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The Rocky Horror Show is a cultural phenomenum, the film even more so. but why. In this new doc Andreas Zerr gets to the heart of Rocky Horror.
NYX: When did you first hear of the show?
AZ: Back in the mid 80s, when all of us kids had VHS recorders instead of Netflix or YouTube, a friend gave me a (very bad) copy of the movie, and I watched it a few times. It did not appeal to me much, and I did not really liked it, especially not the second half which drags along endlessly, but I enjoyed the music for quite awhile. After that, I pretty much forgot about Rocky Horror. Fast forward 30 years and it suddenly became this huge project.
NYX: Why did you decide to make a doc on such a phenomenon?
AZ: More or less by incident I heard a song from the soundtrack, and I was asking myself, whatever happened to [Faye Wray] all the people involved? Everybody knows about the amazing careers of Susan Sarandon, Tim Curry and Meat Loaf, but little was known of the whereabouts of Richard O’Brien, Nell Campbell, Pat Quinn and so forth. Initially the documentary was planned as a 30-min feature about the movie, the stars and the fans — kind of a “late making-off”. Little did we know at that time how amazing the whole history of Rocky Horror is, from conception to global fandom.
NYX: How did you go about planning it?
AZ: Honestly, there wasn’t much planning involved, it was always kind of a “work in progress” project. The deeper we dug into the history (and the present) of Rocky Horror, the more interesting it became. And the more people we’ve met, the more phone numbers and contacts where given to us. So it grew very organically. Also, from the very beginning it was clear to us that we did not want any studio or network being involved, as we wanted to retain full creative control. So we’ve finance the whole project privately, which meant that we could not pay the team upfront. As a result, we had to be very sensitive in planning trips and shooting schedules around other (paid) jobs, which (among other things) let to this long timespan of ten years for this production.
NYX: I feel this could have been much longer, was there much material left on the cutting room floor?
AZ: There’s a natural restriction for the duration of documentaries, which we’ve pretty much already exceeded with a runtime of nearly 100 minutes. But yes, there’s a lot of material left in the editing. We filmed something like 80 interviews all around the world, so there’s roughly 100 hours of interview footage, plus all the shows and surroundings we’ve captured. During the edit we had to leave out whole segments like the first Australian run in 1974, tons of interesting and funny behind-the-scenes bits and pieces from the early shows and the filming, a lot of personal stories from the first generation of fans and, of course, hours and hours of insights from current shadow casts. But hopefully we will have the opportunity to edit and publish some of that footage as bonus material on DVD or for social media.
NYX: Was there anyone you wanted to get for the doc but couldn’t get hold of them?
AZ: At first it was kind of frustrating that Richard O’Brien had refused an interview very early on in the production, because he did not want to be involved with anything in connection with the movie. Also, as an independent film producer without a big name, studio or budget, it’s kind of hard to get A-list celebrities like Susan Sarandon or Tim Curry for interviews. But in hindsight I’m glad that it did not work out, because it would have become a completely different movie. As a filmmaker, if you have celebrities on camera, you want to give them screen time, more or less regardless of what they are saying, just to announce the participation of “him” or “her” in the picture, which obviously is very good for promotional purposes. Because we do not have some of these “big names”, there’s a whole bunch of other, less prominent people from cast and crew, telling their stories about Rocky Horror, which have not been heard before, and who provide our documentary with a certain unmatched quality, and a more in-depth. The only person I would have loved to have in the documentary would have been Brian Thomson, the original set designer, but it did not work out. And of course Meat Loaf, who sadly passed away just months before we were about to meet him.
NYX: Did you have a favourite interviewee?
AZ: All of them were great, and very open to our questions. My favourite interviews were the ones I did not expect much at the beginning, because the particular person would only have been on the fringe of events. But most of those interviews became highly interesting and entertaining, because of very intense background stories we did not expect.
NYX: What new facts surprised you the most?
AZ: Most surprising were the entanglements and connections most of the artists had: the plays the actors performed together, the creative crew working on different projects together, the film crew moving on to very prestigious films afterwards (for example, the makeup designer from the movie also created Darth Vader’s makeup in Star Wars VI) and so on. It’s quite astonishing how much of a creative melting pod London in the early 70s was, which to this date still has a huge impact on pop culture.
