--- title: "The Rocky Horror Picture Show: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-rocky-horror-picture-show/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-rocky-horror-picture-show" critics_score: 75 critics_reviews: 11 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975): what the critics said Critics' score 75 from 11 reviews: 8 positive, 2 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics like it, and almost all of them say the same two things: Tim Curry’s Frank N. Furter is the reason to watch, and Richard O’Brien’s songs have outlived the film that holds them. The praise for Curry is close to unanimous, with one review arguing the performance cannot be replicated. The consensus also treats the film as inseparable from its midnight screenings, with the costumes and heckling counted as part of the pleasure rather than a distraction from it. The reservations cluster around what is left when the audience goes home. Time Out finds the film itself an enthusiastic shambles that falls apart in the last reel, and Roger Ebert calls it cheerful, silly and forgettable once the sideshow is removed. The spread is otherwise narrow, with the positive notices landing close together. The one negative review, from The New York Times, is really about the Fox remake, and praises the original by comparison. ## Empire — Adam Smith Fi1m's normalised score 87/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2010. It is the grandaddy of cult films that became an interactive event rather than a standalone movie. The tunes remain loopily catchy, Sharman's direction is zippy, and the film looks bigger than its budget, with Tim Curry's Frank N. Furter as the powerhouse performance. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/rocky-horror-picture-show-review/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kevin Thomas Fi1m's normalised score 86/100 (inferred from the text). 25 September 2015. This outrageous camp musical is too exuberant and funny to be seriously decadent, with an underlying tenderness and innocence in its loving send-up of horror and sci-fi flicks and celebration of post-graduate sexuality. It moves fast, looks slick, and features amusing performances, especially Tim Curry's. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/herocomplex/la-et-hc-rocky-horror-a-sci-fi-spoof-20150925-story.html) ## Radio Times — Alan Jones Rating 4/5. It praises the film as the witty, naughty queen of cult movies—a campy, vampy musical send-up of horror clichés—and highlights Tim Curry's landmark performance as Frank N Furter along with the famous score. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-sqx7ld/the-rocky-horror-picture-show/) ## Sight and Sound Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 October 2025. The piece explores how the film's initial critical disappointment gave way to a spontaneous audience-driven cult through midnight screenings, where viewers appropriated the movie with costumes, props, and participatory rituals that turned it into a communal experience. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/midnight-madness-rocky-horror-picture-cult) ## Time Out — TJ Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 16 January 2012. The review notes the film's knowing pastiche of horror and sci-fi tropes and its hedonistic sensibility that appealed amid 1970s musicals, but suggests the participatory cult rituals developed partly to compensate for a film that feels like an enthusiastic shambles that collapses in the final reel. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-rocky-horror-picture-show) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 1975. The film is more a long-running social phenomenon than a standalone movie, which was initially ignored before becoming a midnight cult hit with audience participation. Viewed without the sideshow, it is cheerful, silly, kind of sweet, and forgettable. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-rocky-horror-picture-show-1975) ## The New York Times — Neil Genzlinger Fi1m's normalised score 38/100 (inferred from the text). 20 October 2016. The Fox remake strips away the subversive magic of the original 1975 cult film, making clear why a remake was unnecessary and doomed to fail in capturing what made the original special. Certain performances, especially Tim Curry's as Frank-N-Furter, simply cannot be replicated. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/20/arts/television/review-rocky-horror-remake-fox.html) ## Eye for Film — Gabriella Trybalska Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 8 April 2001. The critic describes the film as a difficult-to-categorize mix of gothic horror, rock musical, kinky transvestitism, sci-fi and humour, calling it possibly the best musical ever written. They single out Tim Curry's larger-than-life performance as Frank-N-Furter, especially his singing, as utterly brilliant, along with the fantastic songs by Richard O'Brien that have taken on a life outside the film. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-rocky-horror-picture-show-film-review-by-gabriella-trybalska) ## Den of Geek — Tony Sokol Fi1m's normalised score 88/100 (inferred from the text). 14 August 2019. The film went from a cult happening to a cultural phenomenon that helped shape acceptance of same-sex and transgender identities. It singles out the participatory midnight screening experience and the film's enduring fun as what made it a lasting classic. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-rocky-horror-picture-show-and-its-lasting-legacy/) ## Digital Spy — Joshua Winning Fi1m's normalised score 87/100 (inferred from the text). 14 August 2015. The 1975 musical remains a cult phenomenon that has stood the test of time remarkably well as a celebration of diversity and acceptance. The critic singles out Tim Curry's scene-stealing performance as Dr. Frank N. Furter and the catchy songs, especially 'The Time Warp,' for praise. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/re-viewed/a662848/re-viewed-the-rocky-horror-picture-show-remains-a-classic-40-years-later/) ## Paste — Kenneth Lowe Fi1m's normalised score 86/100 (inferred from the text). 31 October 2020. The critic views the film as a proudly ridiculous cult classic whose camp and transgression have become beloved communal tradition, especially as a Halloween touchstone. They single out Tim Curry's menacing, gleeful performance as Dr. Frank-N-Furter and the participatory heckling tradition for praise. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/autumn-classics-the-rocky-horror-picture-show-1975) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-rocky-horror-picture-show.md