Repo! The Genetic Opera

I have been to cult films, I have been to great grand openings of everything from movies to books to games to this and that. If there is an opening, I will go to it. This movie... this entire experience, it was like nothing I've ever been to in my life.

People are asking whether or not this type of movie will gain 'cult' status, but the fact of the matter is... it already has. To quote Darren: "I'm standing up here, and I see that seventy percent of you are in costume, and the others are saying 'Damnit, why didn't I dress up?'." Dressing up isn't all that makes a cult, the fans are. The fact of the matter is, this movie has a rabid, feasting fanbase that would gladly hog-tie and grapple you to the movie just so that you have the experience of seeing it.

Those who say that this movie is crap, that it doesn't have an audience, and that the music is (my personal favorite) 'atonal', either weren't watching, listening or paying any attention to it at all. This movie is worth far more than anything I've seen in theatres for years. It is easily the most unique experience of my life.

I'd rather see something completely unique, even if it's offensive, gritty, shot with hand-held camera and staring sock puppets than watch anymore of the 'wannabe' good movies that have been coming out. These 'Masterpieces' that people consider to be SO amazing have nothing on a movie like this. This movie is untouchable, it is completely beyond all words.

Everything about this movie has a unique touch that is completely noticeable in absolutely every scene and song. It is an insult to creativity and artistry that a movie such as this should be shoved into only seven cities and outcasting all those who want to watch it so badly.

Myself and two friends drove down from Canada to watch it in Seattle, and we weren't the only ones, and some of the people at our showing were from Texas. This movie will surpass any movie this year through the years, simply because of the fans.

Do NOT miss watching this movie. If you can watch it, even if the theatre is three or four hours away... DO IT. Go in costume, shriek and have the best time of your life.

I s**t you not, this really really is a musical (or Operatic) Horror film. Right from the start this film is bonkers but soo soo colourful and engaging - the opening credit's themselves should keep you hooked and wondering what the hell is going to happen in the film. I wasn't 100% convinced about the musical score but it wasn't at all out of place and did serve as great narrative drive as the film progressed. There are comic-book flashbacks which serve to keep this nerds taste buds moist.

The film takes place in 2046 in it's own Gothic and dark world - it's visually stunning and due to the complexity of the construct I can see a lot more films being spawned from this. Organ failure is a common problem and to assist civilization companies like GeneCo have been set up. GeneCo is a bio-tec company offering organ transplants for a cost, the largest company. For a price they will fix it's customers, but should they miss a payment the RepoMan will be sent to hunt them down to get GeneCo's product back. This is normal everyday life for a culture addicted to painkillers and medication.

Anthony Head is the RepoMan, contracted by Paul Sorvino's Rotti Largo character in an almost Faustian pact to repossess organs and limbs of people unable to maintain payments. This is the deal for Head thinking/assuming that he killed his wife and Rotti lets him continue believing this. Meanwhile Head's daughter Shilo (Alex PenaVega) is struggling with life growing up with a degenerative disease which will ultimately kill her. Shilo has her own adventures but will cross paths eventually with the Largo family members and some home truths about her childhood. The Largo kid's (Paris Hilton, Bill Mosely, and Nivek Ogre) are all fighting for the power to control Largo Rotti's GeneCo empire. A chance encounter allows Shilo to meet Blind Mag (Sarah Brightman) who helps assist Shilo discover herself and the deals which were made when her mother dies and the RepoMan was born. The climax of the film is a brilliant fight scene/opera song worthy of any musical.

I recommend this film highly to anyone similar to myself who likes brilliantly bonkers spectacular movies, who might just have a penchant for horror or the occasional musical - FTR this is not as 'camp' as you'd expect from a musical, sure it's got songs to replace speeches but it works extremely well and you may just find yourself humming some of the songs after the credits have rolled. If you enjoyed "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" or "Sweeny Todd" this is a natural progression and you will not be disappointed. A total departure from what I'd expect the director of 'Saw' films to make but well done Darren Lynn Bousman, I take my hat off to you.

I can see this film being a cult classic and shown on many midnight Halloween film events. It's extremely original, it's visually stunning, and direction and production values are extremely high. Casting is brilliant and you'd normally expect such big names to get more screen time, the complex relationships between characters is explored via comic style flashbacks which just add to the beauty and appeal of this film. I really can't say enough superlatives about this film, just leave expectations at the door and let the film's world immerse you in itself.

There are two ways in which a movie can succeed.

One—it can have a fully realized plot that works to explain some larger subtextual moral. It can demonstrate a mastery of technical and thematic areas and create an emotional response in the viewer. This is the route that most critics look for when giving a positive review. Films like Schindler's List. On the Waterfront. A Streetcar Named Desire.

The other way in which a movie can succeed is with ideas. This type of movie doesn't have to make sense in the same way that a traditional film does. It simply has to take you somewhere you have never been, and hopefully throw your mind through a few loops along the way. Films like El Topo. The Fountain. Eraserhead. Gummo. The Exterminating Angels.

