstream. And to a large degree, the cult followings for Star Wars and Harry Potter are superficial.' His affection for the thing is touching. 'The fans love those worlds. But Rocky works on a much deeper level, in the sense that you meet a lot of people who want to live in that world.' Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror is at GAZE International LGBTQIA Film Festival on August 2nd
RNZ News
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Linus O'Brien his dad journey to create The Rocky Horror Show
This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions. It was the little musical that ended up with cult following. When the Rocky Horror Show opened in London in 1973, it bucked the trend of big-budget and technical productions like Jesus Christ Superstar and Hair . It was the brainchild of Richard O'Brien, the UK-born New Zealand-raised creative who wrote the stage show and played the character of Riff Raff. The show became a hit, and Richard wrote the screenplay when it was turned into the Rocky Horror Picture Show . Rocky 's transition from musical to movie, to 4am screenings with audience dress up and participation, has been captured by Richard's son Linus. It features interviews with key members of the production team and original cast, including Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick. It's called Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror and is screening as part of the DocEdge film festival . Linus and Richard join Kathryn to talk about the show's enduring legacy.
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The semicolon: a short pause that no one understands
One of the advantages of the semicolon is that almost nobody understands it (Marked decline in semicolons in English books, study suggests, 18 May). When I taught preparation classes for the TOEFL and IELTS English exams, I used to tell students that if they couldn't decide between a full stop and a comma while writing essays, they should use a semicolon because the person grading their essay probably wouldn't know if it was right FurnasLondon Much of the description 'an elderly, egotistical president cocooned from reality seeking re-election in 2024 despite significant concerns about his declining health and cognitive abilities' could apply to the other candidate (Original Sin: book on Biden's health decline reopens Democratic party's wounds, 18 May). I'd have gone with the one who wasn't a venal O'BrienHighbridge, Somerset Jennifer Henley's flatmate missed a trick (Letters, 18 May). Crushed crisps mixed with breadcrumbs and grated cheese is the best topping for fish in a cheesy sauce. Include some prawns and hard-boiled eggs with the fish and you have the perfect fish pie. Pat StevensonHolywell, Northumberland Won't get fooled again (The Who fire drummer Zak Starkey for second time in a month, 19 May).Pete DoreyBath Re the photo on page 17 of the print edition on 21 May, you should perhaps point out that laburnum is LuptonPrestwich, Greater Manchester Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
