Creatures of the night

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Crit

That was fun. I actually like the film on its own merits, think it's a smart parody with some great music, bravura performances by Tim Curry and Richard O'Brien, and, when all else fails, young Susan Sarandon in various stages of undress.

But you want to know about the crowd, and the crowd was good: probably between 50 and 75, with--judging by the lack of response from the audience at large--probably a majority of them virgins (though no one paid the price for his or her virginity). The players were few (and, stunningly, sans Frank-N-Furter or Riff-Raff) but enthusiastic, and especially well equipped with props: rice, squirt guns, toast, "Great Scott" toilet paper. One could carp that their participation consisted almost entirely of well-aged chestnuts, and that some of the best of those have been inexplicably dropped (I almost yelled "Meatloaf again?!" myself), but come on: there are some young people keeping alive a cult classic nearing its 40th birthday--and entertaining a bunch of virgins, one of whom may be thinking that wearing fishnets and a bustier in front of a crowd might be kinda fun. In other words, it's still inspiring some not just to dream it but to be it.