Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Rocky Horror Question

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Posted by Paul Goulet (Member # 297) on 04-02-2004, 11:45 AM:

Has anyone had midnight shows for "Rocky Horror"? Good?,Bad?, or just UGLY? all comments would be appreciated!

Paul Goulet

Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 04-02-2004, 11:48 AM:

Messy!

We were still finding rice on the floor months later!

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 04-02-2004, 12:25 PM:

When I was in high school, my friends and I used to go to Rocky Horror because it was something fun and silly that teenagers could do on a Saturday night. We never learned all the lines but we went and had fun anyway.

After a while, people would go just because you could throw stuff in a movie theater. People who went there to be "serious" would sit in the front. Idiots who just wanted to throw shit would sit in the back. A while after that, people in the back started throwing shit at the people in the front. It went down hill after that. It ended up being nothing more than a free-for-all. The theater(s) stopped showing it shortly after that. I don't believe there has been even ONE showing of Rocky Horror since then. I don't think any self-respecting theater manager/owner in this town would even consider taking a chance on that film.

If you "know" the demographics of the audience in your area and you think you are reasonably assured of getting an audience that will participate in the movie rather than just throwing junk and misbehaving I don't see any reason why you shouldn't do it.

Be forewarned! You WILL need to have extra staff on hand:

1) Crowd control and security. Even with the best audience demographics, you're bound to get at least a few A-Holes who will ruin it for everybody else if you don't keep a sharp eye on them.

2) Clean-up. 'Nuff said.

3) It's a good idea to have a few people there, in costume, who stand up in front and act as "group leaders". I'm sure you'll get a lot of people who know the lines and the cues when they should do stuff. (When to throw the rice, for instance.) However, not everybody who comes will know. Heck! I don't remember how to do the "Time Warp" anymore. It's good to have people there to refresh/teach the audience.

I guess the overriding decision is whether all the extra money you spend will be made up at the box office and/or concession stand.

Properly planned and executed, there's no reason why a small college theater couldn't do Rocky Horror and have a good time of it. If it was me, I'd be checking student IDs at the door, though!

Posted by Derek Miner (Member # 2348) on 04-04-2004, 12:27 AM:

Here in Tampa, FL, they do an annual show at (of all places), the historical Tampa Theater. This is a beautiful classic movie house which is constantly being restored. It amazes me that they still do this year after year, considering they get over 1,000 people throwing stuff everywhere each show (and they've sold out two shows for a couple years now). There's also a cast in the nearby town of St. Petersburg Beach at a small little place called Beach Theater. I haven't been out to their show, but I've soured on Rocky Horror a bit since I realized that you can never get the jokes the people in the audience toss out at the film, because it's a constant shouting match between four or five different comments at once.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 04-04-2004, 12:35 AM:

MANY years ago, we ran it at an indoor I opened, then closed. It started very strong, filling the place twice a week. Eventually, the novelty dropped off, & we abandoned the sinking ship.

The picture's on video & has been on cable. I don't know if the passion exists anywhere now, but it's sure tapped out here.

Back then, the prints weren't all that great, either... and Fox took half the boxoffice.

Posted by Derek Miner (Member # 2348) on 04-04-2004, 12:18 PM:

Fox did a new batch of prints in 1990 (with stereo sound for the first time). I suppose they will still occasionally strike new prints - The Tampa Theater show here in 2002 was a brand new print.

Since they went back and made a 5.1 mix for DVD, I really wish they'd strike new Dolby Digital prints. The stereo soundtrack from 1990 was almost universally loathed by fans of the film. The DVD version is many times better.

Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 04-04-2004, 07:07 PM:

We did it at Hollywood Hits in Danvers, MA every month with a live cast. All people going to the show got a pat down before entering the theater, there was no throwing of items (except popcorn, but you had to buy that!) allowed. It worked out pretty good because instead of throwing stuff people basically got a strip show. It wouldn't have worked without the live cast though! [Big Grin]

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 04-04-2004, 07:57 PM:

The biggest problem with the 1990 stereo track is that it must be played in stereo, since they mixed a lot of sound and dialog specifically to come from the rear channel. When played in mono, a lot of the dialog and sound is diffused and muddled.

