Been playing again...so.click or I'll put Bonfire toffee in your hair!! Am trying to catch up with e...
Been playing again...so.click or I'll put Bonfire toffee in your hair!! Am trying to catch up with everyone so bear with me!! Kez x
Member since:02.12.2000
Reviews:81
Members who trust:40
AKA Kez’s Hints On How To Get The Full Theatre Experience In Your Living Room AKA What The Fuss Is All About AKA Just get on and rewrite the damned op please!! (Yep, am rewriting this my very first op here!! RIP Old Op, May You Rest In Tiny Little Pieces!!)
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
“It was great when it all began, I was a regular Frankie fan”
Transvestites? Aliens? French maids? Tap-dancing freakazoids? All-American kids on night out they would remember for a very long time? Sound like any other movie to you? It could only be Richard O'Brien's masterpiece, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". Nothing about this movie should work, it's a tribute to all 1950's B-sci-fi flicks, it's tacky, it's funny, oh yes, and it’s a musical! It's also one of the best films ever made! I first discovered this fabulously warped (or should that be Time Warped?!!) movie at the tender age of fourteen when I sneakily stayed up all night to watch it on the telly! I fell in love with it then and I adore it still! In fact, my infatuation with all things Frankie gathered pace at uni where I, along with about 10 close friends, used to traipse into Central London every Saturday night for the famous Midnight Showing at the Prince Albert Cinema in Leicester Square. Getting the tube into Piccadilly wearing four-inch spike heeled boots, fishnets, sussies and a French maid outfit in the middle of January shows you just how dedicated I was (and still am!!) And don’t even get me started about the fun and games on the Night bus home!!! Anyhoo, what I’m trying to say is that RHPS has been a big part of my existence for half my life now and I’m relishing the chance to do this obsession justice (as I said, RIP Old Crappy Op!!!!)
HORROR HISTORY
“Tonight, my unconventional conventionists, you are to witness a new break through in bio-chemical research and Paradise is to be mine!!” RHPS began its life as a six-week workshop project at the sixty-seater Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in June 1973. It claimed
the early 70’s imagination and was soon moved, due to popular demand, to the 500-seat King’s Road Theatre where it sold out constantly and it seemed inevitable that a movie would have to be made. Richard O’Brien (also writer of the script, screenplay, lyrics and music, player of Riff Raff the butler, all round genius and God-like entity!) directed alongside Jim Sharman and the production started filming in October 1974 at Bray Studios. Reprising their roles from the stage play were Tim (Yummy!) Curry as Dr Frank-N-Furter (the decadent and decidedly delicious transvestite alien!), the aforementioned genius that is Richard O’Brien as Riff Raff (the slightly unhinged and evil butler), Patricia Quinn as Magenta (the maid, both Riff’s sis and, ahem, his love interest!), Little Nell as Columbia (resident Frankie groupie and tap dancer extraordinaire) and Jonathan Adams as Dr Scott (Brad’s old school professor). Joining this cast were Susan Sarandon as Janet Weiss (goes from All American virgin to sl*t in 60 seconds flat), Barry Bostwick as Brad Majors (asshole and all round inadequate! Totally unrecognisable today as the Mayor in “Spin City”!), Meatloaf as Eddie (Frank’s first experiment that went wrong, ends up looking like roast pork!), Peter Hinwood as Rocky (Frank’s creation with blond hair and a tan!) and Charles Gray as the Criminologist (the man with very little neck!) RHPS opened in early 1975 and has been showing in cinemas across the world to sell out audiences ever since.
THE STORY (WITH NOTHING GIVEN AWAY IN CASE YOU’RE A RHPS VIRGIN!)
“I would like, if I may, to take you on a strange journey.”
We begin at the Denton wedding of Ralph Hapschatt and Betty Munroe. Brad Majors and his girlie, Janet Weiss are guests at this wedding and I guess that Brad gets a bit carried away because he proposes! Our Janet accepts and the two decide to head over to tell their old High school Professor the happy news. However, on the way they get a flat tyre and oops, wouldn’t you know it, Brad’s spare is flat!! They noticed a mansion a few miles back and set off in the pouring rain to see if they have a phone. There is no phone, but hey, whaddaya know, there’s a rude hunchback butler, a lazy maid and a transvestite Master of the House. They’ve arrived on a very special night. It’s one of Frank’s (he’s such a sweet transvestite!) parties, but tonight is the unveiling of Frank’s new creation, Rocky! Brad and Janet quickly lose whatever innocence they had (Pop Goes The Cherries!!) and madness, mayhem and totally warped entertainment follows!! (I’m actually going to leave it there because if I give any more details it’ll just be a rehash of the movie and virgins need to see it to believe it!!) Yes, I know that this bit's about the plot, but I’m mentioning the music here too!!! It’s all really funky, very catchy and totally fab!! My favs are “Sweet Transvestite” which is soooo very sexy!! “Hot Patootie” coz I’ve got a soft spot for Meatloaf anyway, and the whole final Floorshow songs!!! After seeing this, be it for the first time or not, I defy you to not sing of the songs constantly afterwards!!! They really get in your head and stick there!!
THE SECRET LIFE OF ROCKY FANS (WHAT GOES ON WHEN YOU SEE IT LIVE!)
“Under the circumstances, formal dress is to be optional!”
