A small cult composed of students wearing fishnets, high heels, and lipstick assembled in Folk Hall to view, or rather experience, the absurd, yet strangely familiar spectacle of The Rocky Horror Picture Show on Friday evening.

In pre-Halloween celebration, members of The University’s Akron Metalsmithing Guild hosted the movie as part of a fundraising campaign. Tickets were $10 for general admission, and $15 for the deluxe ticket which included popcorn, candy, drinks, and a plethora of props for use during the film.

The Guild raised $170 from the event. Proceeds will help aid the Akron Metalsmithing Guild in attending the Society of North American Goldsmiths conference in New Orleans, May 2017.

The student organization hopes to travel to the conference to attend workshops, demonstrations, and lectures from artists, craftsmen and women, and metalsmiths from around the world.

Tickets for the viewing went on sale earlier in the week, with some still available at the door the night of the showing. Playing from a large projector, the film shot onto a vast, white wall as guests settled into their seats, props at the ready.

Most students had seen the movie many, many times before, but some first-time viewers sat giggling with eager expectancy.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show, fondly known as Rocky Horror to its dedicated fan base, is a musical comedy horror film from 1975. The film has attained perhaps one of the deepest cult followings and is still played in midnight movie theaters ever since its release.

The story revolves around a Transylvanian mad scientist and his macabre following of groupies, house guests, and former creations.

Featuring a bizarre, endearing story with equally endearing characters, the film’s campy, sexually charged harmony has delighted fans for over four decades. Initially panned as a nonsensical musical about an otherwise ignored segment of society, the film has since evolved into a raucous celebration of the strange, the misunderstood, and the erotic deviance of human emotion.

During the film, fans sing along to the music, dance along to the madness onscreen, throw props into the air and speak (shout!) directly to the movie’s characters.

The attendees in Folk Hall were no exception. As a modest newlywed couple in the film strode down the church steps, students threw handfuls of rice into the air. As rain poured down on an unfortunate couple onscreen, students splashed each other with squirt guns.

Noisemakers, confetti guns, playing cards, and party hats all became part of the strange experience that is “Rocky Horror.” But perhaps the most anticipated and enjoyed exhibition of eccentricity is the iconic theatre-shaking dance called “The Time Warp.”

When the song played, nearly everyone in the theatre exited their seats and poured into the aisles to participate in the comically amusing dance procession.

The film concluded with a costume contest. The winner received a $10 Chipotle gift card.

Afterward, Sophomore Nikki Parsons mused on the evening’s events: “Ten out of ten — would throw rice and toast in the air again.”

The Akron Metalsmithing Guild will be showing the film again next semester to continue fundraising the trip to SNAG 2017. So if the thought of snapping rubber gloves and throwing slices of toast into the air all while watching a man wearing fishnets and a corset entices, consider attending the spring showing of the film.