The KSC Film Society did the time warp again, and held its annual Halloween screening of Jim Sharman’s 1975 musical film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on Saturday, Oct. 28 in the Redfern Art Center’s Putnam Theater.
The event was free to the public and included a costume contest, where audience members showed off Halloween costumes which were judged by a board of adjudicators, and awarded prizes for first, second and third place. 23 audience members participated in this year’s contest.
Junior Charlie Grace won first place with a costume depicting the “Hellraiser” character Pinhead. “I made the headpiece myself. I added all the pins, and it was very time-consuming. I’ve come to the Rocky Horror nights every year since coming to Keene State, and it’s one of my favorite events”, Grace said. Grace was awarded free passes for every movie the Putnam Theater will be showing in the fall 2023 semester and spring 2024 semester.
Sophomore Lex Gargan attended the screening, dressed as Jason Voorhees from the “Friday the 13th” franchise. “I’ve always wanted to see the show, and the fact that it was free just made me decide that we’re going. I’m very excited,” said Gargan, who was seeing the show for the first time.
Community member Ryan Hamel also attended the screening, dressed as Ghostface from the “Scream” franchise. “I really like how unhinged it gets, and how the audience is just willing to do things that wouldn’t happen at any other show. It’s really a unique, once in a lifetime experience,” said Hamel, who was seeing “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” for the second time.
The film, which has developed a dedicated cult-following since its release in 1975, is widely known for audience participation during screenings. At certain points in the film, audience members are encouraged to yell certain phrases known as “callbacks.” These callbacks often take the form of jokes, throwing certain items at the screen and foreshadowing what a character is about to say.
The annual screening is part of a larger series of horror films being showcased for the Halloween season at the Putnam Theater.
“Last year we started a tradition of showing Halloween double-features. This Sunday [Oct. 29] we’ll be showing “Infinity Pool” by Brandon Cronenberg, and David Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future.” “Since both directors are father and son, it’ll be a nice horror double-feature,” said senior Wyatt Codd, the president of the KSC Film Society.
Codd said, “’The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ is a unique experience that should be experienced in person. It has a huge cult following that always brings people in. We usually have a full house. We really push the audience participation… It lasts the entire film, and it’s such an amazing experience to just feel the audience’s energy and how much love they have for the film.”
Codd also said that previous screenings have included a cash prize, which was disallowed by Keene State College for this year’s showing.
Ryan Pacheco can be contacted at
rpacheco@kscequinox.com
