Anthony Head

Movie Review: ’REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA’

SAW sequel helmer Darren Lynn Bousman directs Alexa Vega and Anthony Stewart Head in an instant cult classic bloody musical

Grade: B+

Stars: Alexa Vega, Anthony Stewart Head, Sarah Brightman, Paris Hilton, Ogre, Terrance Zdunich, Bill Moseley, Paul Sorvino

Writer(s): Darren Smith & Terrance Zdunich, based on their stage play
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Release Date: Nov. 7th, 2008
Rating: R
Distributor: Lionsgate

REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA, based on the stage musical by Darren Smith & Terrance Zdunich – who also wrote the film – comes to the screen with such a sense of delight that it has a heartwarming quality, despite (or maybe even partially because of) the copious gore. Roots variously located in noir comics, steampunk, THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW and even the producers’ big SAW franchise are visible, but REPO emerges as very much its own creature.

It’s 2056, when a combination of epidemic organ failure, cultural trends and politics have resulted in a system where internal workings are much like cars. You can buy or trade in hearts, kidneys, lungs, etc. for cash or financing, but should you fall behind too far in your payments, a repo man will hunt you down and take the organ back, with no regard for damage to the rest of your anatomy. At the top of the heap in the polluted civilization is Rotti Largo (Paul Sorvino), who owns GeneCo, the company responsible for all the organ transplants. While Rotti’s three rotten adult children (Paris Hilton, Ogre and Bill Moseley) squabble about who will inherit their father’s empire, 17-year-old Shilo (Alexa Vega) is kept like a princess in a tower by her own adoring father, Nathan (Anthony Stewart Head). Shilo is suffering from a disease that Nathan warns her will be made worse by contact with the outside world, but Shilo longs to know what’s out there. She’s blissfully unaware that one of the things going bump in the night is Nathan himself, who has a secret identity as one of Rotti’s most prolific Repo men. Also in the mix are Blind Mag (Sarah Brightman), an opera singer with genetically modified eyes, and the Graverobber (co-author Zdunich), who functions as both narrator and a possibly dangerous new friend for Shilo.

The songs are musically somewhere between garage metal and PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE pop, and lyrically on the Tim Rice expository side. Plot points are sung in language that often is more on-the-nose than poetic. However, the vocal prowess of most of the cast is such that the score incorporates honest-to-goodness operatic flourishes, particularly in Brightman’s numbers.

Bousman, who directed SAW II, III and IV, knows how to deliver graphic goods, but does so here with the kind of presentation and dark humor that make it part of the high stakes, so we understand what the characters are getting so emotional about, rather than something that’s meant to have more impact on the audience than on the film. He also demonstrates a good knack for outrageous showmanship, never more so than in the “Genetic Opera” show within the show that serves as the climax, with bodies piling up in all directions.

Vega, of SPY KIDS fame, has grown up gracefully and conveys both innocent angel and irritable teen brat very effectively. Head is simply brilliant as her angst-ridden dad and the icy, furious Repo Man. Given a duet with himself (singing for one of his victims), Head gets the full measure of insanity, hilarity and tragedy out of his character and the situation. Sorvino is able to put both his operatic background and sinister expansiveness to good use and Brightman proves ideal casting as the celebrated star of this dark, weird universe. Zdunich is suitably charismatic and mischievous as the Graverobber and Ogre, Moseley and Hilton are all appropriately creatures out of a Grimm or Andersen fairytale as the nasty Largo offspring.

REPO! has its demerits. The characters, songs and action all feel a bit rushed and could use some fleshing out and humanizing. Also, while there’s an aesthetic at work here, the movie is occasionally so visually dark that it’s hard to see what’s happening. Still, overall, REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA is a trip that fans of horror, particularly Grand Guignol, and music will enjoy taking.