NYX: How many times have you watched or seen TRHS?
AZ: Too often.
NYX: Why do you think the movie failed at first?
AZ: It was too far ahead of its time, and the mainstream audience was not prepared for graphical images of a man in makeup, corset and fishnets, having sex with both men and women. Also, the movie kind of lacks a straight story and a wiser plot, so it’s not even useful as a regular Science Fiction or horror movie.
NYX: How important do you think the show and the movie have been to help people understand and be comfortable with their sexuality and also body confidence?
AZ: Very important. During our 10-year production we’ve met dozens of fans who expressed to us how they found sanctuary within the Rocky Horror community, how Rocky Horror literarily saved their lives, and how it helped them to personify themselves as gay men or any other kind of sexuality. Rocky Horror became a vital point in so many lives, it’s really amazing, and basically one of the reasons why we’ve decided to tell this story.
NYX: Do you think the audience participation became a bit too much for some?
AZ: Oh, yes. Not so much in the cinema, of course, but on stage. We’ve spoken to actors who actually saw the audience participation as a safety hazard, as they were constantly been thrown at with rice, toast, water and so on, which can really be dangerous if you are running around and dancing on a slippery stage in high heels. The call-backs also got a bit out of hand, when every single line you say as an actor is answered with wild shoutings. But I think they’ve cut back on the audience participation for the shows, so it became a bit more civilized in recent times.
NYX: Can you think, over the last 50 years, of a musical that has come close to the impact TRHS had?
AZ: No. There are of course other musicals (and film franchises) who do have a cult following, like The Blues Brothers, Little Shop of Horrors or The Repo Man, but nothing extends to the impact Rocky Horror had over the past five decades.
NYX: Do you prefer the show or the movie?
AZ: Neither. I think I would have enjoyed the early show, like it was performed at the Upstairs or the Classic, with the original cast. That must have been brilliant, even for today’s standards.
NYX: What did you think of the recent remake?
AZ: Talks of a remake were around since the mid 90s. The way they finally produced it in 2016 was kind of an odd approach. I do understand why Lou Adler wanted to open it up to a wider audience, especially young people, but filling it with stars from Disney shows, made by the director of the High School Musical franchise, was maybe not the wisest choice. One should not try to sanitize and polish something that lives of a gritty, dirty, sloppy B-movie look-and-feel like Rocky Horror does.
NYX: Could you, in one sentence, sum up what makes RHS so special to so many people?
AZ: Rocky Horror gives people the chance to be what they really want to be, not just to dream it but to be it. As corny as it sounds after 50 years, I think it’s still the essence of the show, and what keeps it alive. And as things move back to a more conservative way at the moment, and lots of the political achievements of the past decades are being reversed, it’s sadly getting more and more relevant again.
NYX: Will you be nervous when the doc is shown at FrightFest 2025?
AZ: No. The film had its theatrical premiere during the Krakow Film Festival back in May, and it was very well received. The normal anxieties for a filmmaker before the first cinematic screenings usually are more technical nature, like: does everything look and sound alright, are there flaws in the animations, are there typos in the lower thirds and things like that. But everything looked great on screen so far. And honestly, the documentary is what it is. People either like it or not, and there’s nothing we can do about it anymore. We are satisfied with it, so there’s no point in being nervous.
NYX: What;s your opinio n on Shock Treatment?
AZ: During our research, I watched Shock Treatment, but I didn't really understand the film. It was certainly ahead of its time, and decades later it proved to be true when (scripted) reality shows became popular. However, in my opinion, the film itself lacks a comprehensible storyline, the music is okay but not stunning, and above all, it lacks a character like Frank N. Furter to carry the film. More could have been made of a sequel to ‘Rocky Horror,’ but it became a very, very difficult production due to the cancellation of Tim Curry as Frank N. Furter and Susan as Janet, as well as strikes and other inconveniences. It is always difficult, if not impossible, to follow up on such a resounding success as Rocky Horror.
NYX: So, what are you working on at the moment?
AZ: Retirement.
NYX: Andreas Zerr, thank you very much.
AZ: Thank you for the questions. It was a pleasure.
