All good cinephiles are well-acquainted with the concept of cult cinema: movies that are usually not appreciated in their time, before finding a home among fans who, for some reason or another, fall in love with something that critics and audiences did not upon release. Sometimes it’s because the films are enjoyable yet bad, such as Showgirls or Mommie Dearest; sometimes it’s because they’re actually really good, like Labyrinth or The Shining. Whichever way they fall, one thing is certain: no cult movie has ever measured up to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, nor has any theatrical production nurtured such a distinct fan base.
I was lucky enough to have been brought up in a Rocky Horror house, and after seeing a group of adults from my village perform “The Time Warp” at a local Christmas variety show (stockings and all), I had to know what this whole Rocky thing was about. First came the movie, later came the show, and eventually, it became such a beloved and ingrained tradition that I passed it on to my own daughter. She is a third-generation Rocky fanatic, and that is something I’m proud of. Because beyond its surface as a ridiculously funny, glamorous and charismatic rock’n’roll sci-fi musical, Rocky Horror stands for values that the world needs now more than ever: freedom of expression, love, and community. Its mantra, “don’t dream it, be it,” has been carried by the show’s millions of fans through many hardships, and continues to inspire. Now, 50 years after the release of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the legacy of Rocky has been thoroughly examined by director Andreas Zerr for his documentary Sane Inside Insanity, and if ever there were a piece of media that deserved such a loving and intricate breakdown, it’s Rocky.
What Is ‘Sane Inside Insanity’ About?
Rocky Horror has had several lives over the years, each taking on its own unique little sphere of existence. Richard O’Brien‘s musical, originally performed in a tiny upstairs room at the Royal Court Theatre in London, was an overnight sensation that grew to encompass Los Angeles and New York, giving way to the 1975 movie adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In more recent decades, it has toured almost continuously around the world and remains a regular theatrical fixture. But probably the most remarkable element of Rocky is its fanbase and how they took this wild piece of media and adopted it for themselves. Within a few years of the movie’s release, fans had established clubs that hosted weekly midnight movie screenings, encouraging audiences to get involved and effectively bridge the gap between screen and auditorium.
Sane Inside Insanity tells every part of Rocky‘s life story, tracking its rise from the ashes as the brainchild of an out-of-work actor, through its overnight success and expansion into bigger, more ruthless theatrical territory, its quick production and sudden abandonment at the hands of 20th Century Fox, its decades as a must-see show, and what some perceive to be its inevitable decline from a raw, golden-garbage experiment to a cynical, corporately-dictated piece of intellectual property. Indeed, I have noticed this decline myself. Twenty years ago, when I first started attending the show, theaters were packed with people in their most outrageous and glamorous outfits, singing, dancing, shouting, and retorting. It was an atmosphere unlike anything you’d ever witnessed. The last few times the show has come around, theaters are half-empty, a good portion of the audience just shows up after work in jeans and a T-shirt, and worse than anything, they seem inhibited. As the documentary so aptly describes, Rocky is a cult of acceptance, freedom, and comfort. A place where people can live their most outrageous fantasies, whether they’re supermodels or overweight dorks, and feel welcomed and celebrated as themselves.
‘Sane Inside Insanity’ Tracks the Eventful Life of Rocky Horror
The fortunate old-timers have been around since the beginning, and one such interviewee expresses that they haven’t seen the show since the late ’90s because they don’t want to tarnish its memory. Even that far back, those who knew and loved Rocky were seeing it slowly dying. If anything, Sane Inside Insanity does a depressingly good job of examining how something special can be latched onto by greedy suits and run into the ground, leaving those talented people who actually created it in the dust. It’s not often that creatives are willing to give a proper insight into the administrative side of their work, because they’re usually bound by contracts that numbers stay between them and their bosses. But now we know that Susan Sarandon was paid no more than $20,000 for her work on Rocky Horror, and Barry Bostwick even less because he wasn’t as famous, with neither receiving royalties. We know that Michael White, one of the two producers of the film alongside industry giant Lou Adler, made some dodgy deals just before the property took off, and some Dutch bankers ended up making his share of the massive profits for doing sweet F.A.
For a property as beloved as Rocky, it is nice to stick to the many positives of its existence, but this documentary offers a unique look behind the curtain and reminds us that the ruthlessness of the entertainment world knows no bounds. Fox hated this stupid movie they’d commissioned, until it started raking in massive numbers at midnight screenings, at which point they were more than happy to up their prices because, as far as they were concerned, if one little theater could no longer afford to show it, there would be a queue of people behind them willing to stretch their budget for it.
‘Rocky’s Most Important Figures Deliver Some Brutal Truths
They say that the older you get, the fewer fucks you give, and perhaps that’s why this was such a good time to go back to the producers, actors, and directors and get their honest recollections of the whole Rocky phenomenon. They’re now in their 70s and 80s, and don’t seem too concerned with protecting reputations or wording things just right. Sane Inside Insanity gets an impressive roster of contributors, from the original London cast and movie version actors, to jilted producers and theater managers, to big names like Lou Adler and Jim Sharman, and between them, they put together a really thoughtful and comprehensive history of Rocky, its cultural significance and the battles fought behind the scenes to bring this wonderful, liberating piece of art to the world. Even for this fan, it offered tidbits and stories I’d never heard before, and captured that mischievous sense of fun and artistic experimentation that is so central to the show.
For Rocky fans, this is a brilliant chronicle of the history of a perfect show, with plenty of the humor, heart, and zest for life you’d expect. In a broader sense, it is a fascinating examination of cultural lightning in a bottle, how to exploit it, and which pitfalls to avoid. It could be shown to media studies classes to demonstrate the many harsh realities of the entertainment industry. But, exactly as it should, it ends on the right note that goes back to the very heart of this utterly unique piece of art: love each other, have fun, and, most importantly, don’t dream it. Be it.
- Release Date
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October 28, 2025
- Runtime
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106 minutes
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Patricia Quinn
Self – Director
Pros & Cons
- The documentary offers a rounded, comprehensive look at the life and times of The Rocky Horror Show.
- An interesting and varied group of interviewees offer unique perspectives on the show and their places in it.
- The heart, community spirit and liberating effect of Rocky is always firmly at the center.
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