The Rocky Horror Picture Show is an absolute must every Halloween in my household. I watch it at least once every October, either by myself or in a group. I am well past the point of having memorized the entire movie, soundtrack. set design, wardrobe and every single last part of this amazingly bizarre cult classic. This is a movie that is so unlike anything else, so uniquely original, so amazingly proud of its freak flag and lack of a coherent plot that anyone who even dares to recreate its majesty is almost certainly doomed to failure the moment they start production.

Enter Fox.

Fox decided they were going to "celebrate" the movie's 41st anniversary (they were aiming for the 40th but there were some behind the scenes issues) with a pre-recorded stage show-ish version of RHPS, deciding to pay tribute to the movie and the movie's target audience by recreating it almost to the letter while simultaneously attempting to make a completely original remake and replacing beloved parts of the movie with brand new ideas. If this sounds like a complete paradox to you, you're not alone.

While I can understand that this movie was supposed to be presented like a stage show (which, conveniently enough, the movie is actually based on) and therefore camera tricks and editing was limited, there were some other strange things happening that could have easily been avoided. Things like Dr. Scott wearing an obvious and distracting wig that's unnecessary for the character or Brad getting a bathrobe to cover up his almost naked body while Janet is left to parade around in her underwear.

I can overlook those little things, though. Those didn't ruin the event for me. If I'm being completely honest, nothing really RUINED it for me because, well, it was memorable enough to leave a huge impact in the long run. After I'm done writing this article, I don't expect that I'll remember the RHPS Remake (called Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do The Timewarp Again, a name too long to be catchy) for much longer than, at best, a couple of weeks.

Despite its numerous flaws (an atrocious Christina Milian as Magenta, terrible pacing for both song tempos and the entire event in general) and occasional bright patches (the previously mentioned Doctor Scott, their rendition of Dammit Janet and Toucha Toucha Toucha Touch Me), I found my mind wandering quite a bit throughout the entire thing. It just wasn't keeping my interesting and I wasn't completely sure why. It's only in retrospect that I realize that the special's ultimate problem wasn't its casting or pacing or even its music, it was its structure.

Now, from a film making perspective, normally pacing and structure go hand in hand. They do here as well so that's not the issue. The issue is that the remake/special/whatever you want to call it had a structure to begin with. The original feels incredibly spontaneous, weird, energetic, just bouncing off the walls and leaving you with no idea whatsoever what is coming next. Fox's RHPS felt like a group of Actors bouncing from one set piece to the next set piece waiting to get the next recreation of an iconic moment over with.

Almost none of the cast felt like they were having fun with what they were doing whereas, in the original, even the scared and hesitant Brad and Janet felt like they were having a hell of a good time. The original feels like a party and the remake feels like a reenactment of a party. Sure you're doing mostly the same things but there's no excitement about it. It's stale. It's dull. It's something The Rocky Horror Picture Show should never be.

Soon, maybe even next week, I'm planning on writing an actual review and/or analysis of the original Rocky Horror Picture Show for anyone reading this who has no idea what I'm talking about. That being said, forgive me if that review and/or analysis ends up sounding like fanboy praise. It is one of my favorite movies and after watching whatever this was, it has gotten 100 times better than it ever was in my mind.

I have gotten a glimpse of almost every possible way the original could have gone wrong and therefore, I have learned to appreciate the fact that everything worked so well from the casting of Tim Curry to the subtle in-jokes on behalf of Riff Raff. I am so glad that Magenta was energetically creepy, that Eddie actually sort of got a backstory and that Brad actually cared enough about his role to kiss another man while swimming in a pool in lingerie (it's a weird movie). I am just so, so, so, so, so, so, so very happy that The Rocky Horror Picture Show exists in its current state for me to watch every Halloween. Thank you, Richard O'Brien. �