The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) is likely the most popular and celebrated cult film of all time. We’ve all seen it, and regardless of who you are or what you believe, it affected you personally. Maybe you reviled it. Perhaps you revered it. And perhaps it helped to shape you into who you are. No one moves away from a viewing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show unaffected. Especially if you’ve seen it “live.”
Introduction
The Rocky Horror Show was written in the early 1970s by Richard O’Brien, echoing his love of Science Fiction, Horror, Comic Books, and the colorful musicals of the time. Born in England and raised in New Zealand, O’Brien was a working actor when he started writing The Rocky Horror Show. Encouraged by director Jim Sharman to pair with composer Richard Hartley, the three mounted the production at its completion, which was a literal overnight success.
America came quickly calling with Lou Adler purchasing U.S. theatrical rights and staging a production in Los Angeles. When the play then moved to New York City, Broadway critics felt slighted by the West Coast debut and vilified the production. However, the decision to make the production into a film was an easy one based on its success in the U.K. and Los Angeles. By August and September of 1975, it was on screens in the U.K. and America, respectively. By American film standards, The Rocky Horror Picture Show was a flop.
Linus O’Brien’s Ode to His Father’s Passion
Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror is the 2025 documentary created by filmmaker Linus O’Brien, son of creator Richard O’Brien. Linus’s film tells the story of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and its irretractable hold on cinemas, but also the journey of its creator.
Richard O’Brien is a fascinating individual, as one imagines the creator of such a singular and iconic cult classic must be. Ultimately, he’s a deeply passionate, accessible, and relatable individual who appreciates music, authenticity, eccentricity, and human wonder in equal multitudes. The film is as much about a son’s love and awe for his father as it is about the film’s lasting influence on culture and identity.
Featuring interviews with many of the original cast, the film also helps to further illustrate the legacy of The Rocky Horror Picture Show by interviewing pop culture figures who found inspiration in its absurdity and representation. Trixie Mattel, the ubiquitous drag entertainer, talks about seeing the film and beginning to see themselves on screen.
Similarly, Jack Black discusses the influence of Meat Loaf’s scene-stealing cameo as Eddie as a formative moment in the young rocker’s life. These testimonials serve to speak the crux of Strange Journey — without The Rocky Horror Show, our modern lives would be a lot less interesting and a lot less rocking.
Interview with Linus O’Brien
We had the chance to chat with filmmaker Linus O’Brien about making this Strange Journey, celebrating his father and the legions of fans of Rocky Horror, and the limitations of documenting a subject so closely hewn to his own life.
Eric McClanahan:
Linus, thank you for talking to me today. We’re talking about Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror. Why did you decide to make this movie? I mean, you’re very close to the subject, so where did this come from?
Linus O’Brien:
Yeah, well, it all boiled down to the comments I saw under the YouTube clip of “I’m Going Home.” They were so incredibly poignant and heartfelt. I felt then extremely compelled not only to tell the story for the Rocky Horror fans that already exist and that we know about, but also for the ones who’ve been touched on a very deep, personal level.
And then also the opportunity to celebrate my father’s music was very important. Then, as it starts to develop, you start to bring in the midnight screenings. The effect on the LGBTQ community and other people who’ve been affected by it, like Trixie Mattel and Jack Black. Then it starts to become something very rich. More than just the origin story of Rocky Horror.
Eric McClanahan:
So, in watching the film, I learned that you were born before the creation of Rocky Horror.
Linus O’Brien:
Like a year before, yeah.
Eric McClanahan:
So you sort of grew up in the House that Rocky Built. What was your experience? I’m surprised that Strange Journey didn’t really touch on that. Tell me what your life was like.
Linus O’Brien:
Well, I mean, it was kind of boring, I guess, which is why it wasn’t in there. Because it would just pop in and out of my life at different times. At conventions or anniversaries, or a new stage production. While there are somewhat interesting aspects of that, it was quite mundane for the most part. I remember standing in the kitchen when my dad was speaking on the phone. Then he got off the phone and said, “Oh, I think the movie is doing quite well.” And I said, “I thought you said it was a flop,” and he said, “Oh, it seems like people are watching it at midnight.” And then we just went about our day and got a cheeseburger or whatever.
