VERSUS THE SCARECROW EPISODE 2: ATTACK OF THE CULTS: I decided to challenge myself and really open the doors of my film knowledge and take on “The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide”. It’s 808 pages of movies and movie reviews from some of the most knowledgeable movie people you don’t know. It’s a book put together by a staff that praises, and destroys, some of our favorites and not so favorites.
Each episode, I’m going to tackle three films from three different categories. Two films will be films I’ve never seen before and one will be one I’ve seen before or own. For the new films, well, new to me, I’m going to review them like a typical FTS review using the TOAST Rating system. But, for the films I’ve seen, I’m going give a quick paragraph or two about why I like or don’t like the film. We’ll try to include the poster and trailer for each film.
First I tackled The Harder They Come, then the Mel Gibson career breakthrough film Mad Max, and now here are my thoughts on The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) Directed by Jim Sharman. Written by: Jim Sharman and Richard O’Brien. Starring: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick.
I discovered this film when I was young in middle school. Clearly, I had no idea what to think. I watched men dress like women, people turn into naked statues, fantastic musical numbers, and people get dismembered with an axe. I had ZERO clue what to think. All I knew is it made me feel weird inside, but I liked it. I had grown to learn and memorize nearly every song and it became a bit of a secret. I would find myself, going through middle school and into high school whistling parts of songs to see if anybody would pick up on it. It was like a little code. Later in high school, I’d get a lot of “Oh man have you heard of this film?” or “you won’t believe what I saw” and I was too overcome with joy to revel in the fact that I had experienced it WAY before they did.
It wasn’t until I spoke with my aunt who told me of “Midnite Movies”. Her and her friends would go, dressed as characters from the film, and see Rocky Horror at midnight at whatever local theater would play it. They’d sing, dance, throw things at the screen, shout witty dialogue back, and EVERYONE who went would do it! I was then on a quest to find a theater that had such a ritual. I found one in New Orleans. I was able to make it out to one showing and I was not disappointed. Though I did not dress up, many others did. They sang and dance like natives at a sacrifice and others chanted along witty comebacks like being inducted into the oddest of cults. You might watch this at home and not enjoy it, but seeing it in all of its cult glory, makes this film a masterpiece not to be missed.
Read the first part of the episode here, where I review The Harder They Come. Also, check out part 2 of this episode with my review of on Mad Max.