By now, it’s cliché to call anything a “cult classic,” but the term could have been invented for “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Now, at 50 years old, the 1975 movie musical written by Richard O’Brien occupies a unique space in pop culture, thanks to an arch-camp aesthetic, killer songs and knowing performances. A big reason why it still works is that it is what too many movies today are scared to be: gloriously weird.
The plot follows newly engaged squares Brad and Janet (Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon) as they seek refuge at a gothic castle after their car breaks down. Unluckily for them, it’s where transvestite alien mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter, played by the truly mesmerizing Tim Curry, is creating Rocky, a muscly, blond, lab-grown boy toy, with the help of his begrudging servants. Over the next 90 minutes, blood and mascara run as not everyone survives the ensuing bisexual love quadrangle and swimming pool orgy.
That weirdness is probably why it bombed when it first opened. But through word of mouth, “Rocky” — as the movie is affectionately known by fans — found its audience at midnight showings that continue to this day, making “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” the longest-running theatrical release in history.
I proudly count myself as a member of Rocky’s hardcore fanbase — and it’s a great time to be a fan. Rocky’s birthday coincides with the theatrical release of “A Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror,” directed by O’Brien’s son, Linus, and features a trove of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast and crew. When I speak to Richard and Linus over Zoom to discuss the cultural impact of “Rocky” at 50, Richard is still surprised by its success.
“The longevity of it is what always astounds me; the people keep returning to the theater to see the movie. You’d think it’d run out of steam, wouldn’t you? But it just doesn’t,” Richard said.
It’s a sentiment shared by Tim Curry, who writes in his new autobiography “Vagabond” that Rocky’s continued success is “nothing short of amazing to me.”
Bostwick, meanwhile, is touring the country with fellow original cast members Nell Campbell and Patricia Quinn, screening the movie and holding post-show Q&As with the audience.
“‘Rocky Horror Picture Show,’ it just doesn’t let you go. And it certainly hasn’t let me go for 50 years, and I’m still talking about it and learning about it and learning from the people who are moved by it and entertained by it,” Bostwick told me when we spoke on Zoom.
When I share my own “Rocky” origin story with Bostwick, I start by saying that I was probably too young to watch it. He gently scolds me.
“So many people have started out the conversation with, ‘I think I was way too young to see this movie.’ And I say, ‘No, I don’t think so,’” Bostwick said. “It started a conversation in your life to either who you were living with, your parents or yourself, your own mind and body and soul.”
For me, that conversation with myself started in the late ’90s when I was leafing through the TV listings for late-night movies and came across the iconic close-up photo of Curry with his eyebrow raised. Instinctively, I knew that I just had to see whatever film this image was from. I placed a little square of painters’ tape, colored black with a Sharpie, on the VCR to perfectly hide the blinking red light. Otherwise, it might have alerted my parents that it had been set to record something they would likely disapprove of.
From the moment the opening credits rolled, with disembodied blood-red lips singing “Science Fiction Double Feature” against a black background, I was enthralled. Did I grow up and become a cross-dressing “Sweet Transvestite”? Is it somehow the reason I turned out gay? No and no. But the effect it had on me was profound. The kaleidoscopic mix of dayglo sets, risque costumes, frenetic dancing, and campy sci-fi and B-movie tropes is downright hypnotic. And if the soundtrack — a heady mix of ’50s rock ’ n roll, glam rock and even the occasional, genuinely sincere ballad — doesn’t appeal, then I don’t know how to help you.
While the wardrobes are undoubtedly sexy, I wasn’t sexually attracted to the sight of a man in fishnets and makeup. But it certainly fucked with my 12-year-old preconceptions of gender and identity in the best way. Like so many others, it opened my eyes to the idea that people could be different — and that different could be fun.
One of Rocky’s most famous refrains, “Don’t dream it, be it,” promises that not only is being different fun, but the fun is possible. No matter your gender identity, who you love, or if you are just in some way other, then that’s a powerful message. And what fun!
But evidently, there were lots of people who did not find the movie fun when it was first released. It flopped hard at the box office, which is surprising given that “Rocky” started life as a very successful stage musical. Curry originated the role of Frank-N-Furter when it debuted in a small theater in London, before the play quickly transferred to the West End. After winning over London audiences, the show headed to Los Angeles, where it met with similar success. A-listers like Jack Nicholson, Cher and John Lennon attended the star-studded premiere. Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger even considered buying the movie rights himself, so a screen adaptation seemed like a sure thing.
