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Repo, the Genetic Opera, 2008
In a future where organ failure is rampant, the powerful GeneCo company offers loaner organs that, lacking payment, are subject to repossession. Repo man Nathan (Anthony Stewart Head) does the gruesome work of collecting said organs when the bills are past due. Nathan cares for his sickly daughter, Shilo (Alexa PenaVega), while dealing with the ruthless owner of GeneCo, Rotti (Paul Sorvino). When Rotti discovers he is terminally ill, it sets off a power struggle between his squabbling children and an unwitting Shilo.
This movie is probably one of those love-it-or-hate-it deals, and I did not land on the nice side of that split.
This should have been my jam, really. Anthony Stewart Head showed he could really sing in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical. A grunge horror musical has me sold on the sub-sub-genre alone. The concept of someone repossessing organs has the promise of an intersection between the grisly and the hilarious.
But . . . it’s bad. It pains me to say it. It’s bad!
There are some glimmers of brightness. Head can sing, and I’ve always enjoyed him as a presence. His role as the conflicted organ repo man and worried father is a good one, and he plays it well. His is the most fleshed out (not sorry) character of the bunch by a wide, wide margin. And while none of the other actors made quite as strong an impression, I loved some of the character concepts, especially the opera singer (Sarah Brightman) who has been given loaner eyes that are soon coming due. I also liked the final setpiece, which takes place at the opera, something that elevates the camp of the whole film. Finally, shout out to the special effects, which are just gruesome to make an impression but squishy and rubbery enough to also be funny.
And that’s it. Everything else not only didn’t work for me, but was actively grating.
Why, why, why, why, why was there so much talk-singing?! Look, yes, sometimes you have that one person in your movie/play whose voice isn’t as strong. And you kind of look the other way as they speak their song with just a hint of melody. But in this film it felt like that was 90% of the “music.” Head and Brightman are the exceptions, but they put the rest of the cast to shame in this regard.
And despite a good effort from actor Terrance Zdunich, the omniscient character of the graverobber was awful. From the overly-expository songs to the character/costume design that looked like something you’d buy at Party City, ugh. Every other character just falls into this neutral/forgettable place.
Different and good are not the same things. I was rooting for this one, but I can already feel it slipping out of my memory.
Repo, the Genetic Opera, 2008
In a future where organ failure is rampant, the powerful GeneCo company offers loaner organs that, lacking payment, are subject to repossession. Repo man Nathan (Anthony Stewart Head) does the gruesome work of collecting said organs when the bills are past due. Nathan cares for his sickly daughter, Shilo (Alexa PenaVega), while dealing with the ruthless owner of GeneCo, Rotti (Paul Sorvino). When Rotti discovers he is terminally ill, it sets off a power struggle between his squabbling children and an unwitting Shilo.
This movie is probably one of those love-it-or-hate-it deals, and I did not land on the nice side of that split.
This should have been my jam, really. Anthony Stewart Head showed he could really sing in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical. A grunge horror musical has me sold on the sub-sub-genre alone. The concept of someone repossessing organs has the promise of an intersection between the grisly and the hilarious.
But . . . it’s bad. It pains me to say it. It’s bad!
There are some glimmers of brightness. Head can sing, and I’ve always enjoyed him as a presence. His role as the conflicted organ repo man and worried father is a good one, and he plays it well. His is the most fleshed out (not sorry) character of the bunch by a wide, wide margin. And while none of the other actors made quite as strong an impression, I loved some of the character concepts, especially the opera singer (Sarah Brightman) who has been given loaner eyes that are soon coming due. I also liked the final setpiece, which takes place at the opera, something that elevates the camp of the whole film. Finally, shout out to the special effects, which are just gruesome to make an impression but squishy and rubbery enough to also be funny.
And that’s it. Everything else not only didn’t work for me, but was actively grating.
Why, why, why, why, why was there so much talk-singing?! Look, yes, sometimes you have that one person in your movie/play whose voice isn’t as strong. And you kind of look the other way as they speak their song with just a hint of melody. But in this film it felt like that was 90% of the “music.” Head and Brightman are the exceptions, but they put the rest of the cast to shame in this regard.
And despite a good effort from actor Terrance Zdunich, the omniscient character of the graverobber was awful. From the overly-expository songs to the character/costume design that looked like something you’d buy at Party City, ugh. Every other character just falls into this neutral/forgettable place.
Different and good are not the same things. I was rooting for this one, but I can already feel it slipping out of my memory.