Spoilers for the movie in the review will be highlighted in a different colour so if you haven't seen the movie don't read any of the blue text!
I think pretty much everyone and their dog knows this movie (at least that's what I heard) by now but in case you don't it's a weird one. It's a movie that's basically a very tongue in check parody of horror movies of the time (1975) with lots of transvestites and sexual moments. I think that is the best way I can describe it. seriously, it's worth watching if you haven't already as I am telling you right now it is AWESOME! I LOVE IT! Most people do but I don't often like what other people like, especially when it is a cult classic like this movie. However, this one really got to me not only on an entertainment level but also on an emotional and meaningful level. Yes, I felt like I really learnt something real deep when I watched this. Like there is something very very special and important it is trying to tell us that is so deep I couldn't possibly ever really understand it. That is my summery of my feelings for this movie but let me go into a little more detail about some of my reactions to some of this movies moments...
The first thing I thought when it came on was I liked the song and it seemed sad to me somehow. Obviously, I had no idea what was going to happen SPOILER the song becomes important at the end of the movie as I sings it again as a reprise with different lyrics. Then I understood why it felt so sad. But anyways, on with the show.
Next I noticed the camera guy had a horrible voice and I went 'OH GOD! I hope that voice is like that on purpose' and then I quickly realised it was as it went into it's first song. This is my least favourite song in the movie. I don't dislike it but it irritates me a bit and I don't find it particularly funny or enjoyable. Everyone I know seems to like this song the best but it just doesn't resonate with me sorry. I also always wondered why that plain man and woman from the famous painting where doing around so often in the beginning of this movie. It was a little funny though since they really didn't fit in with the bouncy musical movie tone and characters. SPOILER now I think about it, it makes sense why they were always there as they turned out to be the aliens in charge at the end of the movie.
Then everything was alright and I found it a little irritating how irrationally the characters were acting during the beginning scenes of the movie as they were acting so scared of the place when all that had really happened so far was they broke down and found an old house during a storm and they were enjoying a party. What's wrong with that?! Anyways, you know something is going to happen since it does have the word horror in the title so I guess it can be excused. Then the movie doesn't beat about the bush as the hunchback starts to dance in a strangely able way for a hunchback and they sign the most famous song from this movie, the time warp. I knew about this song long before the movie but I never really liked it. It just sounded like a typical dance song to me. However, in the movie it sounded a lot more full of energy and I enjoyed it a lot. I think maybe on the albums there was a little problem with how the sound was corrected as it just seemed to sound and feel less flat in the movie. Also, of course, it was a lot more fun given the context to compare it with and which of course made the song so famous anyway.
Then I guess this is where there might be more spoilers so be careful here. So then the main character comes in with his erotic clothing and starts the second most famous song from this movie as he intrudes himself. SPOILERS he calls himself a transvestite from Transylvania which I thought was just a joke play on words but it actually becomes relevant later in the movie where he obviously comes from a planet and universe called exactly that. Kinda strange but understandable I guess. And is it just me or does this guy remind you of David Bowie?
Then to cut a lot of musical awesomeness aside since it is enjoyable but it doesn't continue the story. Next what happens is the transvestite guy (by the way, I am avoiding names as I am not good at remembering them and because they are kinda important later on so it might be better for spoiler sake to just descibe the people every time) creates life by making a hunky muscle man for him to marry and have to himself. Then the event is interrupted by a bike rider man riding his way into the room and causing a commotion to which the transvestite man doesn't like. SPOILER Then the transvestite decides to murder the man in cold blood to get rid of him. Then the transvestite splits the two lovers apart and then 'tempts' them. He promises not to tell either that they both had it off with him but then the woman finds out by looking at the camera that her husband has done it to. Then she decides she wants more of that and starts to tempt the hunky man to have it off with her to. While singing my favourite song in the whole movie and I can't get it out of head GODAMMIT! The followers of the transvestite leader watch and laugh at it all in a way that improves the experience greatly as they are laughing at her though the whole song without interrupting the song either which is a bit of a pet hate of mine in musicals. Then the transvestite guy, after punishing some of his followers for chasing the hunky man earlier, finds the woman and the hunky guy together. Oh and in the middle of all this, this old man appears to which Franky seems to know and then all the transvestites are revealed to be aliens and they don't like the old man because he knows their secret. Franky is convinced the woman and man are on the old guys side as spies but then this is interrupted for tea. This event is rudely interrupted as they discover they might be eating the man he killed earlier and that man was in fact the son of the old man and a rebel. Since this is a lot of spoiler I will sum it up a little for anyone who doesn't want to ruin the story and hasn't seen it. Basically, this house is found to be the home of a gang of sorts of transvestites who follow the top transvestite (the guy who sung the song earlier and who looks like Bowie). They offer them rooms and all the weird stuff that happens starts to get to them (an old friend of the couple also appears at the house and causes more trouble) but they get angry with the transvestite leader for the trouble he has caused them. Then the transvestite well...sorry but anything after this point is major spoilers so this is all I can tell you about the movie. I am not that good at describing it as it really is an experience you should see for yourself if you haven't. It's worth a purchase on DVD. seriously. All I can tell you, and even this is a little revealing, is the ending is rather open to interpretation. But on with the show.
So Frank N Furter (by the way, bets name EVER) then freezes them with his futuristic technology and then converts them to his side and them makes a sort of play with them. Then the play is rudely interrupted by the lady and hunchback, revealed to be brother and sister earlier, say he needs to go back in a scene that genuinely made me cry. I NEVER thought this movie would make me cry but it DID! He is evil and yet so loveable in a strange way and I guess that is the point. We are made to relate to him and love him in a strange way so in a sense we as an audience have also fallen victim to his charms. But the message I got from this is that, even the worst people have something human about them and sometimes temptation can get the better of you and it sometimes doesn't always have a clear and happy ending. Sometimes the bad things in life consume you and leave you not knowing how to live any other way anymore. Doomed to repeat the same bad actions now your soul has been tainted by sin. A very sad ending when you think of it that way and the reprise at the end solidified the sadness and meaning of it all to me. You might think different but that is what I took from it. What I think makes this movie so powerful and special is not only how different it is, not only for the time but it still the weirdest movie I have ever seen, but also because it has a story to tell that will never change with time. The temptation of sex and all things bad and what it can do to a person. Well whether you enjoy it for the comedy and ridiculousness of it all or you love it for its deeper meanings, it is a fantastic movie that I think everyone with an open enough mind should try. It's of course not child friendly and it might offend some people but if you have an open mind then you should definitely give it a shot. I give it my Pegasus wings of approval and give it a score of 10/10. I know that sounds ridiculous but I seriously have not ever watched a movie that has resonated with me so well on a level of entertainment and meaningfulness and for that I think it deserves my top score.
That's it from me and I hope you enjoyed this review. Feel free to comment what you think of this cult classic in the comments below. Until next time. See ya! :3
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