Review of The Rocky Horror Picture Show

This odd film is what has become known as a "cult classic." To understand why, you have to know that it was something of a flop when it first came out, but it got picked up at late-night screenings on college campuses and audiences started dressing up as characters in the film, throwing rice and toast at the screen during appropriate moments, talking back to the characters, and just generally turning the screening into a party. What the partying did was make hard rock, sadomasochism, and homoerotic innuendo palatable to the movie-going public. Still, knowing the great roles that were to follow, it's fun to watch the young Susan Sarandon as the innocent ingénue. ---from Musicals on the Silver Screen, American Library Association. 2013