A wildly inventive cult musical that blends camp, horror, sci-fi, and sexual liberation into a one-of-a-kind midnight movie experience. It’s messy by design, but its energy, songs, and Tim Curry’s iconic performance make it essential viewing for anyone open to outrageous genre play.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Comedy · Science Fiction
Thu · 1h 40m
Director: Jim Sharman
Starring: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick
Overview
After getting a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, newly engaged couple Brad and Janet encounter the eerie mansion of the flamboyant, seductive Dr Frank-N-Furter and a variety of eccentric characters. Through elaborate dance and rock music, the mad scientist unveils his latest creation: a perfect, muscular man.
Director
Jim Sharman
Cast
Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick
Curator Review
Verdict
A wildly inventive cult musical that blends camp, horror, sci-fi, and sexual liberation into a one-of-a-kind midnight movie experience. It’s messy by design, but its energy, songs, and Tim Curry’s iconic performance make it essential viewing for anyone open to outrageous genre play.
Best for
cult movie fans
musical lovers with a taste for camp
viewers interested in queer cinema history
midnight movie audiences
fans of theatrical, over-the-top performances
Skip if
you want a conventional plot
you dislike audience-participation/cult-film energy
you prefer subtle humor
you’re uncomfortable with flamboyant sexual content and innuendo
Overview
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is less a movie than a phenomenon: a glam-rock fever dream that turns a B-movie setup into a celebration of excess, desire, and performance. Its story is deliberately thin, but the film’s real engine is its attitude—brazen, playful, and gleefully unashamed of being weird.
Worth noting
What makes it endure is the sheer force of its style and the central performance, which gives the film its dangerous sparkle. The songs are catchy, the costumes are unforgettable, and the whole thing feels like it’s daring the audience to loosen up and join in.
Bottom line
It’s not for everyone, and it doesn’t aim to be. But as a cult musical, a queer touchstone, and a piece of pop-culture mischief, it remains one of the most distinctive midnight movies ever made.
Top Letterboxd reviews
maria (4★) · 28610 likes
some of you have never taken a jump to the left and then a step to the right and then put your hands on your hips and then brought your knees in tight and then done the pelvic thrust which really drives you insane and then done it again and it really shows
cinéfila... 🕯️ (5★) · 26364 likes
personally i think every film should aspire to be this horny and gay
nick (4.5★) · 21891 likes
the reason why brad and janet’s relationship didn’t work is because they’re both bottoms
cinéfila... 🕯️ (5★) · 16788 likes
invented bisexuality
ana 2 (4★) · 16004 likes
rocky saying his life is misery after being alive for two seconds is a mood
Themes
camp, sexual liberation, queer identity, outsider fantasy, body transformation, midnight movie culture, genre parody, performance and persona
Topics
cult classic, camp, queer cinema, glam rock, midnight movie, horror-comedy, musical, sexual liberation, 1970s, body horror