So it was just normal, family life interspersed with these kinds of moments of Rocky throughout it. Not to dismiss my experience of Rocky throughout the years, but it was just something that was kind of there in the background. We had so much to cram in [the film] that I just don’t think that anyone really wants to hear that it popped in and out of my life for five minutes at a time. There were other things to focus on, basically.
Eric McClanahan:
Now, Strange Journey chronicles the creation of the musical and its evolution into a film with a lot of the same people who were in the stage play, the same director, and a lot of the original cast. When it went to Broadway, it was shunned. Shut out by the critics. I did not know that. That was probably the most eye-opening part of the documentary. What are you hoping that fans or those uninitiated in Rocky Horror get out of this documentary?
Linus O’Brien:
It’s funny because we’ve had people who’ve watched it who’ve had nothing to do with Rocky Horror. Never really seen it. Maybe they saw it once in the early 80s and never really tuned into it again. So to be able to tell the story in an upbeat and fairly fast-paced way was really key for us. It’s 90 minutes long. There’s so much to cram in, we don’t want it to feel rushed, but we definitely don’t want it to feel slow.
There was always like a metronome, even now, I’m feeling the pace that I want for the documentary; it’s like 120, 130 bpm, something like that. That’s the feeling that I wanted in the documentary so that you didn’t start looking at your phone, or whatever you do, as you know, we get so distracted these days. I wanted to get people’s attention at the beginning and keep it throughout. Being on the festival circuit with it, it really feels like we achieved that, because the response from the audiences, with all the laughing and the cheering and the crying, I couldn’t have asked for anything better.
Eric McClanahan:
Was there ever a concern when you were having the interviews with your father that he would not be as vulnerable or as candid with you as he could be with a more objective documentarian?
Linus O’Brien:
I think you’re quite right there, and I think there were moments when I wanted to go a bit deeper. Maybe I wasn’t quite getting what I wanted. But when we got all the footage together, we realized, “Actually, we do have enough moments here. If we just place them in the right moment with the right archival support, then, with the comments from Chrissie [Shrimpton], we can really start to give people that side of themselves that they haven’t seen.”
I wouldn’t say that we were lucky to get that, because we were looking for that. But we were very pleased that we found it. It was a tremendous relief. At one point, when we were like, “Actually, we really need him to speak like this at this point,” and then when we found that stuff in all the footage, it was a real relief. Because we didn’t have to fly to New Zealand for a third time. [laughs] So, yeah, that was a very good question, but I think overall we managed. I think there are about three key scenes with him in them, and those are placed strategically to show that side of himself.
Eric McClanahan:
Excellent. Well, that’s our time. I really appreciate you talking with me today, and best of luck with the film.
Linus O’Brien:
Always. Thanks, Eric. Lovely chatting with you.
Conclusion
Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror is well-paced and emotionally resonant. Whether O’Brien’s close proximity to his subject is a benefit or a hindrance is up to the viewer to decide. While it does at times play like “Hey, have you seen what my dad did?” kind of vanity reel, the fact is that his dad made something remarkable. The film doesn’t reveal as much as one might hope in terms of behind-the-scenes stories and exhaustive detail, but as Linus said in the interview, it was never really about that.
If you have eyes and ears, then you already understand the cultural resonance that Rocky Horror has had over the past fifty years, but this film helps to put faces behind the cultural ripples. Speaking with the original cast, shadow casts, and celebrities serves to humanize and amplify the film’s cultural impact. It may make you want to watch it again or even catch a midnight showing. It’s the longest-running theatrical release of all time, meaning you can find tickets to a showing near you to this very day.
If you’ve never seen the film, which is highly unlikely, you owe it to yourself to experience The Rocky Horror Picture Show. For those who have, you understand how important this film has been to the marginalized, outsiders, and many who have felt “othered.”
As Linus said in the interview (which you can find in full on our YouTube channel), “he’s made something that speaks to gender fluidity, subtly. You might not think it subtle, but there’s no message being banged over your head that you should feel this way or you should feel that way.” Rocky Horror is singularly weird and vibrant and celebratory and, above all else, important. Even if the ending makes no goddamned sense.
