A London theater play evolves into a groundbreaking cult phenomenon, featuring iconic songs and performances that celebrate individuality. The legacy lives on through midnight screenings and a devoted following that spans generations.
What We Thought:
Even though I’ve never seen the stage version of The Rocky Horror Show, I’ve always enjoyed The Rocky Horror Picture Show (film version of the stage show) so Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror was right up my alley. If you enjoy either version or have been to a midnight showing of the film, you’ll dig it as well.
The documentary comes from Linus O’Brien who is the son of Richard O’Brien who created the original stage show. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation. The movie opens following Richard O’Brien returning home to New Zealand. It then gets into how he left being a barber to take method acting classes and started working on stage shows like Hair. He then created The Rocky Horror Show which took London by storm. As it become the hot ticket and created buzz, it did a tour in Los Angeles where Hollywood fell in love with it.
At that point producers wanted to make the movie adaptation and the documentary follows that process. They wanted Susan Sarandon but her agent didn’t want her auditioning so they auditioned Barry Bostwick who was friends with Sarandon and got her to read with him. Eventually both were cast for the film while most of the original stage performers including O’Brien and Tim Curry performed their characters in the film. After filming the movie, the stage show went to New York and was hated, but the movie was coming out so everything seemed grand.
Of course if you know anything about the movie, well it wasn’t a hit, at first. It didn’t light the box office on fire, but midnight screenings turned profitable and soon crowds were filled with people in costumes, talking back to the screen and singing. The film wasn’t a hit, but it became an event.
Along with the making of the show and film, the documentary delves into what Rocky Horror means to fans. Jack Black is featured and how it opened his eyes to rock & roll and performance art. Fans talk about finding their community and what it means to those outside of cultural norms.
Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror is definitely for the fans and there’s nothing wrong with that. If you aren’t familiar with the show or movie you might not get much out of it, but fans will eat it up. It was tough seeing Tim Curry in such bad shape, but he’s been sick for a while now. If you are a fan definitely check out the documentary.
The Nerds Templar 