# Explain the Cult Following of The Rocky Horror Picture Show **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748 "2013-10-31T13:39:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/61 "2013-11-02T17:55:57Z")
I was in college in NYC and just was bored and wandering around the village when I stumbled into the 8th Street Playhouse. On the first night they started showing RHPS after it left the Waverly Theatre. I was immediatly entranced! That week, I moved back home to Ohio and tried to find the movie. Finally a local theater near Kent State University started playing it, yippee! I cobbled together a Riff-Raff costume and when I appeared at the cinema I got a standing ovation! I was sold. For the next 7 years every Friday and Saturday night saw me and various casts at a movie house. Kent, Ohio. Cleveland, OH. Akron, OH. Las Vegas, NV. San Diego, CA. South Pasadena, CA. Los Angelas, CA. And many more. I’ve slept with about a half dozen ‘Janets’ (I consided the running around in thier underwear as sort of an ‘audition’ ) 😃 I played Riff-Raff at the Roxy Theater for an anniversary attended by Lou Adler! My girlfriend and I put on an enormous convention in LA in 1984. Fun times. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/62 "2013-11-02T19:11:29Z")
“Give yourself over to absolute pleasure, swim the warm waters of sins of the flesh.” Rocking music, great costumes and made most parents aghast! What’s to explain? It’s got it all! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/63 "2013-11-02T20:28:45Z")
Saw it in October 1977 for the first time, on my college campus. It was part of a double feature, with **Phantom of the Paradise** as the 2nd movie. I had seen Phantom, and wanted to see it again, so dragged some friends to the double feature. None of us had heard of **RHPS** and had absolutely no expectations for that flick. No one was in costume. So we suspected nothing, until the lights went down, and then someone started yelling “Lips! Lips!!” We were confused. Then we were blown away… ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/64 "2013-11-03T02:29:47Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Oh hell, it’s just a plain old good time. > > And it’s gone international. Bangkok’s venerable old historic cabaret bar, [Check Inn 99](http://www.checkinn99bkk.com/), on lower Sukhumvit Road, is performing it live for four nights this week. I happened to be walking past the Check Inn 99 last night when a West Asian couple were trying to go in. That part of Bangkok has sleazy bars and sidewalk prostitutes but is also a haven for Arab tourists. Lots of Middle East restaurants and hotels that cater to the Arab and Persian trade. I heard the couple being told the tickets to get in – because of the _Rocky Horror Picture show_, last night was the final performance – were 1000 and 2000 baht (US$32 and $64). The look on their faces was priceless. Although it’s true _some_ of the ladies in the Check Inn are available for take-out for extracurricular activities, this is a long-established cabaret venue, it has quite a history\*, and this couple must have thought they were getting ripped off by some normal sleazy venue. The look on their faces was priceless. They declined to enter. \*The ancient mamasan in the place has a famous photo – famous among local expats – of her as a young lady with Bob Hope during one of his stops in Bangkok back in the Vietnam War days. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/65 "2013-11-03T03:44:36Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > [RHPS] was part of a double feature, with **Phantom of the Paradise** as the 2nd movie… I love Phantom as well. It never quite achieved the cult status that RHPS did (except, apparently, in Winnipeg), but it was just as deserving, IMHO. Some memorable lines that I can still recall (and that audience participation might have fun with): “There’s something about this one that I like.” “I know drug real from real real!” “Tonight is your night; I won’t have it ruined.” “You see, Winslow, I’m under contract too.” [Sorry for the hijack.] ---
**Author:** ![jookster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7cd45c/32.png) [@jookster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jookster)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/66 "2013-11-03T19:47:17Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I happened to be walking past the Check Inn 99 last night when a West Asian couple were trying to go in. That part of Bangkok has sleazy bars and sidewalk prostitutes but is also a haven for Arab tourists. Lots of Middle East restaurants and hotels that cater to the Arab and Persian trade. I heard the couple being told the tickets to get in – because of the _Rocky Horror Picture show_, last night was the final performance – were 1000 and 2000 baht (US$32 and $64). The look on their faces was priceless. Although it’s true _some_ of the ladies in the Check Inn are available for take-out for extracurricular activities, this is a long-established cabaret venue, it has quite a history\*, and this couple must have thought they were getting ripped off by some normal sleazy venue. The look on their faces was priceless. They declined to enter You didn’t happen to catch that show by any chance? I kinda did! ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/67 "2013-11-03T23:42:43Z")
I’ve never seen it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/68 "2013-11-04T02:49:57Z")
> [@jookster](#): > > You didn’t happen to catch that show by any chance? I kinda did! No but I would have liked to. How was it? ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/69 "2013-11-04T03:13:49Z")
