Rocky Horror sequels and other media

"Shock Treatment", a follow-up to "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", was made, but despite its appeal to cult audiences and its campy nature, it has not caught on as well as the original. It features O'Brien, Quinn, Campbell and Gray in different roles and the characters Brad and Janet, played by different actors. Originally set to be filmed in an America on location, due to the actors strike of 1980 production for this film returned to England for filming. Re-writes provided for a unique approach to the story.

Unmade Films

Two further films, "Rocky Horror Shows His Heels" and "Revenge of the Old Queen", were written by O'Brien but never filmed. ("Shock Treatment", the "equal" to "Rocky Horror", had its American premiere and advanced screening in Fresno, California in August 1981. Among the guests that night included the films star and author Richard O'Brien. Fresno is also part of the setting location in the more literal "sequel" script "Revenge of the Old Queen" where O'Brien's character Riff Raff reappears back on Earth.)

Starting around the year 2000 word on the street had it that between other projects Richard O'Brien was working on a new sequel. Richard O'Brien confirmed this himself in 2001 during a public appearance in Manchester, UK. However, unlike previous attempts, this was to be a sequel to the original play on which the movie was based and would be performed on stage.

The title "Rocky Horror: The Second Coming" has been floated as a potential title but O'Brien himself seems conflicted on the issue of what the eventual title would be. O'Brien has stated that the plot would include elements from both "Rocky Horror Shows His Heels" and "Revenge of the Old Queen". Like "Rocky Horror Shows His Heels" the play would be set nine months after the events of "The Rocky Horror Show" and would feature a pregnant Janet carrying either Frank's or Rocky's child. O'Brien also leaked that one of the songs would be called "Frankie Phoenix" and that it would illustrate Frank-N-Furter's resurrection. If the play is ever produced and becomes a financial hit, there is the possibility it could take the path of its predecessor and eventually become a film. But, after several false starts, it now looks as if the project may have fallen into development hell.

Trading Cards

Two sets of official trading cards have been released. The first, from 1980, features 60 cards. The first ten cards feature a publicity portrait of a cast member (with the tenth card being a group shot of the Transylvanians). Cards 11-59 tell the story of the film with a picture on the front and a brief caption on the reverse. Card 60 is a checklist for the set. The second set, part of the 1995 20th Anniversary celebration, consists of 96 cards. Cards 1-90 again feature publicity stills of the cast (some of them the same stills as the earlier set, re-cropped) and tell the story of the film with more extensive captioning. There is no checklist card. The set also features a three-card subset of Tim Curry in various poses and costumes, with foil imprinting, and a similar Brad and Janet three-card subset. This set was produced by Comics Images.

Comic Books

As part of the 15th Anniversary celebration, Caliber Press published a comic book adaptation of RHPS written and drawn by Kevin VanHook in 1990. Also for the 15th Anniversary, a four-CD box soundtrack set was released. The set consists of: the original motion picture soundtrack; the "Rocky Horror Show" original Roxy cast recording; "Songs from the Vaults", rare tracks from various cast members, tracks from the "Shock Treatment" soundtrack and radio advertising spots for the original release; and "Rocky Horror International", a collection of tracks from cast recordings around the world along with the previously unreleased film cast recordings of "The Sword of Damocles", "Once in a While" and "Planet, Schmanet, Janet". Also included is a 24-page commemorative booklet.

Toys

Three action figures were released in 2000 by Vital Toys. Frank N Furter, Riff Raff and Columbia were available separately or together in a box set. Two more series were planned, but never released. [http://www.oafe.net/yo/rhps.php]

There is a Frank N Furter CelebriDuck available. [http://www.celebriducks.com/Large%20pics/drfranknfurter.jpg]

McFarlane Toys released a fully sculpted, 3D version of the film's poster. [http://www.cultureboom.net/toys/product.aspx?product=3150]

Alternative Soundtracks

The soundtrack "The Rocky Horror Punk Rock Show" performed by various punk bands including The Ataris, Tsunami Bomb, Alkaline Trio, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes and others.

The surround mixes themselves did not appear on early prints of the movie. In 1990, for the 15th anniversary of the film, and in conjunction with the film's first U.S. home video release, the audio for the film was remixed from mono into Chace Surround Stereo. The song dubs were replaced by the stereo version of songs from the soundtrack record. For the 25th anniversary edition, both the original mono track, and a new 5.1 surround mix (also done by Chace Productions) from the original dialogue/music/effects stems was created, which was far more accurate than the earlier stereo dub.

Richard O'Brien originally intended for the film to be in black and white, but the studio vetoed this in favour of a more conventional look. On the 25th Anniversary DVD, an easter egg function simulates O'Brien's intended vision; the first 20 minutes are black and white, turning to colour when Riff Raff swings open the doorway during the Time Warp, revealing Transylvanians (a la "The Wizard of Oz"). To activate the easter egg, scroll down to Scene Selection (don't select it) and push the left arrow button on the DVD remote. This should highlight a pair of lips, which, when selected, activates it.

