By the year 2056, an epidemic of organ failures has devastated the planet. The megacorporation GeneCo provides organ transplants on a payment plan - and those who can’t fulfill their plans have their organs repossessed. In the midst of this, a sickly teenager discovers a shocking secret about herself, her father, and their connection to GeneCo.
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Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman who is known for Saw Films (Part 2 to 4). Starring Alexa PenaVega, Paul Sorvino, Anthony Head, Sarah Brightman, Paris Hilton, Bill Moseley, Kevin 'ohGr' Ogilvie and Terrance Zdunich. Great performance by everyone, Sarah Brightman was amazing with her bright eyes and her golden voice, I didn't know she was a singer until I checked her out on Wikipedia. I was surprised to see Paris Hilton in a movie like this, but she did a great job as well. And finally the actors who stole the show was none other than Bill Moseley and Kevin 'ohGr' Ogilvie. I would love to see a Repo movie mainly about them. Hail to Luigi and Pavi Largo!!!
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.
Hmm. I'm not sure what to think of REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA; as a film it gets an A+ for enthusiasm and effort, but in terms of quality it's something else entirely. This is a poorly shot (by SAW director Darren Lynn Bousman), over the top rock/horror/musical about a futuristic society where plastic surgery and the repossession of body organs are the focus of the story. It's a bit like REPO MEN but with songs instead of dialogue.REPO! was perhaps inspired by Tim Burton's SWEENEY TODD horror musical but it's nowhere near it in terms of consistency and quality. The best thing I can say about REPO! is that some of the songs are sung well, but in terms of lyrics and storyline, well, you can forget it. We get a bunch of unpleasant characters going around offing each other in various cheesily gory ways while they sing about it. The whole thing is shot in the dark on a cheap budget so it doesn't look too great.Cast-wise, it's a mixed bag. There are veteran actors like Paul Sorvino and Anthony Head who are really game and who you can't help but enjoy. But the lead actress, Alexa Vega, is acceptable at best and doesn't really have much in the way of presence despite being on screen for almost all of the running time. Bill Moseley's here too, but I had enough of his hammy schtick before long. Why they cast Paris Hilton I don't know, because a singer she isn't. Still, we do get a prominent supporting role for Sarah Brightman, and she sings everybody else off the screen. The film suffers big time whenever she's not around; a pity that she's mired in such a messy, juvenile production.
I'm going to say something that might sound a bit weird, but when I first saw this film I thought 'what the hell was that?'Like a lot of people in the forum have said, it gave me a kind of strange headache a lot like the first time I watched Moulin Rouge which, just like Repo, went on to become one of my all time favourite musicals. My explanation for what made me change my mind? I gave it another watch and the songs got stuck in my head, it's about as simply as that.So the premise of this movie - without giving everything away - is that a mega-corporation known as GeneCo have started transplanting organs for people due to a global epidemic of organ failure, but only as long as they agree to pay money or face the consequences (potential organ repossession which is now legal.) The guy who carries out these repossessions is known as the Repo Man and, of course, is widely feared (and for good reason!)One of the things I love, and yes even admired the first time I watched this film, about Repo is the originality of its storyline. The characters are so bizarre and different that it's actually highly refreshing. The only other films/productions it's slightly reminiscent of are The Rocky Horror Picture Show (for a mixture of horror and straight up camp theatrics) and maybe even some of the Saw flicks (in terms of gore, which maybe isn't all that surprising since Darren Lynn Bousman directed a couple of those as well.)This movie mixes animation, creepy prosthetics (I'm looking at you Pavi) and some pretty twisted humour but in the end it's going to be the soundtrack that determines whether you dig this film or not. My one word of advice, as you can see from my own story, is to give it a couple of watches or even listen to the soundtrack away from the movie. Once you like it, you really like it and soon you'll be fighting with people over who's better, Luigi or Pavi. If you straight up don't like the soundtrack, you may never get this movie.But for your sake I hope you do.