Reading this thread has convinced me to seek it out and see it live. I tried sitting through it on TV numerous times, and i can never make it. But it must be a whole other experience to see it with a large audience on a big screen with everyone participating with it in some way. I will give it one more chance, but this time, in a theater. Never again on TV, or at least until I see how it works in a theater. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/70 "2013-11-04T03:21:13Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > But it must be a whole other experience to see it with a large audience on a big screen with everyone participating with it in some way. It’s like night and day. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/71 "2013-11-04T03:22:12Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > None of us had heard of **RHPS** and had absolutely no expectations for that flick. No one was in costume. So we suspected nothing, until the lights went down, and then someone started yelling “Lips! Lips!!” We were confused. Then we were blown away… You have to be adaptable, Dr Mercotan. I know Brad is. Personally, I find the idea of dressing up in leiderhosen and singing along with The Sound of Music to be waaay weirder than RHPS, but I’m the kind of Outlier who makes a list of all the movies referenced in Science Fiction, Double Feature and watches them. …I also always cry at weddings …and I want to come again (and again, and again). ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/72 "2013-11-04T04:02:54Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > So given the obvious appeal, my only question is: Why is this the _only_ one? The box cover on the disk I rented all those years ago called this the “#1 audience participation movie of all time”; well, what exactly did it beat out? When I first heard the hype about Snakes on a Plane, at least one article said that someone…producer, director, screenplay writer, I don’t know…wanted this to become the next big audience participation feature. It flopped and was never heard from again. There’s gotta be a way to recreate this success with more updated music, actors, costumes, etc., so why hasn’t anyone done it? Down in here in Melbourne we had a big RHPS scene for several years - it got overtaken by the Blues Brothers midnight showings. Same deal - dress up as your favorite character, sing, dance, shout out the famous lines, etc. I think overall, The Blues Brothers might have been the more popular. I went a few times to both. Both of them get regular ‘Nostalgia weeks’ every 5 or so years now. I agree with the other posters who say the RHPS \*\*\*on its own \*\*\*is an extremely dire movie (with good songs). ---
**Author:** ![jookster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7cd45c/32.png) [@jookster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jookster)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/73 "2013-11-04T05:56:48Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > No but I would have liked to. How was it? It was awesome! Standing ovations, amazing feedback etc. BTW regarding seeing it on the big screen vs theatre etc. With the audience and cast being within touching distance meant that people felt truly in the show and many participated by at the very least cheering and at the most speaking directly to the cast. Also in the words of Riff-Raff, sorry if you found my words misleading. I came across this thread searching for anything written about the show as I was the actor playing Frank-N-Furter. Cheers ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/74 "2013-11-04T07:20:00Z")
Ah, I see. Brilliant! Well, I’m sorry I missed it. Perhaps it should be an annual event, and if you play it again next year, I promise I’ll try to see it. I’m glad it went well. Feel free to stick around the Board too. I believe we have a few “sweet transvestites” among the crowd. ---
**Author:** ![jookster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7cd45c/32.png) [@jookster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jookster)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/75 "2013-11-04T07:34:03Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Ah, I see. Brilliant! Well, I’m sorry I missed it. Perhaps it should be an annual event, and if you play it again next year, I promise I’ll try to see it. I’m glad it went well. > > Feel free to stick around the Board too. I believe we have a few “sweet transvestites” among the crowd. Thanks man. Haha, well for me it is strictly an act! We may repeat it even before next Halloween season. Still deciding, and other projects are on the way. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/76 "2013-11-04T08:33:23Z")
Excellent. And congratulations on what sounds like a success. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/77 "2013-11-04T20:17:14Z")
I saw it five or six times in high school in the 70s and maybe three times since. A quick informal poll at the Key Theater in Georgetown in 1979 revealed two things the moviegoers had in common: all high schoolers, and all card-carrying members of the Thespian Society. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/78 "2013-11-06T08:40:36Z")
Is there a history of the phenomenon? Did the cast take a look at the box-office receipts, and come up with the idea to save it with an audience-participation routine or something? ---
**Author:** ![JLRogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@JLRogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JLRogers)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/79 "2013-11-06T11:01:30Z")
It’s a genuinely good movie. I guess it’s a good thing that a bunch of socially-awkward nerds latched onto it as an excuse to go out in public in costume and be extroverted for an evening because that resulted in wider distribution of the film, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not better watched on a decent home theater system without a bunch of people trying as hard as they can to remember thiry year old cues. > [@detop](#): > > Including the author, Richard O’Brian, with the sequel _Shock Treatment_ (which is a superior movie with songs often better that those from _Rocky Horror_). No. _Shock Treatment_ is trash. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748/80 "2013-11-06T12:24:28Z")
I’m hoping that Repo! The Genetic Opera follows in the footsteps of the RHPS. It’s got potential, not to mention Zydrate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-cult-following-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show/672748.md?page=5)