The best movie watching atmosphere I've ever been a part of was the premier of Snakes on a Plane. The crowd was rowdy, people had balloon snakes as props and snake hissing could be heard throughout. If I was at the premier in a major city, I probably would have seen some snake costumes or guys dressed like Samuel L. Jackson. When the lights came down, the crowd roared. When Samuel L. Jackson came on to the screen for the first time, there was a standing ovation. Whenever a snake bit someone, there would be a shriek. It was probably the most fun I've ever had at a theater. Sometimes you don't watch a movie, you experience it. I've only seen Snakes twice, once in theaters and once more on DVD. I don't really care to ever watch it again because I won't ever get back that feeling I got in the theater. While I enjoyed watching the DVD at home, it wasn't nearly the same and nowhere near as good, but it doesn't really matter because I will still have that memory, that experience.
I suspect how I felt about watching Snakes that one day is much like the phenomenon of watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show in theaters. It has the longest running theatrical run in film history as it has never been pulled by 20th Century Fox since its 1975 release. That's over 35 years of people going out to watch this movie, making it the most successful and well known cult classic ever. Even with the introduction of home video, people still were lining up in droves to watch the midnight showings at their local art house theater. This isn't a movie to be watched alone on your computer, it's a movie you go out and experience with all the crazies who dress up in costumes, dance and sing all the songs and act out all the scenes. If there was a list of movies I wish I got a chance to see in theaters, Star Wars would probably be my top pick, but The Rocky Horror Picture Show wouldn't be too far behind. Some films just transcend the screen and become cultural phenomenons.
I'm too young to have experienced the Rocky Horror culture and live too far away to watch a one time showing in some art house theater in hopes the crowd will be lively, so I cannot really comment on its cult status or its theater experience. I can only speak on the movie I watched on my computer. It is kind of strange to see which movies get picked out for cult status material and which ones just become forgotten. This film could have easily been one of the forgotten ones, but by some stroke of luck and clever marketing, its become a permanent fixture in the cinematic landscape.
What makes The Rocky Horror Picture Show work as a movie then? Absurd characters and story lines, campy dialogue, low budget effects, and over the top melodramatic acting are all by design. It is meant as a parody to those 1950's B horror and sci-fi movies, but to call it a pure homage film would do it a great disservice. It has its own unique characteristics and is funny, sensual, and provocative. It is also bold, especially for its time, for its representation of gay and transgender culture. It openly flaunts its sexuality and hides nothing. The aliens come from the Transexual, Transylvania. That pretty much says it all.
However, I could not help but feel a little detached from the whole experience. Part of it is due to the fact that the movie really isn't that good and the knowledge that the movie I was watching wasn't the same movie that people watched in theaters in the 1980's.
Grade: B-
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