This warts-and-all history of Richard O’Brien’s beloved cult classic opens with a card briefly explaining the origins of it all, and a short quote familiar to the many fans of the musical: “It was great when it all began.” And wasn’t it just? Sane Inside Insanity goes deep into the early days of Rocky, upstairs at the Royal Court theatre, and goes on to detail the evolution of the cult, and how the film came to be, including various pieces of sharp practice and incompetent dealing on the parts of a few different people.
Constructed from recordings of stage shows, old photographs, archival footage and talking heads, this unofficial documentary is competing with an official version produced by O’Brien’s son (Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror), with both being released to celebrate the film adaptation’s 50th anniversary. As well as cast members like Little Nell and Barry Bostwick, the talking heads here include original-stage-version actors, fans, and producers, one of whom really nails why Rocky is such a delight: “Rocky was an accident. You can’t try to have an accident.” This gets to the heart of why this particular phenomenon is special and why so many imitators and projects conceived with the intention of being “cult entertainment” are doomed to fail – including the 2016 reboot/remake for US TV, which is dissected with all the disdain it deserves.
