First of all, let me just say that I love this film. But I'll admit it does have its faults. First, the good points. It's a spot-on spoof of those terrible old B-movies, from the terrible special effects to the ridiculous story to the wooden characters. Yes, it's pointless and dumb, but it's meant to be. Watch 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' or 'The Blob' and you'll see what the makers were getting at. It's funny in the same way- ridiculous lines like, "This sonic transducer- it is I suppose some kind of audio-vibratory physio-molecular transport device?" and "Throw open the switches on the sonic oscillator- and step up the reactor power input three more points!" that can't possibly be taken seriously abound. The look of the film is unique. Apart from the costume and makeup, the background is full of references to art, film and history while at the same time looking wonderfully cheap. There is an unsettling confusion over time and place (it takes place on a "late November evening", yet Nixon's resignation speech is playing on the radio) and this is helped by the editing- is it deliberately bad? And there are some excellent musical numbers which are definitely a triumph of style over substance- not that this is a bad thing. Unfortunately, the film does run out of steam towards the end. It feels very heavily padded- the Criminologist seems to fulfil no function other than to state the obvious, and the last two musical numbers go on too long without being very memorable. And if you're not open minded, you may find the film's frank portrayals of homosexuality, transvestism, incest and S&M disturbing. To quote about nine hundred reviewers before me, "you either get it or you don't". If this sort of thing is not your bag, you won't enjoy it. Simple as that.
Review of The Rocky Horror Picture Show
