'Cult classic': How the Rocky Horror Picture Show finally conquered Vancouver

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On July 20, 1981, The Vancouver Sun reported The Ridge Theatre hosted its final midnight screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show due to a city bylaw change.

The 1975 film, which stars Tim Curry, is a musical comedy horror that follows the encounter between a couple and a transvestite mad scientist at a creepy castle called The Frankenstein Place.

The Ridge, which was located at 3131 Arbutus St. and closed in 2013, was the first Vancouver theatre to host its “witching hour” screenings of the film, which packed the house every Saturday.

But in 1981, local residents blamed film fans for vandalism and crime in their neighbourhood and said their weird costumes frightened elderly women. The Vancouver City Council subsequently passed a bylaw banning The Ridge from such midnight screenings.

Flash forward to 2026, and Rio Theatre is preparing for their annual Rockytober! screenings of what senior programmer Rachel Fox calls “the cult classic of cult classics. The film that never went away. Rocky Horror owns the screen the last week of Halloween.“

Leonard Schein, founder of the Vancouver International Film Festival and owner of The Ridge, first booked a midnight Rocky Horror Picture Show in 1978.

After facing claims of concern from local residents about the screenings, The Ridge countered by submitting a signed petition to council showing that 139 neighbours supported the midnight shows while 13 were against.

Police cleared The Ridge and said there was no evidence of liquor or an unusual level of noise. The Vancouver Sun ran an editorial related to the dispute saying that if council was concerned about making theatre owners clean up their neighbourhoods, then it should go after Famous Players and Odeon to clean up Granville Mall.

Schein hired a lawyer to fight the ban, which was then rewritten to prohibit theatres outside the downtown core from showing movies that ended after 1 a.m. After a 25-year absence, the film returned to The Ridge in 2006. Schein said even though council hadn’t repealed the bylaw, he was hoping that the “fun city” philosophy would mean councillors would no longer have a problem with the film playing at midnight.

Over the years, several theatres have hosted late-night screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show including: The Starlight and Park, (also owned by Schein); The Savoy Cinema, which later became The Fox; and The Rio, which has been screening it since about 2008.

“The film gives the audience permission to engage, to sing and dance,” Fox noted of the film’s enduring appeal. “Its popularity grew organically, and the live screenings are a collective dynamic experience. People watching is part of the fun, seeing the explosive energy of the fans.”

Fox also discussed the traditions of this celluloid ritual; what has remained the same and what has changed.

In a 1990 interview with The Vancouver Sun, Schein noted, “people don’t dress up in costumes the way they used to. I guess younger people are more inhibited about wearing costumes.” But the costume-wearing tradition has resurged in contemporary screenings.

Fox attributes the return to two factors: the growing popularity of cosplay and the rise of social media. It’s no longer just about the screening experience, she said, but the photos posted later.

Rocky Horror holds the record for the longest-running theatrical release in film history, according to the official film fan site Rockyhorror.com. The film’s cult following sprouted from the first midnight screenings at the Waverly Theater in New York in 1976.

By 1977, fans were throwing various props at certain points in the film. Rice was thrown at the screen during the opening wedding scene, and toast in the air when Dr. Frank-N-Furter proposes a toast at dinner.

At the July 18, 1981 screening at The Ridge, fans tossed 22 kilograms of rice and 800 slices of toast supplied by the theatre. The Rio was eventually forced to ban rice and bread as they attracted mice. Both theatres banned confetti because it was challenging to clean up.

Schein also noted, “we preferred that people use flashlights versus lighters because of the fire marshal.”

At the Rio, hosts continue to lead the audience through the rituals associated with the film, including the pre-show “Virgin Sacrifice” and the costume judging contests. The Time Warp has remained the audience’s favourite song with Sweet Transvestite as another consistent crowd pleaser.

Curry, the original “Sweet Transvestite from Transexual, Transylvania,” died on Aug. 25, 2026 at age 80. When asked if The Rio was planning a tribute to Curry, Fox replied, “the entire film is a tribute to him.”

She went on to describe how Disney gave the film the “bells and whistles” treatment for its 50th anniversary last year with a 4K remaster and a new commemorative logo.

Prior to his death, Curry attended a special 50th anniversary screening in Los Angeles where he told The Hollywood Reporter: “The message of the film — don’t dream it, be it — is very important. One of the things that the movie does, I think, is give anyone permission to behave as badly as they really want, in whatever way and with whom. And I’m proud of that.”

With files from Kevin Griffin and Glen Schaefer, The Vancouver Sun.