STRANGE JOURNEY: THE STORY OF ROCKY HORROR

Calling all fans of The Rocky Horror Picture Show! The new documentary Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror is now out on Blu-Ray for you to add to your physical media library. Maybe you’ve never seen the original film. You need to rectify that. When you think of cult films, Rocky Horror is at the top of that list. It’s fan base continues to grow year after year as people flock to live performances and dress up as their favorite characters every Halloween. The original musical is now back on Broadway starring Luke Evans, Rachel Dratch, Stephanie Hsu, Andrew Durand, Amber Gray, and Harvey Guillén. My husband recently saw it and LOVED it.

The movie celebrated its 50^th anniversary last year, and the new documentary Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror looks back at the film’s creation and fifty-year legacy. Strange Journey starts off in a good place as its director Linus O’Brien is the son of Rocky Horror creator Richard O’Brien. We’re welcomed into a father/son conversation about the very piece of pop culture that forever changed their lives. Richard O’Brien was a working actor appearing in the West End in productions like Jesus Christ Superstar and Hair and wanted to write a rock musical of his own. Like many original musicals, it started off scrappy and low budget. Its director, Jim Sharman, suggestion O’Brien play the role of Riff Raff when he actually wanted to play the smaller part of Eddie, the bicycle rocker than would later be played by Meatloaf. There was no pressure in getting the show mounted, which meant the creative process was fun and easy for its cast and crew as the show was a combination of high art and low art in an immersive theater setting. The musical became a sleeper hit eventually transferring to Los Angeles earning another big crowd. The role of Frank N Furter was played by genius character actor, Tim Curry, who knew how to come alive to express the desire and identity within the character. One thing led to another, and it was suggested to turn the stage musical into a movie keeping most of its cast and that core tone and low budget feel behind it.

Here’s a video I made for TikTok

@paulsmovietrip

Calling all #RockyHorror fans! The documentary #StrangeJourney is now out on Blu-Ray Add it to your collection today #documentary #movietok #physicalmedia

♬ original sound – Paul McGuire Grimes

Here’s the original review of the movie I did for the theatrical release