Curry recalls being “devastated” when “Rocky” bombed. Maybe it was too out there for the average cinema goer. One movie poster hints that it was a difficult sell, with the tagline: “He’s the hero – that’s right, the hero!!” It was, perhaps, a less direct way of saying, “please don’t be put off by men in stockings and suspenders.”
In 2025, thanks to the RuPaul Industrial Complex, men in stockings and suspenders hardly seem shocking. But it’s important to remember that the film was released five years after the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, in which gender-nonconforming people like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera played pivotal roles. Two years before Stonewall in 1967, homosexuality in the United Kingdom was decriminalized. The film also portrays the nascent women’s liberation movement, with Sarandon’s Janet throwing off the repressive shackles of traditional sexual mores, singing:
Toucha, toucha, toucha, touch me,
I wanna be dirty,
thrill me, chill me, fulfill me,
Creature of the night!
It is not a stretch to say that a musical that centers unapologetically gender non-conforming characters and features a young woman embracing her sexuality was subversive and revolutionary. The negative reviews certainly thought so. One standout critique is from the Parents Movie Guide column in the Cincinnati Enquirer. The reviewer — whose byline naturally touts a doctoral degree in religion — bemoaned the movie’s “totally degenerate, transvestite, transexual and blasphemous content,” warning readers that “I sincerely doubt that any youngster who see it will view traditional morality quite the same again.”
Don’t threaten me with a good time, doc!
“We weren’t making a political piece of theater, or social statements, we weren’t into that. We were having fun.”
- Richard O'Brien, "Rocky Horror Picture Show" creator
“They’re hilarious because they seem so dated,” says Linus.
“My advice to anybody who gets bad reviews,” adds Richard with an impish grin, “outlive the bastards!” While “Rocky” reflects the issues of the day, Richard is quick to point out he wasn’t setting out to make a film with a message.
“We weren’t making a political piece of theater, or social statements, we weren’t into that,” Richard said. “We were having fun.”
That’s partly why it did eventually find its audience. Whatever prudish pearl-clutchers thought, the play — and then the movie’s — priority was to be a fun, weird rock ‘n’ roll space opera.
As Linus puts it, “The elements are there, but it’s not trying to send a message. It’s so joyful.”
But “Rocky” doesn’t only reflect the shifting attitudes about gender and the emergent fight for gay rights in the ’60s and ’70s. There is an unknowing nod to the future, with a depiction of gay marriage. As Rocky carries Frank to a candlelit, gothic bridal suite, an organ plays Mendelsohn’s “Wedding March.” At the time, this was the same as space lasers or intergalactic travel: fun to think about, but firmly fantasy.
And it would stay fantasy for decades. It took nearly 40 years for society to catch up: the first gay marriages didn’t take place in the U.K. until 2014, and full marriage equality wasn’t achieved in the U.S. until 2015, when the Supreme Court ruled the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional. That same year, when the movie celebrated its 40th anniversary, the issues that made it radical upon its release seemed, if not distant history, then certainly less pressing. Society, it seemed, was headed in the right direction. Don’t dream it, be it, indeed.
So, to newcomers, when “Rocky” turned 40, it was perhaps easier to view it as just a retro slice of camp, queer, silly fun (not that there is anything wrong with that). The following year, in 2016, Fox broadcast a Ryan Murphy-produced remake, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again,” starring Laverne Cox as Frank-N-Furter. If it were a gateway for newbies to find the original, that would only be a good thing. But other than that, it’s hard to say anything nice about it.
Any of the edgy, cheap B-movie charm from 1975 was “Glee”-ified almost beyond all recognition. With a reported budget of around $18 million, it cost about 18 times more than the original, proof that more isn’t always more. To be fair to Cox, Curry’s high heels are almost impossible to fill, but her interpretation was flat, lacking the menacing magnetism that made his Frank-N-Furter so entrancing. Bostwick agrees that Murphy’s glitzy yet sterile reimagining didn’t understand that it is supposed to be “a grimy, dark little tale.” He thinks that productions since the original “have tried to brighten it up too much and have taken away that layer of danger.”
Less than two weeks after that lackluster remake was broadcast, Donald Trump was elected president. And so began the Trump era, and the erosion of hard-won rights. The political backdrop to Rocky’s 50th birthday is grim. The Trump administration is hell bent on not just rolling back protections for trans people, but, in denying them access to vital health care, erasing them entirely. Conservative pundits and lawmakers regularly spew transphobic hate. After Charlie Kirk’s murder, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) theorized that the suspected shooter was a “tranny” (he was not), and The Wall Street Journal erroneously reported that “pro trans messages” were engraved on the bullet cases (there were not).
