REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA Review

Founder and Editor; Toronto, Canada (@AnarchistTodd)

[Our thanks to Justin Decloux for the following review of Darren Bousman's cult horror musical.]

REPO is an anomaly in the universe. It was funded by an actual studio (Lions Gate), it's a musical (an R rated one!), it doesn't have any big stars (Paris Hilton is not a star, she's a cancer), and its gory subject matter ("Live Organ Repossession!") probably won't appeal to musical lovers Mr and Mrs. Doe who loved that edgy film where Superstar Jesus Christ belted out those electric jams! The torture porn loving pre-teen audience won't like it either, because there's all that "QUEER!" singing on screen. I'd hate to be the producer that wakes up and realizes he "A-Okay'ed" this little gem of an idea during a coke fuelled round of Scattegories. But is it good?

In the future, organ failure is a common occurrence. Thankfully, a corporation named Genco has jumped into the game with enough organs for everyone! Well, there's a catch.: Organs cost money. If people can't make their payments, the company's going to have to sharpen their knives and go collect their merchandise. That's Nathan Wallace's job (Anthony Head) an ex-doctor turned Repo Man but don't judge him on sight. He may chase after innocent people and rip out their inside, but deep down he's not a bad guy. Everything he does is for his daughter Shilo Wallace (Alexa Vega) who must be confined to her room because she suffers from a rare blood disease. She wishes to see the world but her Father wants none of it. The plot kicks into motion when Genco chairman Rotti Largo (Paul Sorvino) decides to put Shilo (Why? You'll have to watch the film for that one) in his will as the sole inheritor of Genco. This doesn't sit well with his three children (Paris Hilton, Bill Mosley, Nivek Ogre) and they're going to do everything in their power to stop it. Shilo's father realizes that he may have to tell his daughter the truth, the whole truth, before the Opera begins and the blood begins to flow.

The world (what we see of it) pops with futurist grimness and boasts a catchy enough (I'll get back to that) musical score. Anthony Stewart Head is mesmerizing as the lead Repo Man and his booming emotional voice saved a few songs that could have fallen flat. Alexa Vega as his daughter has a strong presence, but I can't help but picture any generic teen pop star's face to her singing voice. The rest of the cast pull off their roles admirably. Paul Sorvino as Genco chairman Rotti Largo acts with all the bluster that his evil role demands. Bill Mosley as his psychotic sun is his psycho self. Paris Hilton as the only Largo daughter didn't make me cringe when she appeared on screen. She actually fit the role of the drugged up ditzy cutter addict perfectly! Who woulda thunk it? But the thing that surprised me the most was the scale of the story. We get a few EPIC! swoopy CGI shots of a futuristic city, but other than that the whole thing takes place in about five locations. The songs are operatic to the extreme but characters live in their own small universe. I could feel that this was once an off-Broadway play that was put on in a tiny bar (Which it was) This isn't bad, it is just a sign that everyone believes that the actual songs will carry the film home. Not many explosions here folks.

Finally, we talk about all that musical madness: if people open their mouth in REPO what escapes will always be in sing-song fashion that usually (but not always) ditches the verse-chorus-verse structure of a regular song for a more free form poetry variety. At first, it was a bit disconcerting and the songs didn't really stand out. They sounded like nothing more than someone putting inflections on poetry with some generic music backing it up. It isn't until Mr. Head open his mouth to belt out a tune that the music improves considerably. I started to feel like each song becomes its own entity, and the ride smoothes out until the curtain finally closes. It could be that they let the weakest out of the gate first? A second viewing would clear that up for me. The direction by Darren Lynn Bousman (Helmer of the
last three Saw films) is seemingly work-manlike, but that's only because he pulls the camera back and lets his performers... well... perform. There's no flashy quick cuts, uncomfortable close ups or sped up motion here. There are a few stylish touches (Illustrated Back Stories for the characters are presented in motion Comic Book Panels and it seems a a tad superfluous. ) but nothing that draws unnecessary attention to itself. The subject matter is odd enough that it doesn't need flash to make it appealing. Bousman directed the first ever live REPO show ten years ago and this world is all his. The only stylistic crossover from Boussman's Saw days is a completely unnecessary recap of the whole film in thirty seconds. I guess it's for the people who took a refreshing nap during the film's first hour and fifteen minutes.

At the end of the day, (and this overly long review) it all comes down to two things: do you like musicals? Do you like horror-themed subject matter reaching on its tippie toes for cult success? If you answer YES to one of those and are willing to give a little leeway to the second then check this chipped treasure out.


*NOTE:* Bousman shot a short 10 MINUTE demo reel for this a few years back in a bid to get financing. The short starred "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" star Micheal Rooker!

Review by Justin Decloux

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