The Rotti Horror Show | Repo! The Genetic Opera - Review

I wouldn’t go as far as saying Repo! The Genetic Opera was 93 minutes amputated from my life that I wish I could have back, as it was at least entertainingly bad, rather than awful enough to make me gouge out my own eyes, like one character does before the end. I’m not one for abandoning a film, especially if I’ve spent money on it – even if it’s only £2.99 - and there is some entertainment factor. I guess the concept of a horror musical starring such high calibre singers as Phantom of the Opera’s Sarah Brightman and Anthony Stewart Head (The Rocky Horror Show, also Giles from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, which had its own musical episode) and Paul Sorvino appealed, along with some cool design. Less so Paris Hilton (erm, House of Wax?) and some bloke calling himself ‘Ogre’.

After seven years of it sitting on my shelf, I’ve finally watched Repo! in which Mr Head, Ms. Brightman and Paul Sorvino give their all to a story that doesn’t deserve it. It concerns the efforts of dying tycoon, the improbably yet aptly-named Rotti Largo (Sorvino) - apt as in, he's rotten, like rotting flesh…or something; to bequeath ‘GeneCo’, his organ donation company, to Shilo (Alexa Vega), rather than any of his wayward, corrupt children, including Amber (Hilton) and Pavi (‘Ogre’). Shilo is the daughter of Rotti’s love rival Nathan (Head), who is also the Repo Man, responsible for repossessing unpaid-for organs provided by GeneCo. Rotti blames Nathan for the death of Marni (Sarah Power) the woman whom Nathan stole from him and then accidentally murdered.

This is an intriguing set-up and what I imagine to be a typical opera-style tale of love, loss and betrayal, yet it’s anaesthetized by crap CGI – the cityscapes are heavily inspired by Blade Runner, which achieved vastly better results without using a computer over three decades ago – as well as some lazy storytelling through crap-looking comic book panels that fill in character’s backstories. The ridiculous makeup is also distracting; Brightman’s Blind Mag character looks like she was made up by an actual blind person (no disrespect) and resembles a Manga version of post-millennium Cher. 

Meanwhile, Pavi’s’ Phantom Of The Opera-like death mask, stapled to his own torn features, is presumably meant to be creepy but, with the addition of 'Ogre's' wild facial mugging and bodily gesticulations, it’s reminiscent of a character from Bo’ Selecta!

Worst of all, the songs of Repo! are completely artless. Most of the lyrics are so repetitive and/or literal as to make them redundant. Before Shilo walks around the mausoleum to catch an insect, she pointlessly sings about it. A little later, she bluntly wails of inheriting her dead mother’s blood disease, ‘Why are my genetics such a bitch?’ Some of the lyrics are also spoken, as if to infuse greater emotion but probably just to cover up the limited abilities of certain cast members. This is understandable with Paris Hilton, but pointless when it’s Head, Brightman, or the rich opera Baritone of Paul Sorvino. In a possible case of art echoing life, Paris’ character, Amber, is so ‘addicted to the knife’, she’s had surgery done all over; just not her vocal chords, sadly.

I get that Repo! isn’t intended to be taken too seriously but even that caveat cannot save it. Rocky Horror is campy and tongue in cheek, where the intentionally bad effects and overacting are all part of the charm but at least the songs were catchy and fun. Repo! Is a horror show of a different kind.

Moulin Rouge! seems to be another influence (not least by the title’s exclamation mark); an early tracking shot zooming out form Shilo’s bedroom prison to reveal the city outside echoes a similar shot from Ewan McGregor’s room in Baz Luhrmann’s film. There is also a stage-set climax, complete with a character cradling a dying loved one in their arms (Rocky Horror also does this, as I’m sure countless other shows do but RH and Moulin Rouge! are most likely more influential. The latter’s name-checked on the Repo! DVD cover, anyway).

 If I have to highlight any redeeming features, some of the melodies are quite pleasant, particularly the beginning of ‘Legal Assassin’, sung with gusto by Anthony Head as he pines for his lost wife. Parts of ‘Chase The Morning’ by Brightman, accompanied by a hologram of Marni shining from Mag’s nifty bionic eyes, is also singable, although the inclusion of the word ‘Godmom’ in a song is, like a lot of lyrics in this film, off-putting in its oddness.

I don’t know much about musical theatre or opera, much like the makers of Repo! I imagine but director Darren Lynn Bousman handles the Grand Guignol horror aspects reasonably well (unsurprisingly, given his work on three of the increasingly gore-over-story lead Saw sequels),  injecting them with some gallows humour. I hope he won’t be making any more musicals soon.

(Images courtesy of:

 http://www.repo-opera.com/flash_home.html

http://s185.photobucket.com/user/twilight_knight_713/media/Wallpaper/REPO%20THE%20GENETIC%20OPERA/vlcsnap-377142.jpg.html

http://i3.bebo.com/028/9/mediuml/2007/06/02/20/4174403883a4566965384b869672891ml.jpg

http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/repo-the-genetic-opera/images/3815539/title/nathan-photo 

http://content.internetvideoarchive.com/content/photos/3342/14036641_.jpg)