As for the gay rights that seemed secure at the end of the Obama presidency, they too are at serious risk. The Supreme Court looks set to overturn bans on conversion therapy, which would have disastrous, potentially fatal consequences for LGBTQ+ youth. While support for gay marriage in America remains high, evangelical activists are nevertheless calling on SCOTUS to reverse its ruling that recognized same-sex marriage in all 50 states, emboldened by the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“Politically and socially, [‘Rocky’] is as apropos today and in some ways more,” Bostwick says. “I just wish we could show this movie in every town and village and maybe change some minds.”
It is profoundly sad that half a century after its release, we have circled back to a political landscape that is all too similar to the original context of the film. These steps backward have undoubtedly re-honed the movie’s radical edge. But what “Rocky” offers is more than just an unfortunate relevance. Gay activist and politician Harvey Milk famously said, “You gotta give them hope,” less than two years before he was assassinated in 1978. Just as important as hope, you gotta give them joy.
“Simply because of the state of the world and state of affairs, people need a place to gather together, a rainbow event that they can enjoy and be safe and have fun,” Richard O’Brien told HuffPost.
And the enjoyment you get from watching (and rewatching) “Rocky” is an act of resistance in and of itself.
“I can't even imagine what my life would look like if it hadn't come to me when it did.”
- Meg Fierro, New York City Rocky Horror Picture Show managing director
Crucially, that act of resistance is communal. Merely watching “Rocky” is just one way to enjoy it. In New York in the late ’70s, the midnight showings that cemented “Rocky’s” cult status evolved into something different entirely: shadow performances. Actors in full costume perform in sync with the on-screen antics, miming the songs and dialogue.
“It’s not quite drag; it’s not quite a pantomime. It’s like a secret third thing,” Meg Fierro, managing director of the “New York City Rocky Horror Picture Show” shadow cast, tells me.
Normally, they perform about every two weeks, but when we speak, she is gearing up for spooky season. October is the busiest month for “NYCRHPS,” with multiple performances at larger venues in the run-up to Halloween. What makes the shadow cast shows so unique is the audience participation, including traditional props and call-and-response.
This is not a passive viewing experience. Some audience rituals include holding newspapers over your head, just like Brad and Janet do when they are caught in the rain. Participants bring rubber gloves to the theater, so when Frank snaps on his gloves with relish in the lab, they can snap along with him. When he sings the line “Cards for sorrow, cards for pain” in the ballad “I’m Going Home,” yep, you guessed it, playing cards are strewn about the theater. Just as Rocky blurs gender stereotypes, the shadows cast blur the boundary between screen and stage with silly, riotous fun. For Fierro, that’s the whole point.
“People don’t expect to go to a movie theater and talk, let alone shout or throw anything like that’s a place you’re supposed to be quiet. And not knowing exactly what to expect, it adds to the subversiveness,” Fierro told me.
And that subversive fun sells. Coming out of the pandemic, Fierro says ticket sales grew. The shows regularly sell out, and the once-voluntary cast and crew are now paid. As important as putting on the show is, so is the camaraderie. Fierro first got involved 15 years ago on the lighting team when she was still in college. Since then, she has performed as several characters before managing the whole production.
“It’s my whole life. Not the movie itself, obviously, but the community of people,” she said. “We all sort of build our lives around each other, and we all found each other this way. I can’t even imagine what my life would look like if it hadn’t come to me when it did.”
“I’ve had so many people say, ‘It saved my life.’”
- Barry Bostwick, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" actor
If one of the movie’s messages is that weirdos, queerdos and misfits of all stripes can be different and have fun, then the shadow performances are the real catalyst for inclusion because they allow cast, crew and audience to have fun being different together. The power of that shouldn’t be underestimated. Watching “A Strange Journey,” it is clear that everyone involved with “Rocky” is so proud and surprised that it became a beacon for people to find each other for generations.
“I’ve had so many people say, ‘It saved my life,’ that they didn’t think that there was anybody else in the world like them,” Bostwick said. “They had no community; they had no friends. They thought their reality was wrong or crazy.”
