This is a rare example of musical horror, one of the most sorely neglected and underrated genres of music, Repo! is what you would get if you mixed up the Saw movies, Blade runner, Rocky horror picture show and Phantom of the opera. Set in a strange dystopia future where humans have suffered an outbreak of organ failures and so are forced to rely on organ transplants which are provided by a giant corporation known as Geneco and if they can't afford it then they can get an organ on a loan payment. However if you fail to keep up with your payments then geneco will dispatch one of its legal surgical assassins to collect its property back.
The story follows one of these Repo men, Nathan Wallace (played by Anthony head from buffy) and the daughter Shilo who he must hide his double life from (played by Alexa Vega from the spy kids movies) and the appearance of her mysterious Godmother, who is a slave to Geneco, owing them a debt for giving her eyes , there's also the fact that the owner of Geneco Rotti Largo is dying and must find a suitable heir to his empire, and his current three children are not suitable material for the job. The eldest Luigi has a violent temper and stabs nearly anyone who gets in his way, his brother Pavi cuts women's face's off to wear them on his own, and his sister Amber (played by Paris Hilton) is constantly changing her appearance with excessive surgery and is hooked on a street drug known as Zydrate, which she acquires from the narrator of this entire opera, the strange Graverobber who makes the Drug Zydrate from dead corpses.
First off the cast for this have been casted excellently, Anthony head gives a magnificent performance as the torn Doctor who struggles between being the protecting father and the Repo Man, his singing throughout the film is brilliant, switching between the light tone of Nathan and the deep singing of the Repo Man. He is supported by the brilliant voice of Sarah Brightman a professional Opera singer in real life, who plays the part of none over then a professional opera singer. Another notably good singer is Terrance Zdunich who plays the part of Graverobber making the character a remarkably eccentric and cheerful character in such a dark world. Also someone who surprises is Paris Hilton, who to my surprise seems to actually be able to act and sing rather well. Though the fact that she plays the part of a spoilt rich slut may have something to do with it, (you get to see her face fall off at one part).
With the exception of one or two songs nearly every number in the movie is wonderful, with a wide range of different feels and styles to them, from the darkly humours "Thankless Job" number which is about the fun of gutting someone up all done in a nice cheerful voice, to the Electric club style out of "We started this opera shit", there's also the beautiful operatic "Chromaggic" and the dark violent "night surgeon song" which finishes with a man being disembowelled. Whatever your musical tastes it's likely you'll find a song you like. There seems to be a new number every few minutes and it moves the movie along at a brilliant pace, keeping your attention. Even if you don't particularly like musicals you can watch it just for the intriguing and original story and the oh so fantastic special effects. Also coming from the makers of the Saw movies there's buckets of gore and violence aplenty, with organs flying this way and that.
So in conclusion this is a movie you should view, simply for how different and original it is compared to nearly every other movie out at the moment, the story is strong and full of twists and turns though I do wish they went into more depth with some of the fantastical characters they have created, the world this is all set in is such a strange steampunk, gothic world where blood is cheap and Gold makes the world go round.If you enjoy Horror movies, Dramas or musicals then you will find something to enjoy here. Just remember the claims medic give no anaesthetic and 90 days delinquents gets you Repo treatment, so watch it or I'll come and cut out your heart
The story follows one of these Repo men, Nathan Wallace (played by Anthony head from buffy) and the daughter Shilo who he must hide his double life from (played by Alexa Vega from the spy kids movies) and the appearance of her mysterious Godmother, who is a slave to Geneco, owing them a debt for giving her eyes , there's also the fact that the owner of Geneco Rotti Largo is dying and must find a suitable heir to his empire, and his current three children are not suitable material for the job. The eldest Luigi has a violent temper and stabs nearly anyone who gets in his way, his brother Pavi cuts women's face's off to wear them on his own, and his sister Amber (played by Paris Hilton) is constantly changing her appearance with excessive surgery and is hooked on a street drug known as Zydrate, which she acquires from the narrator of this entire opera, the strange Graverobber who makes the Drug Zydrate from dead corpses.
First off the cast for this have been casted excellently, Anthony head gives a magnificent performance as the torn Doctor who struggles between being the protecting father and the Repo Man, his singing throughout the film is brilliant, switching between the light tone of Nathan and the deep singing of the Repo Man. He is supported by the brilliant voice of Sarah Brightman a professional Opera singer in real life, who plays the part of none over then a professional opera singer. Another notably good singer is Terrance Zdunich who plays the part of Graverobber making the character a remarkably eccentric and cheerful character in such a dark world. Also someone who surprises is Paris Hilton, who to my surprise seems to actually be able to act and sing rather well. Though the fact that she plays the part of a spoilt rich slut may have something to do with it, (you get to see her face fall off at one part).
With the exception of one or two songs nearly every number in the movie is wonderful, with a wide range of different feels and styles to them, from the darkly humours "Thankless Job" number which is about the fun of gutting someone up all done in a nice cheerful voice, to the Electric club style out of "We started this opera shit", there's also the beautiful operatic "Chromaggic" and the dark violent "night surgeon song" which finishes with a man being disembowelled. Whatever your musical tastes it's likely you'll find a song you like. There seems to be a new number every few minutes and it moves the movie along at a brilliant pace, keeping your attention. Even if you don't particularly like musicals you can watch it just for the intriguing and original story and the oh so fantastic special effects. Also coming from the makers of the Saw movies there's buckets of gore and violence aplenty, with organs flying this way and that.
So in conclusion this is a movie you should view, simply for how different and original it is compared to nearly every other movie out at the moment, the story is strong and full of twists and turns though I do wish they went into more depth with some of the fantastical characters they have created, the world this is all set in is such a strange steampunk, gothic world where blood is cheap and Gold makes the world go round.If you enjoy Horror movies, Dramas or musicals then you will find something to enjoy here. Just remember the claims medic give no anaesthetic and 90 days delinquents gets you Repo treatment, so watch it or I'll come and cut out your heart