/Mitchell

Posted by Dan Lyons (Member # 1454) on 04-04-2004, 10:15 PM:

Here is the story of what has happened to the RHPS audio through the years. This page helped get the DVD released with the original mono soundtrack back in place.
RHPS sound track info

The 5.1 was mixed off the mono. The stereo soundtrack now only exists on old VHS copies and the current theatrical prints. [uhoh]

Danny

Posted by Luciano Brigite (Member # 1104) on 04-04-2004, 10:30 PM:

I've been wondering what makes this movie so.. umm.."special"
I have heard about it a few times, most of them here and I'm curious about it.I've been trying to find it on dvd too but didn't find it on reg.4 yet. (can't play reg1 or any other).I wanna see it but no luck in finding it until now..

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 04-05-2004, 02:08 AM:

Luciano, to be perfectly honest, save for the catchy songs and lavish set design/art direction the movie as a standalone entity plain SUCKS.

Having seen RHPS for the first time in a virtually empty theatre in 1983, I too wondered what all the hype and hoopla was about...

Then I ran the film (carbons and changeovers) later the same year to a sold-out house, complete with the Berkeley live cast , and it became a completely different movie once all the audience participation and live cast stuff happened.

I was hooked from then on [Smile]

If you can find a screening of RHPS that features a live cast, by all means GO and see it!

-Aaron

Posted by Derek Miner (Member # 2348) on 04-05-2004, 02:19 AM:

I also got some notice from the Rocky Horror fans for trying to help get a new sound mix on my own site:
http://minerwerks.tripod.com/ew/rocky/rocky.html

Posted by Bryan J Arseneau (Member # 1832) on 04-05-2004, 03:04 AM:

Having run RHPS over 5000 times here in Toronor
*Clean up was a mess (Confittee)
*was R for the longeat time
*Line up around the block
*It is still running here, about 1 time a month , they now throw rice have a great time , and all the straight, by, gay, transgendered and whatever have a great time.
If you are in Toronto and it is playing at the Bloor, come and have a good time

Posted by Luciano Brigite (Member # 1104) on 04-06-2004, 12:43 AM:

Well, I'll keep looking for it here on dvd. most of people from cd/dvd/video stores I ask about this movie looks at me with the "what the heck is he talking about" face [Frown]

Only two people knew a very little about it but never saw it for sale. only place I'd get it,by order,wanted my arm and half a leg for it grrr..
I don't know if this movie got to the big screen here or if it did,maybe didn't go well since any of the old time theatre people from where I am remembered about it.asking about it at the film depot only turned out into aonother "duh?" and a "try finding out who distributed it and giving them a call" wich I did and was left waiting 'til the line droped.
but I'll get it someday [thumbsup]

Posted by Bryan J Arseneau (Member # 1832) on 04-06-2004, 02:51 AM:

Here in Canada. it is 20Th. Centery Fox.
As far as I know it is avaible now on DVD (in Canada)
Remember this opemed in 1977 and is still going
Can be FUN but can also be a lot of work

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 04-07-2004, 01:07 AM:

The trick is to schedule the Rocky show as your last show of the day and leave the cleanup to the janitors!! [evil]

It can be fun with the right crowd, but I have heard some Rocky Horror Stories (pun intended). Eveything from hotdogs and a 5lb bag of rice being thrown, to a member of the cast falling THROUGH the screen! (Saw the patched hole at the theater as proof).

The Carefree Theater in West Palm Beach used to do it every week, and was the 3rd or 4th longest continuous-running engagement in the country. Then, the skinheads and punks started showing up to beat up the gay and bi people after the midnight show, and they put an end to it. [Frown]

They only do it on Halloween now.

=TMP=