It is the review you’ve been waiting for. You might even say, you’re shivering with….

Anticipation.

Strange Journey, directed by Linus O’Brien, son of Rocky Horror creator Richard o’Brien, is fan service to the max. But, after 50 years of Rocky Horror, what kind of fan service is appropriate? Last year, I reviewed a documentary titled Metallica Saved My Life, which while is about the origins of the rock band, is also about the fans, their stories, and how Metallica became a fundamental part of their lives. In an era where streaming services are dying for content creation, it seems pretty easy to make a low impact documentary with a built in fanbase. We’ve gotten all sorts of docs as a result, from the utterly pointless Behind The Curtain: Stranger Things: The First Shadow, to the surface level Being Eddie, all the way up to these long miniseries like Apple’s Martin Scorsese docuseries, or HBO MAX’s efforts focusing on Paul Ruebens, and and Mel Brooks.

Strange Journey feels like a congratulatory victory lap, and all the problems and bumps along the way seem rather smoothed over, or ignored. I’ve read more detailed descriptions of the studio interference in the failure of the film initially at the box office, and how it had to claw its way to cult status. Now, of course, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is by far the definitive midnight movie, with shadow casts committed to the experience all over the country. They should have spoken to more, but they did at least touch base with one in Missouri. The stage show is also routinely performed in proximity to Halloween, sometimes as an annual event by the same community or regional theater. And, if you haven’t gotten in on the Rocky Horror craze, it does have audio description. The film is accessible, even if this is not.

It’s a love letter, interviewing cast that had a blast, people whose lives are forever changed, and presenting a mostly rose colored glasses look at the iconic cult classic. If you want more of an upbeat nearly conflict free documentary, this is for you. Hardcore Rocky Horror fans likely know everything, so this will either work for them because they are fans waiting to be serviced even if the documentary feels like a special feature on a new physical media release, or they won’t like it because it skirts the issues. It also oddly features Jack Black who feels like he was included because he had Meatloaf vibes. If Jack likes the production so much, why hasn’t he ever done it? In his career, there ahve been plenty of opportunities for him to do the show, yet he remains a virgin to the experience. A fan, but how many fans could have easily taken his place. Truly, he feels chosen like he’s speaking on behalf of Meatloaf.

It’s a step to the left from where I would have preferred, but it embraces enough science non-fiction, that Dammit Janet, I’d tell any fan to go up to the lab, and see what’s on this strange journey of the greatest midnight movie ever.

Fresh: 6.3/10