This is where RHPS comes into its own (if you’ll pardon the pun!) Never before and never since has a film had such a cult attached to it!! As I previously said, I used to go to a midnight showing (the traditional time to show the film!!) in London where it’s still showing today!! The midnight showings offer the film, with a big extra...a cast that act out the movie in front of the movie!! Everyone dresses up as his or her favourite character from the film; I used to go as Magenta (I went as Frank a couple of times too, now that was fun!! A woman dressing up as a man dressing up as a woman!!! Never could get the make up exactly right though!!), and you take along props with you (I’ll get to that in the next section!!). The best part of seeing it in a cinema though is the audience participation. Yes, you read that right; when you go see it live, the dialogue in the film becomes the punch lines of the audience jokes. Take this for an example, hands up who knows the Time Warp? That everyone? Good, right, check this out (I’ll try to make it as clear as possible k?). The bracketed bits in the lyrics below are what the audience shout out and where they shout them! (Confused? You will be!!!!) The lyrics are in capitals! Right, stay with me and think about the film (if you’ve seen it!!)
(What’s you sex life like?) IT’S ASTOUNDING (No it’s a skeleton!) TIME IS FLEETING (What’s your favourite pop group?) MADNESS TAKES ITS TOLL. BUT LISTEN CLOSELY NOT FOR VERY MUCH LONGER (How many balls you got?) I’VE GOT TO KEEP CONTROL
You can print out the full audience participation guide at www.charming-underclothes.org.uk It’s the whole script with colour coded insert of what the audience shouts and when!! And it’s printable so you can watch the film along with it at home!!! And that nicely takes us onto:
KEZ’S GUIDE TO THE FULL RHPS EXPERIENCE IN YOUR VERY OWN LIVING ROOM!!!
“Give yourself over to absolute pleasure!”
1) Invite as many people as your lounge can comfortably hold and tell them all to come dressed either as their favourite character from the film (If they haven’t seen it, tell them to get their stockings, Basques, suspenders, high heels, and/or any fetish wear out and wear that!! If in doubt, wear black leggings, a white shirt, children’s cheap plastic sunglasses, party hats and flat black shoes, and be a Transylvanian Conventionalist!) 2) Print out copies of the aforementioned Audience Participation Script for use throughout the viewing. (You’ll soon get the hang of it and begin to improvise!) 3) Assemble your props. You will need (in the order of the film!): * Rice (Throw rice at each other when Ralph and Betty emerge from the church at the beginning of the movie!) *A newspaper (When Janet covers her head to walk in the rain to the mansion, cover yours!) *A water pistol (Squirt up into the air to make the abovementioned rain, the newspaper on your head’ll keep you dry!!) *Lighters or torches (The chorus of “Over At The Frankenstein Place, which Janet starts to sing when she gets out of the car into the rain, goes “There’s a light…” just light up and illuminate her way!!) *Rubber gloves (Frank snaps these during his creation speech in the Lab, just put them on when the elevator is going up and try to snap your gloves at the same time that Frank snaps his!!!! Snapalongatranny-time!!!) *Noisemakers (The Transylvanians use these at the end of the creation speech, you should too!!) *Confetti or More Rice (For Frank and Rocky’s “wedding”!!) *Toilet Paper (When Dr Scott arrives at the Lab and freewheels down the ramp, chuck your loo roll in the air!!) *Toast (When Frank proposes a toast at dinner, chuck your toast in the air. Best make it unbuttered!!) *Party hat (After Frank proposes the above toast, he puts on a party hat! Do the same and create that party mood!!) *Bell (In the song “Planet Schmanet Janet”, ring it when Frank sings “Did you hear a bell ring?”) *A Pack Of Cards (In the song, “I’m Going Home”, Frank sings “Cards for sorrow, cards for pain”, simply perform a 52 card pickup!!!) 4) Give yourself a large pat on the back for being so cool and hip, and pour yourself and your friends large drinks. 5) Put video in VCR or DVD on DVD player. 6) Press play 7) Sing along, dance along, laugh along and shout along with the film and have a damned good time doing it!!!
SO THAT’S ME DONE THEN
“On day I went away, Goodbye was all I had to say.”
And that’s that then!!!!!! Enjoy!!!!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Music / Performing Arts, Comedy - Director: Trevor Nunn, Geoffrey Posner - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, Parental Guidance - Starring: Duncan Preston, Celia Imrie, Julie Walters, Victoria Wood, Jim Broadbent
Can't for the life of me see why anyone has rated this at anything less that a 'VH'. Well done!
Hedgehog 13.08.2001 23:44
Fantastic op - I love this movie - Great stuff - Bob:)
Howiemon 11.08.2001 02:58
Brilliant op miss Minx, on an all time classic. The new DVD is good too, you can have the audience participation 'prompts' appear as subtitles - very clever. Oh, and by the way - you know when you were traipsing around London in the high heels & fishnets & sussies? Don't suppose you've got any photos have you?? Yours hopefully...Howie
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O'Brien's sinfully twisted salute to horror, sci-fi, B-movies and rock music starring Tim Curry (in his classic gender-bending performance), Barry Bostwick and Osca...
Advantages: MeatLoaf, the Time Warp, and as close to being at the theatre as you can be at home Disadvantages: It's Rocky, What disadvantages could there be??
![The Rocky Horror Picture Show (2 Disc Special Edition) [1975] [DVD]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78241655.jpg "The Rocky Horror Picture Show (2 Disc Special Edition) [1975] [DVD]")
![The Rocky Horror Picture Show [Special Edition]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/103214183.jpg "The Rocky Horror Picture Show [Special Edition]")
very helpful by (95%):
helpful by (5%):
