Halloween film: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Jim Sharman, 1975, UK, USA, Colour, English, 100 mins, Certificate: 12A

A rain-soaked couple take refuge in the castle of a transvestite mad scientist from outer space who is about to unveil his greatest creation.

And thus begins the “cultiest” of cult classic films ever created. A wild, weird, exuberant cinematic ride. An intrepid, bursting at the seams, part musical, part science fiction and part horror extravaganza.

It bombed at the box office when first released, but then midnight screenings became popular in the mid-1970s. And the midnight audience love-love-loved it! In fact, it became so popular that it has been shown continuously in movie theaters since 1975, making it the longest theatrical run in history.

The Museum Lichtspiele cinema in Munich, Germany for example, has screened the movie every week since June 24, 1977, offering special “RHPS-Kits” to enable celebrations during the show. The kits contain a biscuit (for the toast), rice, a whistle, a candle (for “There’s a Light”), and a sheet of paper with instructions for the Time Warp.

And in the UK, its still going strong, regularly sold out sing along screenings at the Prince Charles Cinema has by now become the stuff of legend.

It was the late Tim Curry’s fearless film debut and the movie that secured him an iconic status in pop culture, and a -for better or worse- legion of devoted fans. Even Princess Diana was one of them! She requested a meeting with him after a theatre performance of his she attended with the now King Charles. In an interview years later, Curry remembered that with a “wicked smile” the Princess told him that Rocky Horror had “quite completed my education.”

So join us! For a special, in collaboration with SEE3, full of memories and legends, screening of the ultimate cult classic, to aptly conclude Sydenham’s Halloween celebrations doing “the time warp again”!