Repo! The Genetic Opera

I watched the second showing in Atlanta tonight. Some disclaimers:

As a fan of musicals, especially musicals that are not your usual fare, my expectations were high. I love Rocky Horror, was an avid fan for many years, and have been one of those who can quote not only the whole musical but all those lovely shout out lines in between. I also am a fan of stage musicals, and I would have to say Sweeney Todd has been my favorite since I first heard the music back in the early 90's. So I'm not afraid of a little blood with my music.

I also am a big fan of the Buffy musical. So I like Anthony Head's voice and acting. I should be foaming at the mouth at this movie. It's like it was made for me.

Unfortunately, I walked out of the movie thinking it was okay. Not great, but okay. That's when I ran into the fans, dressed like the characters and all chatting about how great it was. And it clicked.

This is supposed to be the next Rocky Horror... but without the long agonizing wait for a cult following. This was insta-cult classic! Just add water! The problem is, it's just not as good.

Believe me, I wanted it as much as the next Rocky/Buffy/Brightman fan, but the failing for me was in the music. I'm even a fan of this style of music, and it was not catchy. It was patchy. There were a few songs that were okay, but none of them were memorable. I'm not singing bits of them right now, and after a good musical you should be. As I talked to some of the fans who were wearing the costumes (some of whom I actually knew), their response to my critique was that "it grows on you" and that "I need to see it a few times".

They were gonna like this movie regardless, because they need another movie like Rocky Horror. And who doesn't? It gets boring watching the same movie for years and years - I know, I did it. But it's just not as good. And everyone is trying so hard to make it good.

This leads me to my last comment - I sat in front of a die-hard fan who was trying as hard as he could to make this movie great. He laughed the loudest and even tried to "Rockyfy" the movie by inserting his own shout-out comments. I remember thinking, "Dude, this isn't that movie" and I was only 5 minutes into it.

Don't try to make a movie good. Be objective. Even if it's your favorite kind of movie, don't be afraid to say that it's not that good. Wait for the ones that are.

We just got from seeing the Repo premiere and now I can't wait until November to see it again. The film was phenomenal! It was beautiful to watch and extremely entertaining. Repo far surpasses the Saw films in originality, creativity, and artistic integrity. This is not simply a slasher film, although there is plenty of violence to keep gore fans happy, there is a very interesting and unique story being told here. In fact, a whole world has been created in Repo and there is plenty of room for more stories to follow. Unlike many sequels, a sequel to Repo would be completely justified in respect to its content.

The music was catchy and I walked back to the hotel with it running through my head. There is a nice variety of songs featured in Repo and, as is natural with a collection of songs, fans will have their favorites and their least favorites. I can honestly say that even my least favorite songs were still necessary in the context of the film and I didn't really mind them. I was slightly caught off guard by how pop a couple of the musical numbers were, but again they were appropriate for the part of the film they were featured in.

Another surprise was the size of roles in the film. The roles played by Ogre, Bill Moseley, and Paris Hilton were not as prominent as I had imagined them being (and yes Paris gave a good performance). They seemed to have less screen time than the rest of the stars. This is not a serious complaint of the film itself, just a desire for more (especially Ogre). Skinny Puppy fans have never seen Ogre quite like this (just wait until you hear his voice). Other personal favorites (aside from Ogre) were The Grave Robber, Anthony Head, and Sarah Brightman.

Darren, the Cast and Crew, and the Producers of Repo the Genetic Opera have created a beautiful thing here. This is a horror movie with true originality in story and in visuals. They went out on a limb to make something new, something that hasn't already been proved to work and that type of effort needs to be supported; otherwise we will continue to be given "New" movies that it feels like we have seen before. I know the wait has been long, but I can now tell you with certainty that it is well worth the wait.

If originality is not supported it will continue to disappear.

Please support Repo the Genetic Opera.

Darren Lynn Bousman has cojones. Big brass ones, it would appear, after viewing his twisted eclectic musical known as Repo! The Genetic Opera, which was given its world premier at Montreal's Fantasia film festival months in advance of its November release date.

The Director of Saw II, III and IV is hardly a person you'd associate with a rock opera, and when you factor in a cast that includes such artistic polar opposites as Sarah Brightman and Paris Hilton, you could be forgiven for feeling that the stink-o-meter would be going off the chart. And yet, it doesn't.

Set against a futuristic backdrop where an epidemic of organ failures is plaguing humanity, people turn to the unscrupulous Geneco Corporation to purchase replacements for their failing vitals. Not everybody makes good on their payments, however, which is where Nathan Wallace (Anthony Head of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame) goes into action as one of Geneco's "repo men", brutally reclaiming defaulters organs at scalpel-point.

The movie has a visual style that both works to its benefit and runs against the grain of conventional movie telling (comic strip look, richly colored and stylized sets, heavily filtered camera shots) and much of the music is surprisingly good. Even those sung by Hilton, who blends surprisingly well into the mix as Amber, the vain, plastic-surgery obsessed daughter of Geneco's president (Paul Sorvino). While Sarah Brightman's career as a pop-opera singer makes her, on paper at least, the best casting choice, it's Head who's really surprising. Sure he an act, but in a movie with no spoken dialog he not only shows he can sing, but is actually able to change his vocal style from controlled, when in character as Wallace, to raunchy when he dons his Repo Man persona.

Among the movie's flaws is the performance of Bill Moseley (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects) as Luigi Largo, the scheming son of Geneco's president, whose singing talent can charitably be described as "lacking". Then again, considering the nature of the story, its roles, and ambitious scope, you'd have to expect that Bousman was going to break a few eggs en route to making his omelet.

The folks who run the hype machines at Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures are spinning this as another cult classic along the lines of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Phantom of the Paradise. That's a bit much. Musical cult classics aren't instantly created, they assume that mantle as a result of fan approval, and the cultivation of a following – something not easily done given the demise of repertory cinemas and weekly midnight screenings. Right now such corporate accolades are nothing more than hyperbole. Even though a lot of the prerequisites are in place, only time will tell if Repo will allow Bousman to reserve a permanent spot shilling to character-dressed fans on the convention circuit.

Such a movie gives me hope - that sometimes between all the remakes, prequels, sequels, reboots and directors cuts and whatever bores we still get now and then a gem to watch.

What the world needs are certainly more such fine imaginations like Repo! The Genetic Opera. Somehow the movie reminds me a little of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and that's for sure not the worst reference.

Well, the genetic opera is filled with fine ideas, gore, slash and some good songs. It is an explosion of blood compared with all the blood- and lifeless productions which flood the screens of cinema and all the networks nowadays.

If you like musicals and gore, this is made for loving you - and don't forget to watch The Devil's Carnival, also directed by Darren Lynn Bousman: a horror musical.

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.