Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Fasten your garter belt and come up to the lab and see what's on the slab! It's "The Rocky Horror Picture Show Special Edition", a screamingly funny, sinfully twisted salute to sci-fi, horror, B-movies and rock music, all rolled into one deliciously decadent morsel. And now there's even more to make you shiver with antici...pation: two additional musical numbers, "Once In A While" and "Superheroes", never seen theatrically or available on video! The madcap, musical mayhem begins when rain-soaked Brad and Janet take refuge in the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a transvestite mad scientist from outer space who is about to unveil his greatest creation - and have a bit of fun with his reluctant guests!

Fox really put a lot of effort into restoring this one and it shows. The image quality was far better than I anticipated and actually holds up with their better catalog releases. Colors have plenty of pop and detail is exceptionally good but for some reason whenever the commentator comes on the screen, things get blurry. This happens quite occasionally throughout the film and the effect on the picture isn’t subtle. Aside from that though you won’t find a better looking presentation of the film. On the audio side things get even better. Fox has included a 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix that has lots of dynamic range and great surround presence. The musical numbers (of which there are plenty) really amp things up with nice low bass kicks, plenty of presence in the main soundstage and a perfect balance with the rest of the track.

This digi-book release features some great linear notes and commentary on the popularity of this film. On the disc you’ll find LOTS of goodies including an interactive feature that lets you throw things virtually at the actors, a crowd participation feature, subtitles so you can yell at the screen like they do at the midnight showings and more. You also get some new musical numbers, some features on the production, interviews and a feature commentary.

While not for everyone there is no denying the bizarre wonder that is The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This Blu-ray comes second to only the magical experience that is a midnight showing with a rowdy audience (which my local cinema does quite occasionally!). But for the collector, there has never been a better release!