University Board took students on a strange journey Saturday night, prompting some attendees to dress in drag and yell swear words at a screen.

The showing of “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” the macabre, erotic cult classic musical about and a newly-engaged couple who stumble upon the lair of transvestite aliens, is traditional around Halloween, said Nick Gracyalny, UB movie coordinator.

Jeremy Shafer, a junior foreign languages and clinical lab science major, dressed similarly to one of the film’s main characters, Dr. Frank N. Furter, played by Tim Curry. His fishnet stockings, high heels, pearl necklace, black leather corset-style vest, pancake makeup and blue eye paint mirrored the character.

But the dress-up aspect is not the main reason he attends “Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

“It’s the energy of the audience,” Shafer said. He rated this showing of the film as a six or seven on a scale of one to 10.

Shafer said he’s seen Rocky Horror “too many times,” the last being the previous Halloween. His father has also dressed up for the movie before, he said.

The internationally popular film starring Susan Sarandon debuted 1975, though it began earlier as a play. Last year, “Rocky Horror Picture Show” was added to the U.S. Library of Congresses Film Preservation Board’s National Film Registry.

Fewer than 10 of the approximately 50 attendees arrived in costume, but that didn’t stop them from singing, dancing, yelling lines and talking back to the film. They also brought props such as flashlights and rubber gloves.

Kallee Black, a sophomore early childhood education major, danced “The Timewarp” with her friends during her first viewing of “Rocky Horror.”

“It was a funny … very bizarre … unpredictable,” Black said.

The film has been popular for generations, and some members of the audience were longtime members of the “Rocky Horror” scene.

Tracy Parker of Chatham accompanied her daughter Danyelle Parker, a freshman communication studies major. Tracy Parker said the last time she’d seen the film was in the early ’80s.

“(Rocky Horror Picture Show) was kind of pushing the limits then, but now there are a lot worse things,” Tracy Parker said.

She attributes the film’s longevity to being an interactive, fun musical.

Though audiences traditionally throw rice, toilet paper and spray water in different points throughout the movie, such behavior was prohibited Saturday in the Charleston-Mattoon Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. The original location for the show was the South Library Quad, but was moved in because of cold, rainy weather.

Jay Grabiec/Daily Eastern News Rocky Horror Picture Show fan Emily Mott, a freshman pre-med major, dressed as Margarita awaits the beginning of the showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show at Martin Luther King Jr. University Union on Saturday evening. Mott

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