The Rocky Horror Picture Show at 50: Richard O'Brien on why the cult classic is more important than ever

Frank-N-Furter resides in an American castle with an assortment of equally bizarre companions – including O'Brien's own Riff-Raff – and when newly-engaged couple Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick) and Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon) stop by seeking refuge on a stormy might, they soon find themselves caught up in a bonkers world of manufactured muscle men, motorcyclist murders and a myriad of magical musical moments.

Although not a major hit at the time of release, the film found a devoted audience when it became a fixture on the midnight movie circuit. That audience has continued to grow ever since, with interactive, fancy-dress sing-a-long screenings still occurring on a weekly basis all around the world. Fifty years on, O'Brien remains overwhelmed by the popularity.

"It's always been this astonishment, that it just goes on and on and on," he tells RadioTimes.com from his New Zealand home during an exclusive interview. He goes on to outline one particular incident from the last decade that sums up his levels of disbelief at the film's longevity.

"I was sitting in Germany in the front row while there was a production on stage in English with the narrator in German," he explains. "And two little girls were sitting at the end of the row... they were 13 years old, something like that.

"And they were singing along with all the songs in English! And of course you go, 'But it's 40 years ago and you're only 13! How do you know all the... How does that work?!' And it just keeps surprising you again and again and again this piece."

Part of the surprise, O'Brien rather modestly claims, stems from that fact that "when you take it all apart, it's not a great piece of theatrical writing".

"It's not Shakespeare, is it?" he says. "It's not Oedipus. It's a very, very slight piece of entertainment. But it keeps ticking boxes, so many boxes that we recognise, even if it's only a bit after the event. It keeps the audience happy. It makes them laugh.

"They want to follow along, because it's an easy story to follow, because it's a classic story. It is Adam and Eve and then the serpent is Frank-N-Furter. So we have that basis of everybody's safe going on this journey, because we kind of pick up the basics of it somehow or other deeply, deeply embedded in our psyches."

There's another reason, too, why O'Brien thinks it endures.

"The naughtiness," he says with a smile. "We all like a little bit of naughty. I remember when Julie Covington, [who] was our very first Janet... we were rehearsing, and she got to the end of the scene that she has with with Rocky... and I thought, 'This is ridiculous. This is Julie Covington. She's a singer, and she doesn't have a song!'

"So I went home and wrote Touch-a-Touch-a-Touch-a-Touch Me. I took it in the next day and played it to her and she said to me,' Thank you so much for writing a song where I can sing, I want to be dirty! Thank you so much.'"

O'Brien is speaking to us to mark the release of a new documentary, Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror, which is being released in select UK cinemas to coincide with the anniversary.

The doc charts the journey of the film from its early days as a stage show and its subsequent cinematic release, to its emergence as a cult classic and the particular significance it holds for members of the LGBTQ+ community, with O'Brien's own son Linus O'Brien serving as the director.

"I had several overtures from different production companies wanting to document the 50 years," O'Brien Sr explains. "Because it was a 50-year event, the birthday. And when Linus said he wanted to do it, it was just complete relief.

"Because, you know, there's a safe pair of hands on the tiller and you know that it's going to be dealt with in a productive manner. It was not going to go down an avenue that you don't particularly want it to go down, is what I'm saying. Because you never know, do you?"

As well as speaking at length to his dad – who performs pleasant acoustic covers of several of the film's famous songs throughout the doc – O'Brien Jr also interviewed a number of other contributors, such as long-time fans like Trixie Mattel and Jack Black and several members of the film's cast, including Curry, Sarandon and Bostwick.

With the exception of his songwriting partner Richard Hartley, O'Brien doesn't regularly see the collaborators he worked with on the film these days, so he greatly enjoyed the experience of watching them reminisce about the incredible experience they'd all shared.

"It was interesting because we were only having three weeks' fun, and it turned into five weeks, and then we got the opportunity to make the movie," he says. "Not only did we get the opportunity to make the movie, but our director, a stage director, was given money by 20th Century Fox and allowed to direct the movie. This is unheard of, really. This is really unusual.

"Once a company like Fox buys film rights, they generally want to cast it themselves, because they're in the film business. They know who goes to the cinema. They don't want a cast full of unknowns. They want somebody that's going to be on the ticket that attracts an audience, generally speaking, and we didn't have that either. We were all allowed to play our roles.

"It was quite delightful and the fact that Susan and Barry were Americans and unused to this piece coming into our already, you know, affiliated little family was actually rather wonderful, because they really were the outsiders, and that worked terribly well."

One other aspect the documentary touches on – and one which feels especially worth remarking upon – is that more than just being a frivolous bit of fun, the film has emerged as a genuine safe space for people, especially within the LGBTQ+ community, to feel welcome.

This, the film states, is especially important now at time in which certain freedoms that might previously have been taken for granted are coming under threat – with a number of US states including Tennessee, Texas and Montana having passed laws in recent years to ban drag artists from performing in certain public spaces. (The laws were later blocked by judges).

When asked if he thinks the film has become more important than ever in light of this climate, O'Brien is enthusiastic in his response.

"I do, I do," he says. "And the opportunity to talk to you gives me a chance – as we should – to keep raising and flying the rainbow banner and waving the rainbow banner high and speaking out against social injustice and the way this world is going."

He adds: "Once upon a time, I would have argued vehemently against Rocky ever being an important piece of work. I'd just say it's a piece of lovely, childish fun, you know. And that's all it is. It's just a musical comedy, little more, little less.

"But now it's not, it's a rallying point. It's a rainbow event. And I'm very grateful for that, being a rainbow person myself with children and grandchildren who I want to grow up and be part of a world which is tolerant and kind and gentle and less brutal."

It's that significance – along with all the many other joys of the film – that ensures people will, without question, still be doing the time warp again another 50 years from now.

Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror is now showing in UK cinemas and The Rocky Horror Picture Show is streaming on Disney+.

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