Cult classic time warps Wairarapa fans

Theatre-goers dress for the launch of the Month of Sundays series of musical films at Regent 3 Cinema in Masterton with the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture. PHOTO/NATHAN CROMBIE

Fishnet stockings, lipstick, and leather jackets jockeyed for attention among a devoted band of male and female theatre-goers at a special screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show on Sunday night.

Up With People promoter Mark Rogers, who dressed for the occasion as the film's "sweet transvestite" lead character, Dr Frank N Furter, was rapt with the audience of close to 100 who turned out for the screening - including more than two dozen who dressed in finery befitting the film - and the launch of the Month of Sundays series of musical films at the Regent 3 Cinema multiplex in Masterton.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a 1975 musical comedy horror film directed by Jim Sharman and co-written by Kiwi playwright Richard O'Brien; based on O'Brien's 1973 musical stage production, The Rocky Horror Show.

The stage show and its silver screen adaptation was a satirical tribute to the science fiction and horror B movies of the late 1930s through to the early 1970s.

The cult classic film, which still draws legions of fans dressed as characters at screenings around the globe, stars Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick along with some original cast members.

According to Wikipedia, the film was mostly panned upon release before clawing back notoriety after audiences began voicing lines back to the screen - as happened in Masterton on Sunday night - and dressing as characters.

Still in limited release four decades after its premiere, the production has the longest-running theatrical release in film history.

Rogers said followers of the Regent 3 Cinema Facebook page had flooded administrators with requests to launch the Month of Sundays series with the cult film. The series comes after special screenings of Bollywood hit movies, the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning Metropolitan opera series of live transmissions into movie theatres, and the sell-out screening last month of Bowie Is.

"We tested the water with Bowie Is and that sold out, so there's an obvious demand locally for such shows and the reaction on social media has been tremendous, with hundreds of the cinema's Facebook followers all pitching in with suggestions of what to screen. Rocky Horror was a great way to kick it all off and some in the audience really got into the spirit of things by dressing up - something that's become quite the tradition at screenings all around the world since it was first released," he said.

"We will follow up Rocky Horror over coming months with other classics and proven blockbusters like The Last Waltz, Dirty Dancing, or dramas like Shawshank Redemption and art-house favourites as well."

For more details contact Regent 3 Cinema on 06 377 5479 or at regent3.co.nz.