Repo! The Genetic Opera
Year: 2008
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Studio: Lionsgate / Twisted Pictures
Stars: Alexis Vega, Anthony Steward Head, Paul Sorvino
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 98 Mins
Official Website: http://www.repo-opera.com/



Repo! The Genetic Opera" is a film that have I’ve been personally been looking forward to as a fan of the horror genre. But what made me more curious about the film, when Lionsgate decided to release this film on a few screens back in November. I couldn’t understand why because it’s received the kind of positive buzz on the Internet from a lot of major horror sites like Dread Central and Bloody Disgusting. The film was also gaining a cult following online before the movie is even released.

The film takes place in the future where there is a worldwide epidemic of organ failure, until a biotech company finds a cure, but it’s at a price and if you don’t pay, your body parts and organ can be reposed by the repo man.

The film follows Shilo Wallace (Alexis Vega), a young girl who is forced to stay at her father in a gothic house after inheriting a genetic disease at childbirth. Her father Nathan Wallace (Anthony Steward Head) is very protective, who is hiding a dark and murderous secret from her. She then begins to discover something from her mother’s past, when Rotti Largo (Paul Sorvino), head of the biotech company known as Geneco, offers her the chance to be cured from her disease. She will then journey out of the house to find her cure. During that journey, she runs into formerly blind opera singer (Sarah Brightman) that wants out of her contract with Genco. While Shilo is away, Nathan is struggling with demons of his own while doing the bidding of Rotti Largo. Largo is also having problems as he’s diagnosed with terminal cancer and can’t find a worth heir to his throne, as all of his three children are failures to him, because one’s a murderer (Bill Moseley), the other’s a rapist (Ogre from “Skinny Puppies"), and their sister (Paris Hilton) is hooked on a drug known as Zydrate and is addicted to surgery. Soon, all of these characters will collide at Genco opera, where every secret and power struggled will be revealed, as it’s sure to be one fun and bloody time at the opera tonight.

Film Review:

There are some films that you get a sense that you’ve just seen something special after seeing it for the first time. The last time that I’ve felt this way was back in early 2007, when I saw “Pan's Labyrinth" for the first time on the big screen. On that occasion, it was the fairy tale like atmosphere that made me coming out of theater thinking that was special. Fast forward to today after watching “Repo: The Genetic Opera”, I felt that same way. It was for the vision and the originality the film has and it was a shame that it didn’t get the theatrical release that it deserves.

Darren Lynn Bousman’s direction was great. He achieves that direction, by making the film a frightening and dark visionary look at the future. The atmosphere fits with the dark subject matter that this film tackles. Another thing that Bousman does very well was the way he tackles the back stories, by using comic bookish storyboards and various types of film to give background on the main characters, which makes it very stylish and makes you pay attention to the character’s background. It’s very acceptable here, as this is a rock opera not a movie. Bousman also directs the musical sequences very well. I liked how the music sequences were non-stop as the film never slows down, which makes this very entertaining. The acting was very great, as he makes sure that the performances fit the tone to what song each actor is singing. This is usually a hard thing, as the actors are singing the songs before having to match same intensity when lip-sync it on camera. Bousman achieves that very well, as it has the energy that cult-classics are made off.

The screenplay written by Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich was very good. One of things that the screenwriters did very well was to make the music non-stop. They did that because they wanted the viewer to come out of the film and say that they saw an event, not a movie. The songs were also great. I liked how all the songs made sense with the film’s main plotline. It makes you very invested with the story. Their character development was very good, as they took their time and develop them in a way that you become interested with the characters, which makes these characters, so loved by fans and devotees of this film.

DVD Extras:

There are two commentaries tracks on this DVD.

The first commentary track features Director Darren Lynn Bousman, taking about the making of the film along with actress Alexia Vega and actor Bill Mosley and Ogre. This was a good track as it went into the some of stories that happened during the making of the film. It wasn’t too technical. Bousman into more of the subplots that were cut from the final cut, while making my case for a director’s cut. There’s also some good humor in this track, as he and the cast members in this track were watching the film and not taking themselves too seriously. It makes this track entertaining, along with the fun that this film has.

The second commentary is the filmmaker’s commentary track, which Bousman appears again along with screenwriters, Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich and music producer, Joseph Bishara. It’s the more serious of the two commentary tracks. They did a very good job highlighting the production of the film from the history of this play to the filming to the postproduction process, which provided some very good information. They also provided some entertaining stories that make this track worth your time.

After the commentaries, the disc starts going downhill. The behind the scenes extra “From Stage to Screen" is pretty much your behind the scenes featurette that you would find on any DVD. It also didn’t allow the actor to talk about the film in depth, which I would have like to have seen in a film like this. The other feature is“Legal Assassin: A Repo Man On The Edge”, which is the same on that can be found on the film's official website. It doesn’t provide any new information that I already know.

This is why there needs to be another edition, as I would have like to seen more of the cast interviewed and see that short film that the filmmakers made in their sales pitch along with the supposed deleted scenes, even though there is a couple on the blu-ray version of the film.

The film’s theatrical trailer and trailers for “The Haunting of Connecticut”, “The Doors”, “Saw IV”, and “Prey for Rock and Roll” wrap up the DVD’s contents.

Final Thoughts:

“Repo! The Genetic Opera” blends elements of such classical films like “Blade Runner” and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” into a dark and gothic rock opera that sure to talked about for years to come. Please support this film on DVD, so we can get the special edition and director’s cut that lovers of the film truly deserved.

Film Rating: Five Stars
DVD Extras: Two Stars