The Rocky Horror Picture Show does Halloween year round

The Rocky Horror Picture Show certainly isn’t a horror movie even though the word is in the title, but in the spirit of Halloween, I felt like it certainly has its place because the experience of seeing Rocky Horror at a midnight screening — no matter what time of year — is like attending a big Halloween party with a couple hundred of your “closest” friends.

The one standard thing Rocky Horror shares with a classic horror movie is the “old, dark house,” in this case a spooky old castle apparently under the care of a hunchback and a white-faced, red-lipped maid. But this castle isn’t haunted by spirits of the dead … instead there is a celebration taking place with a bizarre collection of party-goers. With this group of characters alone, pretty much anyone can dress up and be an audience participant (and I have dressed up many times as a Transylvanian party-goer).

The two “straight” leads of the film are a little more subdued in attire — unless you prefer to dress as them post-arrival when they are stripped out of their wet clothes and spend most of the rest of the movie in their underwear. Of course, the best costume, the one that allows both men and women to indulge themselves in the forbidden is that of the, umm, man of the house so to speak: Dr. Frank-N-Furter, everyone’s favorite transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania. A spangled bustier, garter belt, panties, fishnets and some high platform heels … and a generous amount of makeup … can turn any Halloween celebrant into the talk of the party.

Dressing up is only one part of the Rocky Horror experience. There’s the audience partici … pation — throwing rice and toilet paper, the squirt guns and newspaper, the yelling lines back at the screen — that makes the experience of seeing Rocky Horror at a theater such fun. Of course there are the fabulous songs, amazing set design and direction, and a cast of relative unknowns who, in some cases, went on to much bigger and better things: Tim Curry, Barry Bostwick, Susan Sarandon, Meat Loaf, Richard O’Brien, Patricia Quinn, Little Nell, Peter Hinwood, Jonathan Adams and Charles Gray (O’Brien, Quinn, Nell and Gray went on to appear in a sequel, Shock Treatment, as completely different characters). But what makes The Rocky Horror Picture Show the perfect movie for Halloween are the costumes by Sue Blane. From a traditional butler and French maid to the “Sweet Transvestite,” there is something for everyone who wants to play a little dress-up.

So if you’re looking for something a little different this year than your standard masked slasher, vampire, ghost, zombie or any other traditional Halloween costume, get some inspiration from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. You know you want to. Go ahead … “Don’t dream it … be it.”

Clacked by Chuck Duncan
on Oct 06, 2011 @ 09:00 EST5EDT