Similarly, Curry writes in his autobiography, “I love the notion that Frank has helped release people’s inner freaks or given them permission and passports to emerge and be celebrated. I’ve been told as much many times, and I hope that legacy continues.”
Richard O’Brien is particularly animated on our Zoom call discussing this.
“It has become a rallying point for the rainbow nation, and that’s exceptionally pleasing,” he said. “It gained this power and allowed people to rally around it in a kind of way that was never intended.”
While the New York shadow performances of “Rocky” are nearly as old as the movie itself, the original stage musical has a less-than-auspicious history in New York. The stage show’s transfer to Los Angeles was a hit, but when O’Brien took the show to Broadway in March 1975 ― after shooting the movie, but before it was released ― the reception was anything but welcoming. Critics’ pens dripped with poison, dooming the production to an early close after just 45 shows.
“Wearying after the first fifteen minutes,” said the New York Daily News. “Beneath contempt,” wrote another joyless review. Recalling the play’s failure, O’Brien puts the harsh reaction down to snobby New York critics and audiences, and it’s hard not to agree. When the show returned to Broadway in 2000, the notices were better, if only lukewarm.
“The menace has gone out of Frank ‘N’ Furter,” wrote Ben Brantley in The New York Times, echoing Bostwick’s critiques of more recent productions. “He now seems less like a guide to forbidden sexual fruit than a colorful shopping consultant.”
“Every morning I look in the mirror and I’m like, ‘Don't fuck it up!’”
- Sam Pinkleton, Tony-winning director
Nail-polished fingers crossed that third time’s a charm when “Rocky” returns to Broadway in Spring 2026. It’ll be helmed by Sam Pinkleton, fresh off his Tony Award win for directing the runaway hit “Oh, Mary!” Over Zoom, he tells me that reviving “Rocky” has been on his mind for years.
“There’s no greater party than ‘Rocky Horror.’ It’s everything that I love in one place,” Pinkleton said. “It has real heart, it has real depth, it has an absolutely absurd sense of humor and reality, and it knows that the audience is there.”
Whereas New York theater audiences and reviewers didn’t know — or perhaps didn’t want to know — Rocky in the ’70s, they certainly do now. Half a century on the pop-culture scene, the enduring popularity of the shadow performances, the mainstreaming of drag, gifs of Tim Curry vamping down the camera lens and, sure, Ryan Murphy’s dull reimagining, all mean that most theater goers have a fairly solid idea about what the show is. I wondered if those preconceptions make bringing a “new” production to the stage harder. But Pinkleton says that’s what makes it so fun.
“It is this sneaky, sneaky little thing that is both absolutely subversive and absolutely, unquestionably broad,” he said. By virtue of its vintage, the 2026 Broadway production will also have what its 1975 predecessor did not have: a fanbase that spans generations.
“I think it is this incredibly special thing that the people who saw ‘Rocky’ when it came out and lost their minds for it, and maybe wore high heels for the first time, are now in their 70s,” Pinkleton said. “It’s so popular on college campuses right now; it’s crazy to me. So I think that it is this insane opportunity of intergenerational fuckery that no other title has.”
Still, Pinkleton admits there is pressure that comes with reviving such a beloved piece. “Every morning I look in the mirror and I’m like, ‘Don’t fuck it up!’”
After 50 years, it is impossible to discuss “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” without using the L-word: legacy. When any movie is deemed a cult classic, by definition, it is an acknowledgment that it’s niche. Even though “Rocky” occupies the middle of the Venn diagram between mainstream and subversive, it certainly isn’t for everyone. But what piece of art is? For the people it is for —those who have found it on the stage, through covert VCR recordings or riotous midnight shows — the impact is astonishing. In finding “Rocky,” many have found themselves. Bringing respite and resistance through joy and community is no small feat. Arguably, through the shadow cast, a new kind of performance art was created along the way.
Toward the end of “A Strange Journey,” Linus O’Brien asks his dad to reflect on the legacy of “Rocky.” Richard recalls an interaction with a fan who told him that the movie doesn’t belong to him anymore; it belongs to the fans. And that’s inevitable, given that the story “Rocky” tells and its own history are both all about blurred boundaries. The traditional ideas of gender and sexuality, the difference between movies and plays, the mainstream and the niche, now even the creator and the audience.
Over the last 50 years, “Rocky” has had fun subverting them all.
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is available to stream in the U.S. on Hulu. “A Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror” is in theaters now. “Vagabond” by Tim Curry, which is published by Hachette, is on sale now.
