Airs: Thursday, October 20, 8:00 PM ET/PT on Fox.

Rating: ★★★★★

I remember the first time I watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I loved the campy tone, weird plot, and of course the music. So when I found out Fox was remaking it (“Rocky Horror”) as a television special, I was worried. I’m not a fan of remakes, especially the ones that have been released over the last few years. I find them to be soulless cash grabs that try to capitalize on a beloved property. However, I watched this new version with an open mind and kept my fingers crossed.

For those who have never heard of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the story follows newly engaged couple Brad (played by Ryan McCartan in this remake) and Janet (Victoria Justice), who find themselves at the bizarre castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, (Laverne Cox) a sexually ambiguous mad scientist.. The couple then witnesses the birth of Frank-N-Furter’s newest creation, Rocky (Staz Nair), whose sole purpose is to fulfill Frank-N-Furter’s every desire.

Brad and Janet Find Themselves At The Castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter.

This new Rocky Horror starts out strong with an opening scene that showcases an audience going to a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, accompanied by a well-done rendition of the opening song, “Science Fiction/Double Feature.” It made me excited for what was to come.

Sadly though, the special quickly loses steam after the opening and never regains momentum. This is partially because this new Rocky Horror takes no risks. It feels too scared to deviate at all from the source material and, in turn, makes what could have been a loving tribute tribute to the original into a simple recreation of what we’ve already seen.

The film is also uneven with its musical numbers. Songs like “Dammit Janet,” “I Can Make You A Man,” and the previously mentioned “Science Fiction/Double Feature” are entertaining, but then numbers like “Time Warp” and “Sweet Transvestite,” my personal favorite track, lack the frenetic energy of the original and drag the film down. The bigger dance numbers also suffer from poor editing, making them feel like a bunch of random shots thrown together.

Laverne Cox as Dr. Frank-N-Furter

Cox seems to be having a blast portraying Frank-N-Furter, and she can be fun to watch at times. However, she feels restrained and never really has the chance to go fully over the top like Tim Curry’s performance did in the original. She does her own singing, which is commendable, but her voice doesn’t quite have the range needed. The rest of the cast members are fine in their roles but there are no true stand-outs; and their voices sound like any other singer you hear on the radio.

There are some neat bits of meta-humor, such as cutting back to the audience watching the film and them then shouting out reactions like you would see at an actual midnight showing of the original movie Rocky Horror, and Curry himself featured as the narrator of the story, which is a nice nod. Both, though, are underutilized and appear so rarely, that you often forget about them.

There is a genuine effort at display here and a clear love for the source material, but Rocky Horror never captures the spark of what made the original The Rocky Horror Picture Show so great and why people continue to talk about it today. You’re better off watching the classic instead.

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