There have been several movies based on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein over the years, and the most bizarre adaptation came out 50 years ago. In all, there have been over 50 different movies featuring Frankenstein’s Monster itself, second most to only Dracula for monster movies.
This also doesn’t include the movies that are influenced by Mary Shelley’s story, and there are several that fit that description. However, one of the weirdest movies to ever be based directly on Frankenstein, but one that most horror fans don’t mention when comparing it to the horror monster, is The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show Is The Weirdest Frankenstein Adaptation
The homage to Frankenstein is evident to anyone who pays attention to the plot of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. For one thing, Tim Curry’s lead character is named Dr. Frank-N-Furter. The name is an eye-rolling play on Frankenstein, but in this movie, it is less eye-rolling and actually part of the charm.
It is easy to understand why some people miss the similarities, since the primary focus is on the transvestite alien from Transexual Transylvania, and the incredible music and dance numbers. However, the plot is 100% a retelling of Frankenstein, as Frank-N-Furter brings his Creature to life with the blonde-haired, muscular Rocky Horror.
There is also the iconic scene where Rocky Horror, in a rage, carries his creator to the top of the tower before being shot down to his death, a clear homage to the final moments in Universal Studios’ Frankenstein, which sees the Monster similarly fall to his doom from a tall tower. Rocky Horror is a clear Frankenstein story.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show Is A Cult Classic That Overcame A Box Office Flop
It should come as no surprise that The Rocky Horror Picture Show flopped miserably at the box office when released in 1975. While there was a clear counterculture movement when it arrived in theaters, the themes of this movie were still mostly niche at the time, and the audience wasn’t big enough to help it achieve mainstream success.
That said, mainstream success was never needed for The Rocky Horror Picture Show. When released, it only did well at one single location and had its other screenings canceled. It tried some screenings around college campuses and once again failed. The movie seemed dead in the water until Fox made a brilliant decision.
Fox noticed some midnight screenings were making movies like Pink Flamingos and Reefer Madness successful, so the studio decided to try it out on The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This began to help the movie develop a cult following a full year after its failed theatrical release, and the rest is history.
There are a lot of movies that didn’t find success when released in theaters that found success years later. It took decades for It’s a Wonderful Life to find success after it flopped at the box office. Citizen Kane wasn’t considered a masterpiece until 15 years after its initial release.
John Carpenter’s The Thing was a box office flop that found success on home video, and it took a decade before critics came around to its brilliance. Even Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was a failure in 1971 until people rediscovered it in the 1980s and made it a beloved classic.
The amazing thing is that The Rocky Horror Picture Show didn’t take a decade or more to find its success. All it took was the innovative thinking of a Fox executive who refused to give up on the film after its initial failure. He moved it to midnight screenings, and it became a massive success story.
Rocky Horror Picture Show Is The Longest-Running Theatrical Release In History
Since Fox moved The Rocky Horror Picture Show to midnight screenings in 1976, the movie has never stopped screening. It seems almost incredible to think about it, but 50 years after The Rocky Horror Picture Show first hit theaters, people are still paying money to see it in theaters to this very day.
The screenings are also more than just watching a movie for the hundredth time on the big screen. These are actual events. People dress up as their favorite characters from the movie. They bring props and have designated times to use them. There are sometimes actors performing in front of the screen alongside the movie.
There has never been anything like this, to this level at least. There have been some movies that tried to capitalize on the success, such as the eccentric Repo: The Genetic Opera, which also had midnight screenings and asked fans to arrive dressed up and ready to have fun. This is the legacy Rocky Horror has had on cinema.
Star Tim Curry recently admitted that he is proud of the success of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and its legacy over the years. “One of the things that the movie does, I think, is give anyone permission to behave as badly as they really want, in whatever way and with whom,” he said. “And I’m proud of that.“
In 1973, Jim Sharman brought his musical production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show to the stage. Two years later, he took his strange retelling of the Frankenstein story to theaters in movie form. While it was not an immediate success, 50 years later, it remains one of the best Frankenstein films in the history of cinema.
