The transgressive nature of The Rocky Horror Picture Show made it a must see (and a must see again and again) for many folks in my generation, especially those who thought of themselves as "outsiders". It was naughty and it spoke of things which only some few knew -- science fiction and horror names which didn't really penetrate the broader strata of society. At least they did not back then.
Here's the delightful song written and performed by Richard O'Brien for the opening credits of the 1975 movie.
Here are the movies referenced during this lovely homage to the offbeat tastes which were the identifier for many folks many years ago. The broader society has absorbed and homogenized much of this today making it seem normal and almost mainstream, but once upon a decade these were delicious secret pleasures shared by a few, or at least it felt that way.
"Michael Rennie was ill the day the earth stood still, but he told us where we stand"
"And Flash Gordon was there in silver underwear"
"Claude Rains was the invisible man"
"Then something went wrong for Fay Wray and King Kong, they got caught in a celluloid jam"
"Then at a deadly pace it came from outer space"
"Doctor X will build a creature"
"Anne Francis stars in Forbidden Planet"
"I knew Leo G. Carroll was over a barrel when Tarantula took to the hills"
"And I really got hot when I saw Janette Scott fight a Triffid that spits poison and kills"
"Dana Andrews said prunes gave him the runes, and passing them used lots of skills"
"But when worlds collide, said George Pal to his bride, I'm gonna give you some terrible thrills"
Here's the original stage version of the song from 1973 performed by Patricia Quinn. Those are Quinn's ruby red lips by the way which are featured in the version up top.
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Seeing "Rocky Horror" on TV just plain doesn't count.
ReplyDeleteI saw it the way it was intended to be seen: in a run-down theatre at midnight in the dangerous part of town, surrounded by freaks in costume who shot water pistols, shouted dialogue and threw toast. It was terrifying and awesome.
It's difficult to do a genre film well, and it doesn't matter if you're talking vampire movies or 'Dawn of the Dead' or 'The Thing' or 'Escape From New York.' Those kind of movies, they understand what the old-school B-movie is supposed to be, they get the throwback of it.
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Monc - I've seen the film in a theater with all the proper shenanigans a time or two, and it was a clever thing at the time.
ReplyDeleteStephina - So true. Most attempts to clone those old-style movies fall on the sword of irony.
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This is great. I just read the novel "The Day of the Triffids" but never realized the movie was mentioned in this song.
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