Rocky Horror is a legend of cult cinema - one of the few movies that has earned that title again and again.

The film follows what appears to be a wholesome couple, Brad and Janet (Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon), as they stay the night at a spooky old mansion owned by Dr. Frank N. Furter (Tim Curry, in the performance that rocketed him to stardom). What ensues is a celebration of kitsch, camp, horror and science fiction cinema, a musical that makes very little logical sense but is a ton of fun.

Join Us For A Halloween Party You’ll Never Forget!

Ultra Suede will take the stage at 7 pm to kick off the party, costume contests, drink specials, Time Warp dance and movie to follow. Bring your own props or buy a bag at concessions to fully participate in all aspects of the fun!

*Approved BYOP (Bring Your Own Props)

• You'll want to remember to pack your sequined evening bag with these approved props: Newspaper, Flashlight, Rubber Gloves, Noisemakers (Kazoos), Toilet Paper, Toast (unbuttered!), Party Hats, Cowbell and Cards!

• Prop bags will also be available for purchase from concessions ($10).

About 20 minutes into the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, an elevator door opens and the actor Tim Curry steps out. His face is heavily mascaraed, the portrait of a commedia dell’arte drag queen. Everything below that striking visage is covered in a magnificent cape. He struts out, to the beat of a Stonesian guitar riff, and a few moments later he turns and rips off the cape: We can see he sports a glistening string of giant pearls and, not least, a silver-spangled ensemble of women’s lingerie.

It was originally a campy U.K. production called The Rocky Horror Show. The movie version, which was brought to America by producer and manager Lou Adler, became an unaccountable cult hit for years and then decades, and now takes its place on the list of the most profitable films of all time. While this anniversary has been duly noted, the film’s real sociological significance has not been.

The film, if you haven’t seen it, is a potent but gentle rock musical with a slate of irresistibly catchy songs. The story is a pastiche: a magnanimous spoof of old-time horror and sci-fi movies. Many of those old movies were black and white, but it’s one of the film’s charms that it’s filled with jarring colors and a goofy cast of characters. It opens with a pair of luscious red lips singing the opening song, which name-checks some of the film’s beloved predecessors:

 Michael Rennie was ill
The Day the Earth Stood Still
But he told us where we stand
And Flash Gordon was there
In silver underwear
Claude Rains was the Invisible Man … 

The story follows a hopelessly square couple, Brad and Janet, who get a flat in a rainstorm and end up at a mysterious mansion. This turns out to be the domain of Curry’s character, who is a mad scientist, Dr. Frank-N-Furter, who oversees, in sometimes sadistic fashion, a cast of supporting freaks. One of these is his Igor-like assistant, Riff Raff, played by Richard O’Brien, the show’s creator. They are aliens, we are given to understand, from the planet Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania. The film’s masterful, lancing conceit is to make Frank-N-Furter a hugely likable, genially sex-crazy transvestite who preaches a mantra of “absolute pleasure.” His fateful project is to create a Frankenstein’s monster — a hunka-hunka burning bodybuilder named Rocky. Frank-N-Furter’s issues are sometimes just kinky — there’s a set of video feeds that capture the mansion’s various shenanigans on video, for example, and he’s not above making his guests perform in a naughty floor show. But they can also be more severe: He can be homicidal and even — gulp — a cannibal, but we forget that as he cheerfully debauches both members of the young couple. The good doctor looks spectacular in a bustier, but things don’t end well. He’s deemed “too extreme” by his overlords and is spectacularly dispatched by Riff Raff.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Halloween Party

DATE: Thursday, Oct. 31 - 7 pm (music starts) & 9 pm (movie starts)