The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again!: the remake nobody needed, wanted or asked for. From the beginning, it is clear that Kenny Ortega’s version of the 1975 cult classic will not live up to Jim Sharman’s original. Fox 21 Television Studios is to blame for the remake, and the ratings and reactions they have received reflect just how poorly it fared. Remaking a film that is as adored as Rocky Horror is bound to face skepticism, but nobody expected it to be as unbearable as it was.
The introduction of this film assures viewers that it is nothing more than an awkward attempt to to tell the original story in the same - but totally wrong - way. The only things changed were the character’s appearances and the quality of virtually everything in the film. It is as though the crew didn’t understand how having a budget of $20 million - compared to 1975’s budget of $1.4 million - could benefit them. Money can’t buy success, after all.
It is painfully clear that the budget was not used on the costume department. The characters looked like they had raided the clearance racks at Party City. What could have been an updated take on a spectacular dance number came across as an over-the-top commercial for the store.
Criticizing Rocky Horror for being too over-the-top is saying a lot for a horror-comedy musical about a “sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania” and his eclectic posse of misfits, including a tap-dancing groupie, a science experiment-turned-lover, and an incestuous housekeeping brother and sister duo.
The beloved characters from the original movie were butchered by poor casting choices. The decision to cast broadway, television and movie actors resulted in varying levels of bad acting. Exaggerated, understated or just plain wrong - they had it all.
Arguably the most disappointing role belonged to Laverne Cox’s Dr. Frank-N-Furter. When you are following Tim Curry’s high-heeled footsteps, tripping up is inevitable - but when you are portraying the lead role and have one of the least memorable performances, something is seriously wrong.
As for the rest of the cast, the only person that stood out in a positive way was Adam Lambert as Eddie. His role showed a faint glimmer of hope that a modern update of the film could be successful. That hope died along with Eddie, just minutes after making his appearance, and it’s safe to say that viewers wished they could fall out of the window with him.
By the end of the film, everything blurs together in a mess of cleavage, gold spandex and musical numbers that you could find at any high school’s production of this play. Even for the biggest Rocky Horror fans, the remake is not risky enough to make an impact.
Memorablilty is where the film falls flat. Even if you can look past the tacky costumes, bad acting, cheesy dance numbers and painful renditions of the songs, there is nothing that stands out enough to resonate with viewers.
The reason Rocky Horror was so successful in 1975 was because the subject matter was raw and controversial - few things like that film existed. In a society that craves the strange and unusual, the content of the original film is nothing new.
Ortega’s remake spent the entire running time trying to play catch-up with the original. Not enough was changed to make it a stand-alone film, but too much was different to do any justice to Sharman’s story.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again! tried to imitate the original, but was unable to capture the same levels of campy self-awareness and ended up falling flat on it’s over made-up face.
