cult movie Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Vintage Image of the Day: Oh, Rocky ...
Filed under: Classics », Music & Musicals », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Vintage Image of the Day »
October 4 is a popular movie-star birthdate: I could have picked a photo from a film starring Buster Keaton or Charlton Heston, or perhaps Felicia Farr. But it's October, I've been thinking about Halloween, and costumes, and here it is Susan Sarandon's birthday. So why not find an embarrassing photo from the film Sarandon probably wishes most that we'd forget, The Rocky Horror Picture Show? Sarandon was in her late twenties when she played innocent heroine Janet Weiss in the movie, which eventually turned into a midnight-movie staple and a cult classic. Millions of people have seen Sarandon cavorting onscreen in her bra, yelling "Slut!" when she appears, and enhacing her dialogue with lines of their own.
Many people have at least one Rocky Horror story in their past; and if they don't, maybe they ought to. When I was in high school, it was an interesting thing to do after midnight if we couldn't get into any bars. (I lived in New Orleans, so we didn't see the movie that often.) In college, I fell in with a bunch of people who performed scenes from the movie live as it played on the screen at Sena Mall theater in Metairie. I tinted my hair red and performed as Columbia a few times one summer -- the challenges were to keep the tube top and later the bustier from slipping down (in the movie, Little Nell's bustier actually does fall at one point, but I didn't feel the need to be that faithful to the film), and to writhe on the floor with the guy playing Eddie ... movie-theater floors can be pretty nasty. Eventually the theaters where we performed the show all closed and we went back to watching movies on VHS.
Do you have a Rocky Horror Picture Show story you can share in public? If so, do tell all.
Vintage Image of the Day: those wacky Elfmans
Filed under: Music & Musicals », Fandom », Vintage Image of the Day »
Today (March 6) is Richard Elfman's birthday. If your immediate response is "Is he related to Danny?" then obviously you have never experienced one of the weirdest movies ever: Forbidden Zone. Richard Elfman directed this 1980 black-and-white festival of grunge, which has picked up quite the cult following over the years. I first saw this ultra-low-budget movie on video at LSU in my undergrad days with a bunch of friends, and we were so proud to have discovered an unusual, obscure film that didn't look like any other movie we knew. (When I took my boyfriend to a screening at Alamo Drafthouse last year, he pointed out that the overall look of the movie must have been inspired by underground comics of the time.)
Several members of the Elfman family appear in Forbidden Zone, including Richard and his then-wife Marie-Pascale Elfman. I couldn't find a good still of Richard from the film, but I found one of his little brother, who plays Satan: yep, that's Danny Elfman above. Danny appears in only one scene but he's fabulous.
The cast also includes Herve Villechaize, Susan Tyrrell, and Viva. The soundtrack is a lot of fun and includes some bizarre reworkings of old Cab Calloway songs. The plot ... well, it would take me a while to explain and wouldn't make much sense, anyway. You'd have to see for yourself.
Forbidden Zone is truly a unique film, but if you're thinking of renting it, bear in mind that it does include partial nudity, excremental and sexual humor, and possibly offensive manipulation of racial stereotypes.
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