Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror may be the the definitive time warp on the history and legacy of the cult hit, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and the stage musical that preceded it, The Rocky Horror Show.

Produced by World of Wonder (RuPaul’s Drag Race, Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts) and from the perspective of director Linus O’Brien (the son of Rocky Horror creator Richard O’Brien), the documentary works in a linear fashion; starting with Richard’s interest in theatre, leading to everyone else’s interest in Richard and the kooky musical he was cooking up, to the runaway success of The Rocky Horror Show. While streamlined, this traditional assembly allows the film to promptly cut to the main attractions – interviews with former Rocky Horror cast and crew with famous clips and tunes from the 1975 flick breaking up the pace. The documentary is informative but, in equal measures, ecstatic fan service which O’Brien gets away with. The audience is given intimate access to the making-of these projects while we rock out to Time Warp for the second (or was it third?) time.

The trade-off, however, is the lack of a personal central connection between Linus and Richard. While it’s nice to see their father-son dynamic, Linus unfolds Richard’s stardom like a kid discovering how cool his dad was “back then”. The affection is genuine, but the feelings stay in a starstruck daze (despite Linus being well-informed of his father’s past).

There’s a really sweet hand-off in Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror, as the film pulls focus from Rocky Horror’s performance to the performance art of its cult fandom. Just as the original stage play and film adaptation were effortlessly woven through interviews with famous faces, archival footage of midnight screenings is used brilliantly with contemporary testimonials from “shadowcast” performers (companies who act out the film during packed screenings) and off-beat musicians like Tenacious D’s Jack Black and drag queen Trixie Mattel who were inspired by the outrageous musical and the party scene that followed the film.

What can I say? The doc is astounding, and time is fleeting to see this with a crowd of Rocky Horror fans. See Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror in a movie theatre, if you can, and be sure to ask the manager what their “rice throwing” policy is.

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Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie