Product Details

• Actors: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn
• Directors: Jim Sharman
• Writers: Richard O'Brien, Jim Sharman
• Producers: Lou Adler
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Special Edition, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
• VHS Release Date: September 15, 1998
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305076626
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #25,599 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #9 in	Video > Cult Movies > Music & Musicals
  #28 in	Video > Special Interests > Cooking & Beverages > Meat, Poultry & Seafood
  #43 in	Video > Art House & International > United Kingdom > Music & Musicals

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

If a musical sci-fi satire about an alien transvestite named Frank-n-Furter, who is building the perfect man while playing sexual games with his virginal visitors, sounds like an intriguing premise for a movie, then you're in for a treat. Not only is The Rocky Horror Picture all this and more, but it stars the surprising cast of Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick (as the demure Janet and uptight Brad, who get lost in a storm and find themselves stranded at Frank-n-Furter's mansion), Meat Loaf (as the rebel Eddie), Charles Gray (as our criminologist and narrator), and, of course, the inimitable Tim Curry as our "sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania."

Upon its release in 1975, the film was an astounding flop. But a few devotees persuaded a New York theater to show it at midnight, and thus was born one of the ultimate cult films of all time. The songs are addictive (just try getting "The Time Warp" or "Toucha Toucha Touch Me" out of your head), the raunchiness amusing, and the plot line utterly ridiculous--in other words, this film is simply tremendous good fun. The downfall, however, is that much of the amusement is found in the audience participation that is obviously missing from a video version (viewers in theaters shout lines at the screen and use props--such as holding up newspapers and shooting water guns during the storm, and throwing rice during a wedding scene). Watched alone as a straight movie, Rocky Horror loses a tremendous amount of its charm. Yet, for those who wish to perfect their lip-synching techniques for movie theater performances or for those who want to gather a crowd around the TV at home for some good, old-fashioned, rowdy fun, this film can't be beat. --Jenny Brown

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not For Everyone, But Definitely for Me!, June 18, 2000

By	"janofx" (sandy eggo) - See all my reviews

So maybe this isn't exactly award-winning material. So what? "Rocky Horror" isn't meant to be some uptight, emotional, stuffy piece; in fact, it goes out of its way to be just the opposite. It's a satirical piece that makes plays on corny sci-fi late night flicks, drippy musicals, and corny Frankenstein-type horror [ex. Doctor Frank N. Furter, for example?]

The movie is packed with get-up-and-dance rock tunes, overdone acting that seems just right, and a wildly ridiculous plot. Tim Curry is simply brilliant; from his authoriative-yet-plaintive cries of "Oh Rocky!" to his flashy and utterly corny performance of "Sweet Transvestite." The best scene for me is right after he transduces Janet, Brad, Doctor Scott, Rocky, and Columbia, sighing heavily, "It's not easy having fun...even smiling makes my teeth ache.." before biting his finger in melodramatic anguish. Other good performances include that of Susan Sarandon, who scores high as the naive and inexperienced yet curious Janet.

"Rocky Horror" isn't for everybody. Some may write it off as "sick" while others may view it as pointless. True, it took me a while to realize the whole point of the movie and piece together bits of the plot for myself, but this movie is all in good humor. So, to all you people out there who
a) refuse to see "Rocky" after hearing 5 or 6 people complaining about its disgusting content
b) have seen it once and, after deciding that it was "pointless," and turned the movie off immediately...

This I say to you...
"Maybe Rocky Horror isn't really to blame. So, I'll remove the cause..... But NOT the symptom!"

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wild and an untamed thing..., March 4, 2004

By	Scott Boland (Woodridge, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This video is far more deserving than any other review the rocky horror picture show could get. I like to think of this version as perfect for halloween kareoke. The video has interviews with cos players at the theater about their performance mimicking the movie. After the movie is over, we are shown just how much fans love the time warp at the theater performance. Also, the words are silenced at "Oh brad" (as in when they also say janet), "Creature of the night" (all the characters except rocky at the end) Riff Raff's dazzling "it's all over" song thingy, and the music at the beginning of the floor show (as frank is prepping the performers) is lowered significantly.

Each Rocky Horror video has it's own charm, everything in a certain place. The 25th anniversary, for example, has the two songs that were cut. As for the dvd's, the basic grey covered one I've noticed is exactly the same as disc one of the two disc set, so as far as dvd's go, the two disc set is the way to go (although the dvd version of the movie sucks because the audio tracks are different, it just doesnt seem right, but the extras are great) If you're a newcomer to the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and you need other people to tell you just how great it is, this video is for you (it does include the movie by the way).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not so special edition..., April 23, 2000

By	J. T. Nite "mightybjorn" (Mesa, AZ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I loved it before I knew that it played in midnight theaters, I loved it as a movie before I loved it as an experience. I bought the regular edition on video as soon as I could, and when I found out about the "special edition" I pounced on it.

Unfortunately, it's not a very "special" edition at all. The original ending with Superheroes is a treat, but it's AFTER the closing credits in a seperate section. Why not put it where it was originally, so you don't have to watch the end of the movie, fast forward, and watch the end of the movie again? Boneheaded move on 20th Century's part.

The other deleted scene, "Once in Awhile," was deleted for obvious reasons. It's a great song, but there's only about 5 seconds of new footage, and the rest is a montage of scenes from the rest of the movie. If you've got any of the Rocky Horror CDs, you've already heard the song, so it's no big thrill to have not-quite-matching visuals with it.

If you don't already own any video edition of Rocky Horror, this one's as good as any. But for a die-hard fan looking for a "special edition," this just doesn't cut it.