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Directed by Written by Based on their Starring Rated R Presented by 94 minutes |
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REPO!
THE GENETIC OPERA Review
Look out ROCKY HORROR, there’s a new horror/musical in town. A stage musical in New York and Los Angeles for many years, REPO has been considered a cult classic in the horror and musical genre for many years. After directing a stage version in 2001 and helming a short film in 2006, Darren Lynn Bousman has adapted the musical by Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich into a feast for the eyes unique film that both horror and musical fans no doubt will love. In the near future, an epidemic will cause human organs to fail, resulting in the deaths of millions and many more in desperate need of surgery. Enter GeneCo, headed by Rotti Largo (Paul Sorvino) who provides new organs for those who need it, but at a price. GeneCo soon takes over the world, even regulating the legal right to have organs repossessed if the donor cannot make his or her payments, hiring a Repo Man (Anthony Stewart Head) named Nathan Wallace to extract the organs. The Man is also Nathan Wallace, a scientist whose daughter Shilo (Alexa Vega) has a blood disease which makes her unable to leave her room. A connection between Nathan and Rotti sets Shilo on a collision course to discover the origins of her disease, and the mother who died giving birth to her. In the meantime, Rotti has to deal with three rotten children: Luigi (Bill Moseley, a complete psychotic who will kill you if you give him coffee that’s not hot; Amber (Paris Hilton), her body enhanced by the company in any shape she desires who aspires to be a singer, and Pavi (Skinny Puppy singer Ogre) who is so uncomfortable in his skin that he wears the skin of other’s faces over his own while holding a mirror. I absolutely loved this film from beginning to end, with striking visuals, excellent performances, and superb direction by Bousman, who makes his best work to date. Some visuals echo the SAW films (David Hackl, director of SAW V, was the production designer) but here it’s fine, with flash animated sequences filling in the back stories of the main characters to keep you up to speed in a quick manner that doesn’t detract from the story. The story itself is superb and very topical, with the focus on the medical industry (watch this back to back with SICKO for a nice double feature). BTW for horror fans, there is a lot of gore in the scenes where the organs are repossessed which will satisfy those needs. Unlike SWEENEY TODD, which used a watered down effect, the gore here looks real, and will make for some very squeamish moments. The cast is nothing short of fantastic, with all of the leads brilliant. The biggest surprise was Paris Hilton, who is shockingly excellent in the role of Amber, proving she can sing and plays the role well. It’s probably not much of a stretch playing a spoiled heiress to a conglomerate though, but to do it in constant song and dance routine is impressive. Alexa Vega is far from her SPY KIDS days, and plays a good lead in Shilo. As the Largo brothers, Bill Moseley and Ogre match well together, and Moseley sings well. Anthony Stewart Head is absolutely brilliant as Nathan, in a career defining performance. Holding his own with Paul Sorvino, who is also excellent in the appropriately named Rotti, Head carries the film with a multi-layered performance that makes for a memorable protagonist. Sarah Brightman is also stunning as GeneCo’s prime entertainment, Blind Meg, whose eyes were replaced by digital retinas that allow her to see and to display visual memories as holographs. These are put to display in the film’s most memorable and breathtaking scene, where Meg confronts Shilo about her past and relationship with Nathan and Shilo’s mother. The main cast is rounded out by Zdunich himself as a grave robber who serves somewhat as the narrator of the story, looking very goth and creepy. Some of the dialogue sounds a little weird when sung instead of spoken, but the musical performances (20 songs in total) are splendid. The best number is the one mentioned above, titled “Chase The Morning,” sung beautifully by Brightman and Vega. Another great number is “Thankless Job,” sung by Head as his job as the Repo Man is shown in graphic, bloody detail. Although Opera is in the title, the music has an industrial metal vibe to it, which mix well with the visuals. In all, REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA is great horror entertainment, a splendid musical with some great numbers that tell a fascinating story while simultaneously providing blood and gore galore to please the most ardent horror fan. It’s a unique film that may require multiple viewings and I think it’s easily worth to see a few times. REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA: 9 Out Of 10 Maggots CLICK HERE FOR AN INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR DARREN LYNN BOUSMAN!
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