When looking through the roster for 2025’s FrightFest, I almost had to do a double take. Sane Inside Insanity is the year’s second documentary based on the phenomenon that is The Rocky Horror Show. Somehow, both docs have worked the yearly film circuit as 1975’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show rings in its 50th anniversary. While that film is one of my top ten all-time favorites, I knew very little about the stage show version of the production. In this way, despite clocking in just shy of two hours, Sane Inside Insanity actually manages to cover a wide breadth of Rocky Horror, from shadowcasts to TV remakes to anniversary screenings and questionable financial profits. If any movie is deserving of two documentaries in the same year, it’s Rocky Horror. Peppered with insightful interviews from cast and crew, Sane Inside Insanity is a true love letter to Richard O’Brien‘s signature creation.
Concisely segmented into different sections, Sane Inside Insanity starts us back at the inception of O’Brien’s seminal masterpiece. It was London in the early 70s, a time rife with creative juices and musical theater revolutions. Nothing like Rocky Horror existed. Maybe the closest thing was Grease, but even that was a far cry from the oddities of the Transylvanians. O’Brien wanted to “explode” the idea of a mainstream musical. Cast was handpicked for these bizarre roles, including Nell Campbell, who was plucked from a job busking to have the role of Magenta written into the show just for her. To no one’s surprise, there cannot be enough good words said about the iconic Tim Curry. Vintage interview footage, demo reels, and more help to fully flush out Curry, despite his absence in the documentary. Another notable absence comes in the form of Richard O’Brien himself; however, he actually declined to participate in the documentary in the first place, likely due to shady happenings where money is concerned once Rocky Horror truly took off.
Getting Rocky to the stage in the first place was a wild ride. With only three weeks of rehearsals and the script constantly being rewritten on the fly, it became an overnight sensation when it debuted in 1973. Critics adored it—there was nothing else at the time that was even remotely comparable, especially from an aesthetic perspective. The over-the-top camp made it a hot ticket for celebrities at the time, who fought for tickets at the 60-seat performing venue. Hopping from one decrepit theatre to the next, The Rocky Horror Show would eventually find a home playing performances for over 7 years. Its trip to the states was decidedly less successful, at least initially. When it debuted at The Roxy in LA, they brought Meatloaf into the fray, who had no idea what the musical was even about. Being in LA made The Rocky Horror Show a destination, attracting even further attention from celebrities such as John Lennon and Jack Nicholson who came to see what the buzz was all about. An attempt at Broadway was decidedly less successful, as the theatre community at large rejected the show and its now-iconic oddities.
After playing Frank-N-Furter for just six months at The Roxy, Tim Curry jumped ship to board the film adaptation. Director Jim Sharman made a bold choice at the time to maintain as many of the stage show’s cast as possible for the big screen adaptation. Surprisingly, both Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon were chosen by the studio, but Sharman felt that both made perfect fits for Brad and Janet, respectively. A rotten house nearby with a gothic look became the whole basis for the film when they had previously planned to shoot only on sound stages. Some of the cast share stories about filming here, and even mention that they would sometimes fall through floorboards in between takes. Curry had to endure two hours of makeup every day for his Frank-N-Furter, a distinctly more difficult process that would extend to him being in that outfit for the entirety of shooting days.
Here’s where the documentary gets really interesting—the 1975 film version completely bombed, and was altogether rejected by the studio executives who simply did not understand it. But once it hit the midnight screenings run, Rocky Horror evolved into a wild ride of audience participation. For the uninitiated, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has now played for decades all over the world, becoming one of the longest-running theatrical releases of all time. Inviting people to yell at the screen and actively engage, the obsession began, as fans would watch the film over and over again, and even show up donned in full costumes. In NYC, the 8th Street Playhouse sold out the film every single weekend for ten years straight. People wanted in on the insanity, as it went viral before that word really meant what it does in today’s age. This expanded into full on shadowcasts that regularly act out the entire movie in front of the screen to create a unique immersion.
Some of this feels very surface level without exploring the gritty underbelly. Though it mentions severe monetary discrepancies where royalties are involved, we only scratch the surface of the topic despite it casting a wide shadow. The anniversary TV remake, a labor of love from Kenny Ortega, feels like a misunderstood footnote that only Annaleigh Ashford will speak fondly about. The underrated movie sequel, Shock Treatment, does not even receive a glimmer of a mention. Still, Sane Inside Insanity gets a lot right by shifting a heavy focus onto the fan responses. It takes a generational approach to discussing Rocky Horror, allowing the cast and crew to wax poetic about the impact of their legendary film. As a Broadway revival looms in the distance, Rocky Horror clearly won’t be going away anytime soon. Don’t dream it, be it!
Sane Inside Insanity screened at 2025’s Frightfest London.