Repo! The Genetic Opera definitely falls into the latter category.

The story, told entirely through song, details the intersecting secrets of people living in a world where a mysterious virus has caused random organ failure and forced people to resort to leasing cloned organs, at a very high price.

There is so much whimsy in this film that it almost becomes an absurdist fairytale. It skips and jumps from one homage to the next, cribbing notes from Rocky Horror in one scene before moving on to Rigoletto in the next. Genres and archetypes are thrown up against one another and mashed together with reckless abandon mixing Grand Guignol with Sondheim and Disney with Faces of Death. It cuts together the pieces of our collective pop culture consciousness the same way that the antagonists cut together new forms for their bodies.

And it's wickedly funny too.

Picking up where the ultimate consumers of Romero's shopping malls left off, Repo! makes for a brutal satire of consumer culture where human flesh is a commodity bought and sold with government approval. People have designer spines and get upgrades on their bodies when they go in for maintenance on their artificial organs. Starlets don't forget to wear panties, they forget to sew on their new faces.

Darren Lynn Bousman has made a name for himself as a go-to guy for over the top, operatic gore and he doesn't shy away from it here. Repo! is often tremendously bloody with sanguine spilling left and right, often directly on top of naked flesh. He takes what he learned making Saw II--IV and pushes in into overdrive as he uses it to skewer one satirical target after the next.

Normally I am one to shy away from sexualized violence. I find it repulsive and saddening, but here, Bousman has found that perfect mix between sexy and grotesque. Though the bloodletting is vicious, it never spills over into elaborate rape fantasy. It is a shame that he is no longer attached to the Hellraiser relaunch.

The cast, made up of a bizarre collection of geek favorites, musicians and world famous opera singers is almost weirder than the movie's central conceit. Paul Sorvino is brilliant fun as the patriarch who controls the world but finds himself unable to defeat cancer. Sorvino is fascinating to watch when he is let loose and he has a singing voice to rival any star of stage. Sarah Brightman is also quite good in a small roll that is entirely divorced from her signature turn in Phantom of the Opera. The rest of the cast is a bit of a mixed bag. Alexa Vega is strong as the cloistered daughter of the eponymous organ ripper and Anthony Stewart Head outdoes his Buffy singing, even as his role is too close to that of Giles. Meanwhile Bill Mosely is obnoxious and all over the place, playing his seventh version of Chop-top while Paris Hilton is actually shockingly watchable as Amber Sweet, a heightened reality version of herself. But the real standout is Nivek Ogre of Skinny Puppy. The man steals the show as a deformed lothario who has a nasty habit of killing his lovers.

At a point, the film becomes as scattershot as the cast list with some moments hitting it out of the park while others miss wildly. By the end of the film one would be hard pressed to explain how the characters all end up in the same place, but it has long since ceased to matter because you've either accepted that the film is fairly divorced from reality, or else, you've walked out of the theater. I stayed, and loved every minute of it.

When I see a movie like this, I want to be taken to a new world. Somewhere strange and alien. The futuristic retro-chic of the Repo's alternate dimension is vibrant and dazzling, it's a whirling dervish of colors and styles. And though it never comes together, the overwhelming strangeness of it is intoxicating. The music is not for everyone, and the bloodletting is extreme, but Repo! offers something rarely seen at the multiplex--originality.

A-

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This modern, actually futuristic, opera is unlike anything I've seen. Many of its qualities remind me of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show,' a film that was never on my list of favorites. This is better simply because it's able to hold together a more plausible and serious story yet still present itself in the aesthetic of a psychedelic musical. It blends brutality with comedy and music very effectively, in fact, there were far more laughs in our theater than anything else. The interactions between the characters as they sing their parts make for great character development and story progression simultaneously. The character's themselves are all well performed, including Paris Hilton (what happens to her needs to be seen, not described). I'm not the type to like weird, cult films but this held my attention. It's definitely worth a viewing, and if you have time to immerse yourself, then it's definitely worth some good applause.

Seriously your argument is flawed, which made me sign up just so I could challenge you.

1/10 seriously? Maybe this movie is not for everyone but a 1?

I am a fan of the movie - and have seen the director and writer talk at numerous events.

This script has been around for over 10 years. It has been a stage show; and before that it was a 2 man musical.

My point is, this 'thing', REPO has been around in some form of another since 1996.

If you did some searching, BIOSHOCK, which I have played, and love, was brought into the market in 2007.

While Repo was already in PRE-PRODUCTION which means already past script stage, and already green-lit by a studio.

And to end your argument, you say the creators STOLE the idea from BIOSHOCK? Are you really one to talk? I see you're from Turkey, and voting on REPO. Has the film been released in TURKEY? Or did you just download the movie illegally?

Get your facts straight before spewing your ignorance.