20th Century Fox released The Rocky Horror Picture Show in the US on 29 September 1975.
It was not initially successful. In its first year, it made less than its production costs. But it wasn’t a classic sleeper either. It made roughly ten times its budget in each of the following five years.
El Topo was the first midnight movie. But after it, the trend was away from art films and toward psychotronics. (Of course, I certainly consider El Topo a psychotronic film.)
Rocky Horror is such a bizarre film that it is classic psychotronic. But I do tend to push it away because the film is so obviously pandering to people like me. For years I’ve wanted to rewrite “Science Fiction/Double Feature.” I love the song but it’s like it is written by someone who knows about psychotronic films but hasn’t actually watched them.
- Michael Rennie was not ill The Day the Earth Stood Still
- Fay Wray and King Kong were not in a celluloid jam — whatever that means
- Doctor X will not build a creature
- Leo G Carroll was not over a barrel when Tarantula took to the hills
- Janette Scott did not fight a triffid — she cowered throughout The Day of the Triffids
- Dana Andrews never made a rune pun in Night of the Demon
- And George Pal is not in When Worlds Collide, and so said nothing to his bride.
But Richard O’Brien knows these films. I think he’s just lazy. And fair enough! So am I!
The Rocky Horror Picture Show wasn’t successful because it is designed for psychotronic fans. It succeeded because it is sexually transgressive. And the music is great! But I love it because it shows such respect for these old films. You don’t have to get the references but they are there for the getting.
So it has been 50 years since Rocky Horror made it to these United States. Let’s celebrate by watching it!
The Rocky Horror Picture Show poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.
