Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All Time

A cult film to me is a film of a certain genre

that has a hard-core following of fans.

The more you see it, the more you see in it.

It becomes like a friend.

Even the bad parts of the movie,

they forgive it.

That movie is pretty rocking,

but, God, nobody knows about it.

My own criteria is just my own experience.

A movie that fell through the cracks.

It has to be an accident.

It's a genius, brilliant movie.

You think it's much, much better than it is.

We know it when we see it.

That's what makes it interesting.

Everybody's is different.

If people are able to look at the film

and you hear them say the lines.

It strikes a chord.

I think a cult film is something

that people think is something they've discovered

and they like.

It comes at you in so many different ways.

Usually it's an art film.

Profanity, murder, bullets, wounds.

It's just funny.

All these films are really good.

They're just misunderstood.

Some people would be like, well,

why don't you just let the movie speak for itself and shut up?

Fuck you.

Every movie is a cult film.

It is the greatest cult film of all time.

Sexually repressed couple murders swingers and eats them.

That'll make them go see it.

And then came the "Time Warp."

Why don't we talk about what's a cult film.

I think in L.A., it is a word

I would never say when I'm trying to get a deal.

Because to Hollywood executives, "cult film" means

that 20 people that were smarter than them liked it

and it lost a lot of money.

- That's right. - That's what a cult movie is.

- Never say that word. - That's very true,

And I don't think anybody starts out to make a cult film.

I was thinking of like cult movies

as you need fellow cultists

to introduce you to something.

Like you need to know about this.

Someone needs to turn you on to it.

And with those movies came out, there was no video.

A cult move... I guess a midnight movie

that was a hit was by definition...

that's sort of what started that in a way.

And then they showed them.

Then it got a whole new reputation

if it played at midnight.

"Rocky Horror Picture Show"

was obviously a movie that nobody got,

nobody understood when it was new.

And then all of a sudden, it became I guess

probably the most successful cult film.

- Yes, definitely. - In terms of midnight shows.

It got the people who were coming and dressing up

and talking to the screen and all that kind of stuff,

and that phenomenon is still going on.

I can't think of another movie that has audience participation.

Or where you were allowed to,

because before, the ushers would come, shut up, you know.

And I would complain.

Now there's audience participation,

people talking on their phone,

which makes me crazy when I go to movies, right?

But the audience participation is encouraged,

but when that movie was made,

they didn't know that was going to happen.

It came out as a regular Hollywood movie and failed.

And then this started. Amazingly it caught on.

And their parents take them to it.

That's the thing. It's safe.

It's a generational thing.

If your kid is in "Rocky Horror,"

you know where they are.

There with gay people. It's all right, you know?

It's a safe place to drop off your kids on Friday night.

Yes, I never knew what a cult film was

till we became one, because there wasn't one.

If I had to pick a film, that's the cult film.

It ran for maybe 20 years at TLA.

The plot of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"

is that a lost All-American couple

ends up at the doorstep of a mad scientist.

I wonder if you might help us.

You see, our car broke down a few miles up the road.

And seek help.

Brad, I'm frightened.

What kind of a place is this?

He embraces them

and lets them watch him making his perfect man.

And there is this kind of shock,

especially when you first see it.

Just this transvestite with no fear, no shame.

It really is like a rock star.

The reason people think

it's the greatest cult movie of all time

is because it's their movie. They own it.

It's as if they make it every night they go to the theater.

It was the first film that the audience

started talking back to the screen.

How very dare they.

And then people started dressing up.

Because that's what people do,

I mean who were going to the movies at midnight on Friday.

And remember, it was 1975 or '76,

so most of them were chemically altered.

So we have now Patricia Quinn

teaching us how to do the Time Warp. Right.

It's just a jump to the left

and then a step to the ri-ah-ah-ah-ah-right

with your hands on your hips.

I say, would you get to it, give it a good thrust.

"Rocky Horror" paid our rent all the time.

We would have like 30 people in for a 9:30 screening,

415 people in for the midnight screening.

It was something... for years

we could always count on that money.

It has amazing music.

I mean, there are like nine songs in "Rocky Horror"

that are all standouts and catchy

and you want to sing them.

So my parents song is "Science Fiction"

because my dad used to sing it to me when I was a baby.

He got me into "Rocky" when I was three.

If I have one favorite song, probably "Dammit, Janet."

Jim Sharman, the director, deserves so much credit.

It was a very difficult shoot.

It was cold, it was wet.

Susan came home with pneumonia.

Look, I'm cold, I'm wet, and I'm just plain scared.

It seemed to go very smoothly to me.

There weren't any toilets on the set.

And that the most wonderful thing was Tim Curry,

to see him create that character.

And Tim Curry didn't get it till the first rehearsal

when he put on the high heels.

And the minute he put on the shoes, he...

It's hard to imagine anyone

other than Tim Curry in that role.

Tim appealed sexually to men and women.

That was a very key detail.

Come up to the lab and see what's on the slab.

Tim Curry is a friend,

and we went to see it at the height of all that.

He said, let's go down to the Waverly.

There was a whole line,

and he said, let's just go to the box office.

He went to the box office,

and he said, good evening, I'm Tim Curry.

And she turned and she said,

Morris, there's another Tim Curry.

She said, nah, he's not. Ignore him.

So to put his passport... gave her the passport.

Looks at the passport and said,

Morris, this one's got a passport.

So Morris finally came out from behind the cage

and looked and said, oh, shit, you're Tim Curry.

And meanwhile, there are like three Frank-N-Furters

in line behind going, it's Tim Curry.

So it was pre-selfies,

so, you know, nobody could do anything.

But we went in and they let us in for free

to watch the thing.

And he said, well, so much for my charisma.

With "Rocky Horror Picture Show,"

they would throw toast and especially rice

and all kinds of things in the theater.

And we would not clean the theater until the morning,

and during that time,

we developed a really bad mouse infestation

where they would come out

and have a feast in the middle of the night.

The beginning crowd was a little older and it was a little gayer,

and people started just to find the film.

Then it exploded

like no other cult film has exploded audience wise.

At one point there was maybe 170 screens

showing the film around the country at midnight

many times to sold-out houses.

- I adore the fans. - They've always been marvelous.

And it changed my life.

That was the very first time in my entire existence

that I felt like, wow,

this is like where I'm accepted for who I am.

I'm where I'm supposed to be.

And I think that's an experience

that a lot of people get from it.

That film has helped so many people through difficult times,

coming to terms with their sexuality.

That's been a really moving aspect of the whole thing.

And of course, that contributes enormously