I don't know how you feel about the spectacle of Tim Curry dressed up in drag, loudly professing his strong desire to bed Peter Hinwood in Rocky Horror Picture Show. The picture is the very definition of Cult Movie, but there are plenty who don't dig it. I'm told that former MST3K cast member Kevin Murphy savages Rocky Horror in his book A Year at the Movies: One Man's Filmgoing Odyssey. I myself have always been ambivalent about it; I had a good time seeing a few showings of it in high school, but haven't felt the urge to see it since then.
At any rate, here's some truth, whether we want to admit it or not:
For those of us who had the sense to grow up on GOOD movies; for those of us fortunate enough to be knocked on our asses at a young age by the ART of Willis O'Brien, Ray Harryhausen, Val Lewton, Jack Arnold, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Curt Siodmak, and even Ib Melchior; for those of us who like music, and I mean really LOVE the stuff, and don't just use it as background noise for our boring lives:
We owe Richard O'Brien a debt of gratitude. Rocky Horror's opening tune, Science Fiction/Double Feature, is cool beyond words. Not only is it a heartfelt homage to the greatest movies in cinema history - no hyperbole here, I assure all of you movie snobs - but the names of Fay Wray, Leo G. Carroll, Michael Rennie, Claude Raines and Anne Francis are celebrated throughout. Names that most of you fools don't even know. Even the great Buddy Holly is invoked in Meatloaf's showcase, Hot Patootie.
The man understands. He is one of us. Beats me if the movie deserves classic status, but if you ever read this, Richard, It means something that you acknowledged these geniuses, knowing full well that most of the folks listening to the soundtrack would have no idea what you're talking about. At least someone's paying attention.
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