Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) Starring Anthony Head, Alexa Vega & Paul Sorvino Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman Written by Darren Smith & Terrance Zdunich

I had the pleasure of viewing this movie in the KC Metro area the other night with the director, Darren Lynn Bousman, at the Glennwood theatre. It was a packed house. I had no idea what to expect, having read nothing other than the synopsis about the movie, wanting to be surprised. Hell, I didn’t even know it was a rock opera, I just thought it was part of the title. I began to realize as I saw people in costume, in line, who had driven from other cities to get a 2nd viewing of this super scarce film in the theatre that I may have just stumbled across something phenomenal, and Repo! did not fail to deliver.

Ever have an urge to see your horror set to music? This operatic outing takes place in the future, 2056 to be exact, and the world has just recovered from a plague (never really explained, but suggested to be caused through a hereditary weakness to the toxic atmosphere) that causes sudden organ failures. The world is saved by GeneCo, a company whose gene-splicing sciences allow it to breed perfect sets of organs and replace your failing ones. The procedure is expensive, but can be financed. Of course, thanks to GeneCo’s financial power over world governments, it has managed to legalize organ repossessions. If you fail to make your payments to the corporate giant, the Repo-man, a mythic, nightmare of a man comes and takes them back from you, slicing out your still-beating heart if needed, late-fees and interest compounded into a grisly death.

Trapped in the center of this horrid world is Shilo (Alex Vega). Her late mother’s pre-plague associations continue to haunt her, hunted by GeneCo head Rotti Largo (veteran actor Paul Sorvino), imprisoned by over-protective father Nathan (Anthony Head of Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and sought by her godmother, the doomed opera singer Blind Mag (vocalist Sarah Brightman)… not to mention the deadly blood disease she seems to have inherited from her mom. Shilo escapes, hoping to find her path to freedom and a way to cure this seemingly fatal condition, only to find that her world is a web of secrets, a love triangle, in the oldest operatic fashion. Rotti Largo plans on using Shilo to get revenge against not only her father Nathan, but also his misbegotten, parasitic children.

And then there’s the slight complication of Shilo’s father secretly being the dreaded Repo-Man.

It should be obvious that this isn’t a film for everyone, but it’s sure to be a cult hit of the highest caliber. The steam-punk visuals (sadly, slightly diminished by the studio’s rumored refusal to supply the production crew’s request for actual film instead of plain digital tapes) and gothic styling will be enough to capture the attention of many, but the real strength lies in the sound of the film. Music is provided by Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich, (the latter being a multi-talented creator, co-writing Repo! as well as supplying the comic-book style intro panels…oh, and he’s the Grave Robber as well.) and has influences from a myriad sources of rock, operatic vocal, and industrial sources, from, (of course) Sarah Brightman, Skinny Puppy, Poe, Otep and even Joan Jett… all of whom, by the way, add their talents to the film. If you like the sounds of artists like The Faint, Legendary Pink Dots, Tom Waits, and Evanescence, then set your ears to be treated to 98 minutes of aural pleasure.

I don’t think there should be anyone who walks into the film who shouldn’t be blown away by the song “Thankless Job”, featuring the Repo-man slicing apart his latest impoverished victim whilst singing him a jaunty tune. As he sings his uplifting ditty, he hacks away at the man’s stomach, in grisly glory equal to anything from the ‘Saw’ series (Same production team, go figure). As this repo’ed gent slips silently off of the mortal coil, the Repo-man slips his hand into the corpse’s gullet, using him as a puppet, which then becomes back-up vocals for the remainder of the song. I don’t think there was anyone in my screening who wasn’t laughing and clapping away with this tune.

In fact, Anthony Head really made the film for me. His performance as Nathan the Repo-man had me captivated, performed with an excellent mix of fatherly pathos and sadistic glee. And really, don’t the two just go hand in hand, anyway? His singing was right on cue for the movie, managing to both sound well and emote fully, something not easily done to singsong rock & roll. The rest of the cast does well, from the over the top Largo children (slapstick, they hearkened to me the “Keeper of the House” number from Les Miserables…only with hearts and spleens flying through the air), to the dignified villainy of their father. Paris Hilton, while I cannot stand that we keep giving this girl CD’s and movie roles due to her appearance in a homemade porno, does well in her part as Rotti’s daughter Amber Sweet, her notorious notoriety only adding to the jokes made at her character’s expense.

The style of the film isn't necessarily anything new. Almost any horror film since Se7en has had the same washed out, black, white, blue and red color palette splashed across its surface. I know I appreciated the return of its specific gothic dress and make-up, reminiscent of my Manson days back in High School (all too appropriate, the original stage-play the script was based on is about 10 years old, and it made me lament the emo turn that washed away the ‘inevitable’ steam-punk future the world seemed to be heading towards a decade ago). But reuniting the Victorian influences of this style to its operatic roots is an untried, and it turns out, genius move that really made the film feel fresh and original, and made its fictive world mesh.

If nothing else, the feel and tone of the film, something totally missed by most other movie critics, fits so well the cynical, nihilistic attitude of the story. This is a story about a society with a failing health-care system that doesn’t seem to give a damn how patients are supposed to come up with exorbitant medical bills, a society where the rich are able to influence politics and legally rip apart the poor, a society seemingly cursed by hereditary disease, viruses inherited, as well as the worst of a parent’s character flaws passed on to his children, and a society that suffers daily from the pit-falls of substance abuse and over-medication. This is a film of violence and angst and anger… but not without a bright glimmer of hope at the end.

Indiewire’s review for this film said it was meant, “to make a play for the hearts of high-school musical theater vets and those kids who wear 18-hole Doc Martens and hang out by the food court Arthur Treacher's in full mortician's wax makeup.” (Source http://www.indiewire.com/movies/2008/11/review_hack_att.html) and that seems to be the problem with this film’s reviews is that the critics are inclined to attack the film’s intended audience rather than asking themselves how well the film does at pleasing that group. The answer to that is ‘fabulously’. There wasn’t a person in our audience not standing and clapping at the end. My guest, a casual film buyer who only owns 5 DVD’s said she couldn’t believe there was a film so fresh and different out there, and she’d just found the 6th film for her collection. Obviously there’s a lot to enjoy in this film. Is it a cinematic masterpiece? No, probably not. But is it a breath of fresh air in an entertainment market that shits out 200 self-cannibalizing movies every year? Yes. And is it fun? Yes, yes, a thousand times over yes.

I can’t tell you the last time I’ve had so much fun dancing in my seat to goth opera and watching people get disemboweled by Giles from Buffy.

Sadly, Repo! is currently only being shown on 8 screens across the country. The director is taking a print with him, city by city, across the United States to do private screenings, trying to get people to help him spread the word. If you want to be seriously blown away, go to your local indie film house and request that they pick up a print of Repo! It’s a cult experience that will long be remembered, in the likes of Rocky Horror, or other horror comedy experiences like Re-Animator.

I was privileged to see two premieres this weekend, one being this film, and the other being James Bond: Quantum of Solace. While both were good, only one of the pair did I immediately want to go see again, or wish to pack every friend I have in front of a screen to sample the film along with me, and it wasn’t 007.

If you want a taste of something different, go spend a night at the Genetic Opera.