Released in 1975, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (RHPS) was generally eviscerated by critics and slapped silly at the box office. Since then, it has become the go-to success story of cult films. Produced for a paltry $1.4 million, the film would end up grossing over $140 million.
Its success was extremely unlikely.
Cult films prosper because of the public—nothing else. Not promotions or stars. Strangely, a cult film can be dreadful (e.g. ‘The Room’). or like RHPS, be very good yet so different from its contemporaries, that people pass it by.
Then, the magic begins, which, thankfully, cannot be captured: word of mouth drags a film from the pits of obscurity to the pinnacles of success.
The plot is unimportant, as are the plots in many cult films. As RHPS began as a musical, the characters tend to be one-dimensional. Somehow, Richard O’Brien, who wrote the music, lyrics and book, elevates the silliness of bad sci-fi and monster movies, into something which speaks of compassion, acceptance and love. Song titles like “Sweet Transvestite’, “I Can Make You a Man”, and “Don’t Dream It, Be It”, give an indication of the progressive tenor of the film. It is a film about liberation from the rigors of society (Brad and Janet, sexuality (Frank n’ Furter, et al.), and misplaced fear (Don’t Dream It, Be It).
Director Jim Sharman does a lot with a little, placing faith and energy in the performances, songs and script, conjuring an odd elixir of erotic wit.
RHPS suggests very little is sacred, including itself. That permits flexibility of emotions. When Frank n’ Furter sings “Cards for sorrow / Cards for pain / ‘Cause I’ve seen blue skies / Through the tears in my eyes / And I realize I’m going home”, any ensuing empathy is hardly ironic.
And in The Tempest, when Prospero muses “We are such stuff / As dreams are made on, and our little life / Is rounded with a sleep”, he’s not far off in uncovering the soul of RHPS.
In the end, dreams are everything.
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