The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Movie · 1975 · Comedy, Science Fiction, Horror · 1h 40m · R · English

Curator score: 8.6/10 (848.3K ratings)

A different set of jaws.

Overview

After getting a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, newly engaged couple Brad and Janet encounter the eerie mansion of the flamboyant, seductive Dr Frank-N-Furter and a variety of eccentric characters. Through elaborate dance and rock music, the mad scientist unveils his latest creation: a perfect, muscular man.

Ratings

Director

Jim Sharman

Production

20th Century Fox, Lou Adler Productions, Michael White Productions

Cast

Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell, Jonathan Adams, Peter Hinwood, Meat Loaf, Charles Gray, Jeremy Newson, Hilary Farr, Pierre Bedenes, Christopher Biggins, Gaye Brown, Ishaq Bux, Stephen Calcutt, Hugh Cecil, Imogen Claire, Tony Cowan

Where to watch

BroadwayHD

Curator Review

Verdict

A wildly inventive cult musical that blends camp, horror, sci-fi, and sexual liberation into a one-of-a-kind midnight movie experience. It’s messy by design, but its energy, songs, and Tim Curry’s iconic performance make it essential viewing for anyone open to outrageous genre play.

Best for

  • cult movie fans
  • musical lovers with a taste for camp
  • viewers interested in queer cinema history
  • midnight movie audiences
  • fans of theatrical, over-the-top performances

Skip if

  • you want a conventional plot
  • you dislike audience-participation/cult-film energy
  • you prefer subtle humor
  • you’re uncomfortable with flamboyant sexual content and innuendo

Overview

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is less a movie than a phenomenon: a glam-rock fever dream that turns a B-movie setup into a celebration of excess, desire, and performance. Its story is deliberately thin, but the film’s real engine is its attitude—brazen, playful, and gleefully unashamed of being weird.

Worth noting

What makes it endure is the sheer force of its style and the central performance, which gives the film its dangerous sparkle. The songs are catchy, the costumes are unforgettable, and the whole thing feels like it’s daring the audience to loosen up and join in.

Bottom line

It’s not for everyone, and it doesn’t aim to be. But as a cult musical, a queer touchstone, and a piece of pop-culture mischief, it remains one of the most distinctive midnight movies ever made.

Top Letterboxd reviews

maria (4★) · 28610 likes

some of you have never taken a jump to the left and then a step to the right and then put your hands on your hips and then brought your knees in tight and then done the pelvic thrust which really drives you insane and then done it again and it really shows

cinéfila... 🕯️ (5★) · 26364 likes

personally i think every film should aspire to be this horny and gay

nick (4.5★) · 21891 likes

the reason why brad and janet’s relationship didn’t work is because they’re both bottoms

cinéfila... 🕯️ (5★) · 16788 likes

invented bisexuality

ana 2 (4★) · 16004 likes

rocky saying his life is misery after being alive for two seconds is a mood

Recommended similar titles

Phantom of the Paradise

1974 · Comedy, Horror, Fantasy · 1h 32m · PG · Curator 8.3/10 (178.6K ratings)

A glam-soaked cult musical that mixes horror, satire, and theatrical excess with a similarly devoted midnight-movie aura.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

2001 · Comedy, Music, Drama · 1h 35m · R · Curator 9.3/10 (39.4K ratings) · Where to watch: Philo

Shares the same electric mix of queer identity, rock performance, and emotional self-invention.

Cabaret

1972 · Music, Romance, Drama · 2h 4m · PG · Curator 8.9/10 (223K ratings)

A stylish musical that uses performance and decadence to explore desire, identity, and social unease.

Little Shop of Horrors

1986 · Horror, Comedy · 1h 34m · PG-13 · Curator 8.1/10 (350.2K ratings)

Another gleefully off-kilter musical that turns horror into comedy with big personality and catchy numbers.

The Wiz

1978 · Fantasy, Family, Adventure · 2h 14m · G · Curator 3.7/10 (73.3K ratings) · Where to watch: Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads

A bold, theatrical musical with a distinct visual identity and a joyous sense of reinvention.

Velvet Goldmine

1998 · Drama, Music · 2h 3m · R · Curator 6.3/10 (126.7K ratings)

Captures glam-rock decadence, gender play, and the intoxicating pull of performance culture.

The Birdcage

1996 · Comedy, Romance · 1h 59m · R · Curator 7.8/10 (359.1K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Peacock Premium, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus

A mainstream comedy built around queer performance, identity, and high-energy farce.

Grease

1978 · Romance, Comedy · 1h 50m · PG · Curator 5.1/10 (1.4M ratings) · Where to watch: Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential

A hugely accessible musical with a playful, heightened sense of youth culture and performance.

Moulin Rouge!

2001 · Drama, Romance, Music · 2h 8m · PG-13 · Curator 6.6/10 (804.3K ratings)

A lush, hyper-stylized musical that turns excess, romance, and performance into spectacle.

Kinky Boots

2005 · Comedy, Drama, Music · 1h 47m · PG-13 · Curator 2.2/10 (23K ratings) · Where to watch: fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential

A crowd-pleasing celebration of self-expression, drag aesthetics, and found-family energy.

Dancer in the Dark

2000 · Drama, Crime · 2h 20m · R · Curator 8.4/10 (316.9K ratings) · Where to watch: MUBI

For viewers drawn to musical form used in emotionally heightened, unconventional ways.

Topics

cult classic, camp, queer cinema, glam rock, midnight movie, horror-comedy, musical, sexual liberation, 1970s, body horror

Open The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) on Curator TV