If you were a gothy/emo/nerd teen in the mid to late 2000’s like me, chances are you were obsessed with a horror musical. If might have been The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), or Tim Burton’s version of Sweeney Todd. But in my case, I was in love with Darren Lynn Bousman and Terrence Zdunich’s Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008). While the film was largely criticized and ignored during its original release, it’s become a cult classic in the ten years since.
I was hooked on Repo! after I was given an illegal copy from a friend, which I watched over and over again on my tiny ipod. Even years after seeing it, I can still sing along to all the songs. And if you’re wondering if the “opera” part is hyperbole, it’s not. Repo! is a true opera. Save for a few moments, the entire thing is sung in verse. There’s melodrama, divas singing about their emotions, and the show ends with several dead people on stage.
Set in future year of 2057, a wave of organ failures has devastated humanity. Businessman Rotti Largo, head of the megacorp GeneCo, steps in with artificial organ replacements to save the world. However, Rotti is a terrible person and lobbies a bill through congress that makes organ repossessions legal. So if you don’t paid your bills on time, a repoman will come and take it back. And this is usually fatal for the offender.
This is merely the setting of the world of Repo!. The plot is full of violence, revenge, and betrayal, like any dramatic opera. And while this might not be everyone’s cup of tea, the film doesn’t half-ass anything.
One of the strengths of Repo! is that the cast can sing. I will argue that this is covered under visual storytelling. Actors are instrumental in getting story across, and this is even more important due to the nature of opera. A common complaint of many modern musicals is casting famous actors who may or may not be able to carry a tune. The casting here might be all over the place, but everyone does a good job. Yes, even Paris Hilton. Repo! might be the only film where I will defend Paris Hilton being in it. As Amber Sweet, Hilton is a spoiled heiress who’s smarter than she seems, sounds familiar?
The rest of the cast is composed of character actors, musicians, and writer Terrence Zdunich appears as the all-knowing narrator, Graverobber. Besides Ms. Hilton, there is another surprise cast member worth mentioning. The original Christine Daae from The Phantom of the Opera, Sarah Brightman, plays famed singer Blind Mag. I never expected to see her first film role be a horror movie, but why not? She can sing beautifully. Paul Sorvino, Alexa Vega, and Buffy’s Anthony Stewart Head round out the rest of the leads.
Many horror films suck the color out of their settings, because darkness equals scary. Not in Repo!, the world is full of color and variety. The film did not have the largest of budgets, and Bousman and company did what they could with it. Despite having limited sets, the locales seem real. The cgi is limited and characters aren’t dancing around in front of a green screen. There are posters in the background telling people to vote to keep organ repossession legal. It’s a nice touch.
Since the story takes place over a short period of time, we don’t need to go far to get the idea of how crappy the world is. The dead are placed in mass graves, the streets are grimy, and everyone has the Victorian love of morbidity.
Essentially the film is campy as hell, and audiences can either settle in for a wild time or cringe at everything. Repo! is the kinda story where the comic relief is a homicidal maniac and an effeminate misogynist. They’re hilarious, and you don’t have to think too deeply. If you are a fan of bizarre horror musicals, Repo! is right up your alley. I do think that you’re a fan of Baz Lurman’s Moulin Rouge, Repo! is stylistically similar. Two brightly colored worlds, full of excess and tragedy.
Watching Repo! again in the current political climate of the United States was weirdly familiar to me. For far too many, getting proper healthcare is a life or death situation. Sure, the repoman isn’t coming to cut your liver out, but GoFundMe’s are made so people can afford medicine. This is applicable in Repo! considering that many of GeneCo’s victims are the impoverished and the disabled. Sounds like reality to me. Art reflects life, but sometimes it can be the other way around.
To all my fellow Repo! fans, sing it with me, “Zydrate comes in little glass vial!”
