Antici… pation! That is what diehard fans of the Rocky Horror Picture Show movie have been feeling for quite some time after a remake was announced in April last year. The two hour television special was broadcasted on FOX on Oct. 20, and as expected, the results were certainly… interesting.

RHPS has always had a cultish following – you either love it, or you hate it. Fans of the movie have been showing up to theaters and plays ever since the first release in 1975 and participating in the lines. Props have been thrown, expletives have been shouted and everyone leaves knowing that RHPS is something unique and irreplaceable.

The opening scene starts out with sweethearts Brad (Barry Bostwick) and Janet (Victoria Justice) at a friend’s wedding, where Brad gets the courage to ask Janet to marry him after nervously pacing. Both of these actors are known to have good singing voices, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear their rendition of Damnit, Janet. The 1975 actress for Janet (Susan Sarandon) was no songbird, and hearing Justice hit the notes was surprisingly satisfying. At this point, I was excited – maybe this remake would live up to the original.

And then… the story progressed. The couple found themselves stranded in a forest after their car tire blew out, and were forced to take refuge in a creepy mansion with a leery servant and maid. The scene following this meeting is perhaps the most dynamic and interesting part of the entire movie. In the original, Brad and Janet burst through ballroom doors to a party hosted by the owner of the mansion, the sensual and out-of-this-world Dr. Frank N. Furter (Laverne Cox).

Strange people in suits and sunglasses are singing and screaming and dancing in a coordinated fashion to the iconic song, Time Warp. It’s blasphemous, it’s shocking, and it draws the viewer in. However, in the remake, the Time Warp was significantly mellowed down. The song was not made to be sung calmly or in harmonization – it’s supposed to be sloppy, wild and raunchy. It was simply dull and watered down. I assume this was because of the PG-13 rating on public television, and knew that from there on out it would be a swift downfall.

The next part that bothered me was the introduction of Eddie (Adam Lambert). In the original movie, Eddie (“Meatloaf”) is an ex-pizza delivery boy who wakes from his deep freeze slumber after being stored away by Dr. Frank N. Furter. He crashes through the freezer doors with his motorcycle and causes the party to start up once again, seducing a groupie and causing a frenzy.

This redirection of attention causes Dr Frank N. Furter to fly into a rage, killing Eddie with an ice pick and leaving him to die in a bloody garbled mess in the freezer, once again. In the remake, Eddie didn’t come in through the freezer – for some reason he came in through the window. This actually erased a lot of his backstory in regards to his relations with Dr. Frank N. Furter and how he wound up there to begin with. Furthermore, Frank N. Furter stabbed Eddie, but with no visible wounds or blood to follow. To top it off, after that, Furter pushed him out of a window. What was the point in all of that? Again, I understand the PG-13 rating, but if it isn’t rated M, then it isn’t really RHPS.

While I could go on to list many more details that were changed that deeply annoyed me, I feel as though Time Warp and Eddie were the biggest offenses worth touching base on. After Eddie, certain things in regards to the plot were slightly changed to incorporate a more appropriate tone for viewers, and it just slowly spoiled as time went on.

Overall, I did not like this remake. RHPS is a classic, and simply cannot be beat by any means – so why bother trying? I do advise those who are wondering what two college sweethearts have to do with the mess that was just described to check out the 1975 film. Like I said, you’ll either love RHPS or hate it – but either way, you’ll surely remember it!