Computer games

"The Rocky Horror Show" computer game was produced for early 8-bit computers including the Commodore 64, Commodore 128, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC by the CRL Group PLC in 1985, to mixed reviews. The game involved playing as either Brad or Janet and collecting pieces of the Medusa machine scattered around the castle, in order to free your partner from stone and escape the castle before it blasts off. Meanwhile the other characters in the game can hinder your progress by stealing and hiding your clothes along with what you are carrying. Riff-Raff can kill the player with his laser gun, and Eddie can run the player over with his motorcycle should he thaw out and escape from his freezer. In 1999, an adventure game called "The Rocky Horror Interactive Show" was released to much hype but very little success. It was criticized for having a clumsy keyboard-only interface and outdated (2D) graphics. "The Rocky Interactive Horror Show Game" was released in March/April 1999 for the PC by On-Line PLC. Similarly to the earlier CRL game, the player plays as Brad or Janet and must rescue their partner from the castle. Unlike the older computer game, its gameplay was more puzzle-oriented, and benefited from the added detail, graphics, and live video sequences that the PC could provide. Despite this, it was criticised for a clumsy user interface and for using two-dimensional graphics, at a time when most games were using 2.5D.

References in pop culture

Because of the proliferation of the film into the mainstream and public consciousness, there have been numerous references to it within other media. Some notable references are listed below:

* In the 1978 Spider-Man live-action series, Spider-Man tells one of his enemies: "you look like a reject from the Rocky Horror Picture Show!" [http://www.rockyhorror.org/faq/nf/m-rhel.html#2]
* In "Fame" (1980), Ralph Garcy and Doris Finsecker attend a showing of "Rocky Horror" at the Eighth Street Playhouse in Greenwich Village, during which Doris joins the Time Warpers. Sal Piro, one of the original instigators of the "live performance/audience participation" phenomena and now the Rocky Horror Fan Club president, makes a cameo during this scene as the MC of the "Rocky Horror" performance.
* In 1980, the late night comedy show "Fridays" had a skit called "The Ronnie Horror Picture Show," spoofing the election of President Ronald Reagan. The parts were cast to show members of the administration and songs were rewritten using the same melodies, but parody lyrics, describing the Republican "takeover" of the country. This sketch aired only once because the producer protested against the movie being parodied without his permissionFact|date=February 2007.
* In "Vice Squad" (1981), a B rated low budget cop flick, the line to Rocky Horror at the Tiffany Theatre in Hollywood, CA. is shown during a car chase scene. Real fans from the theatre were filmed. Some were included in close up "reaction" shots.
* Tim Curry was the guest host of "Saturday Night Live" with Meat Loaf as the musical guest in 1981. This show included a sketch with the two together called "Tim And Meat's One Stop Rocky Horror Shop". Eddie Murphy also alluded heavily to Rocky Horror in the show's opening monologue with Curry.
* In the 1995 "A Star Is Burns" episode of "The Simpsons", Dr. Hibbert arrives at a film festival dressed as Frank, mistakenly thinking "Rocky Horror" was playing.
* In the 1997 episode "New York and Queens" of "The Drew Carey Show", Drew, Kate, Lewis and Oswald dress up for a midnight showing of "Rocky Horror", only to find that the theatre no longer shows the movie. In its place, the theatre now plays "", attended by a costumed Mimi and Mr. Wick, who taunts, "Face it, Carrey - your drag is old. Our drag is new!" A dance off between opposing fans to the tunes of "Time Warp" and "Shake Your Groove Thing" ensues. The episode ultimately ends with the police coming to the scene of the dance-off. Extras dressed as Rocky fans were cast members of Midnight Insanity of Long Beach, CA. Leroy from "Fame" appears as a Priscilla dancer. The show bought the rights to use the song "Time Warp", but not its dance choreography, which is why the steps seen are not the traditional moves.
* In the Halloween 2000 episode of "That 70's Show" ("Too Old to Trick or Treat, Too Young to Die"), Fez appears in a Frank-N-Furter costume through the entire show, even while his leg is broken and is confined to a wheelchair.
* In the 2002 "Gilmore Girls" episode "Secrets and Loans...", Lorelai and Rory plan on seeing "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (and dressing up as characters Magenta and Janet) to celebrate Rory's high PSAT score.
* In the opening credits of the 2002 film The Adventures of Pluto Nash , which is set in 2087 and stars Eddie Murphy and Rosario Dawson, you can see a theater advertising RHPS playing at midnight.
* In "Connie and Carla" (2004), the drag queen duo of Peaches N'Cream perform The Time Warp for an audition at the club.
* The 2005 "Creatures of the Night" episode of the CBS series "Cold Case" involved a murder related to a screening of the movie. The episode features many of the songs from the movie, which are fully integrated into the storyline. Barry Bostwick played serial killer Roy Anthony, who is investigated in the crime.
* In The Venture Brothers episode "Return to Spider-Skull Island," the Venture family returns from an investigation at a local theater dressed as various characters from RHPS. Dr. Venture is dressed as Frank-N-Furter, Brock Samson is Rocky Horror, Dean Venture is Riff Raff, Hank Venture is Columbia, and H.E.L.P.eR. is Magenta.
* In an episode of America's Funniest Home Videos a clip was shown that involved a mother finding her young son playing dress up with her lingerie, including fishnets and such. The host, Tom Bergeron, said in a voice-over "I hope he's just going to The Rocky Horror Picture Show".
* In the episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer entitled "Band Candy", insidious candy bars cause the adults of the town to revert to their teenage attitudes. Upon seeing the local nightclub filled with parents and teachers partying like irresponsible teenagers, Buffy remarks, "Let's do the Timewarp again."