Regardless of its initial commercial and critical reception, the Rocky Horror Picture Show developed a cult, with its performances started at the Waverly Theatre of New York City. Since its release, the film has managed to take in more than $135 million, which makes it one of the top grossing independently-produced movies ever, and played in over 200 theatres simultaneously. The total box office gross, combined with the length of run in theatres is unrivalled by any other movie.

All the actors earned little from the Rocky Horror Picture Show before and after it became extremely popular. Starred in the film are Susan Sarandon, Tim Curry and Barry Bostwick, while the supporting roles feature Nell Campbell, Peter Hinwood, Patrica Quinn, Charles Gray, Jonathan Adams and O'Brien. The songs to the film include "The Time Warp", "Science Fiction", "Damnit Janet", "Over at the Frankenstein Place", "Once a While", "Creature of the Night", "Eddie", "I'm Going Home" and "Don't Dream It, Be It", the majority of them being released on soundtracks.

For its candid depiction of homosexuality, cross-dressing, cannibalism and adultery, the Rocky Horror Picture Show is considered by many to be ground-breaking. However, the design and scripting show the writer's knowledge of the history of cinema, going beyond science fiction and horror film genres. Because of the critics' uncertainty what genre the film might belong to, the Rocky Horror Picture Show didn't receive universal approval initially when released.

Among other reasons is probably inappropriate choice of theatre placement with the studio in politically conservative towns like Santa Barbara. Nevertheless, its frank dip and groundbreaking are two distinctive features, contributing significantly to the film's popularity, whose viewings are frequently attended by fans dressed as the film's characters.

For its 25th anniversary, the songs from the soundtrack record are substituted for the song dubs. The early prints of the Rocky Horror Picture Show didn't feature the surround mixes, since the movie was remixed in Chace Surround Stereo in the late 1980s. Following the intended vision of the director, the first twenty minutes of the film are black and white, turning then in color. Initially the film was intended to be in black and white, until the main character's appearance in a lift with the only color in the shot being his bright red lipstick.

Shortly after its release the Rocky Horror Picture Show was followed by the adventure game, known as Rocky Horror Interactive Picture Show, which didn't enjoy popularity and was criticized for outdated graphics and clumsy interface. There also exist three adult videos with the names parodying the film, including the Rocky Porno Video Show, the Rocky Erotic Video Show and the Rock Horror Porno Show.

 In 1981 Tim Curry was the musical guest host of Saturday Night Live Show, featuring a sketch, called Tim and Meat's One Stop Rocky Horror Shop. For the 15th Anniversary celebration, a comic book adaptation of the Rocky Horror Picture Show was published by Caliber Press, written and drawn in 1990 by Kevin Van Hook.