''Repo! The Genetic Opera'' is a 2008 American

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

. Described as a gothic

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

, the film was directed by

Darren Lynn Bousman Darren Lynn Bousman (; born January 11, 1979) is an American film director and screenwriter, best known for his work in horror films. He has directed four of the ''Saw (franchise), Saw'' films: ''Saw II'', ''Saw III'', ''Saw IV'', and ''Spiral ( ...

and based on the 2002 stage musical of the same name, written and composed by Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich. It stars Alexa Vega,

Anthony Stewart Head Anthony Stewart Head (born 20 February 1954) is an English actor and singer. Primarily a performer in musical theatre, he rose to fame in the UK in the 1980s following his role in the Gold Blend couple television advertisements for Nescafé, ...

Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer and actress. Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, she made ...

Paris Hilton Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, and socialite. Hilton was born in New York City and raised there partially; shuttling between Los Angeles and New York City; she is a great-grandda ...

Nivek Ogre Kevin Graham Ogilvie (born December 5, 1962), known professionally as Nivek Ogre, is a Canadian musician, performance artist and actor, best known for his work with the industrial music group Skinny Puppy, which he co-founded with cEvin Key. Si ...

, Zdunich,

Bill Moseley William Moseley (born November 11, 1951) is an American actor, primarily known for his performances in horror films. His best-known roles include Chop Top in '' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2'' (1986), Otis B. Driftwood in Rob Zombie's ''Firefly ...

, and

Paul Sorvino Paul Anthony Sorvino (, ; April 13, 1939 – July 25, 2022) was an American actor. He often portrayed authority figures on both the criminal and the law enforcement sides of the law. Sorvino was particularly known for his roles as Lucchese cri ...

. ''Repo!'' premiered at the

Fantasia Film Festival Fantasia International Film Festival, also known as Fantasia Fest or simply Fantasia, is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. It focuses on fantasy, horror, sci-fi and cult genre films. Regular ...

in July 2008, followed by a limited release on November 7, 2008, on seven screens in various cities.

Plot

By the year 2056, an epidemic of organ failures has devastated the planet and wiped out 99% of the human population. The

megacorporation Megacorporation, mega-corporation, or megacorp, a term originally coined by Alfred Eichner in his book ''The Megacorp and Oligopoly: Micro Foundations of Macro Dynamics'' but popularized by William Gibson, derives from the combination of the pre ...

, GeneCo provides organ transplants on a payment plan. Clients who miss payments are hunted down by Repo Men, skilled assassins who "repossess" the organs ("Genetic Repo Man"). The CEO of GeneCo, Rotti Largo, discovers he is terminally ill. Rotti's children Luigi, Pavi, and Amber bicker over who will inherit GeneCo ("Mark It Up"), but Rotti believes none of them are worthy heirs and instead plans to give his fortune to 17-year-old Shilo Wallace, the daughter of his late ex-fiancée Marni ("Things You See in a Graveyard"). Shilo has inherited a rare blood disease from Marni that requires her to stay indoors, though she longs to see the outside world ("Infected"). Shilo's overprotective father, Nathan believes he accidentally killed Marni with a treatment he created for her illness – in truth, a jealous Rotti secretly poisoned Marni's medicine and blackmailed Nathan, promising not to arrest him for

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

if he agreed to become GeneCo's head Repo Man, though he has convinced Shilo he is a doctor ("Legal Assassin"). One night, Shilo secretly visits Marni's tomb and runs into the omniscient GraveRobber, who is digging up bodies to secrete Zydrate, a euphoric and addictive painkiller that he sells on the street to keep up with his GeneCo payments ("21st Century Cure"). Rotti lures Shilo to GeneCo's fair with promises of a cure for her disease. There, she meets Blind Mag, an opera singer and GeneCo's celebrity spokesperson. Born blind, Mag has been given surgically enhanced eyes by GeneCo at the cost of indefinite employment, though she is soon resigning. GraveRobber helps Shilo escape the fairgrounds, encountering several of his customers, including the surgery-addicted Amber ("Zydrate Anatomy"). Shilo learns that Mag's eyes are set for repossession and that Amber will replace her as GeneCo's spokeswoman. After GeneCops arrive, Shilo quickly returns to her room before Nathan notices her missing. Nathan refuses to repossess Mag's eyes, citing her close friendship with Marni ("Night Surgeon"). Infuriated, Rotti vows to have Nathan taken out. Mag visits Shilo, reveals that she is her godmother and that Nathan had told her Shilo died alongside Marni, and cautions Shilo not to make the same mistakes she did ("Chase The Morning"). Nathan arrives and ousts Mag after she scolds him for lying to her and incarcerating Shilo ("Everyone's a Composer"). Shilo begs him to let Mag hide from the Repo Man in their house, but Nathan refuses, leading Shilo to snap and finally condemn her father for his overbearing treatment of her and inability to move on from Marni's death ("Seventeen"). Meanwhile, Rotti writes his will, ready to make Shilo his sole beneficiary ("Gold"). Rotti invites Shilo to the Opera. Nathan heads out to find her, pursued by GeneCops, whom he quickly dispatches ("At the Opera Tonight"). Amber makes her stage debut, but her performance is ruined when her transplanted face falls off. Mag completes her final performance, but deviates from the song's grand finale, denouncing the Largo family and gouging out her eyes in an act of defiance ("Chromaggia"). Rotti cuts the cords suspending Mag, impaling her on a fence, but assures the panicking audience that Mag's death was staged as part of the show. Shilo is approached by a Repo Man and attacks him with a shovel, revealing him as Nathan, much to her horror ("Let the Monster Rise"). Onstage, Rotti reveals that Nathan has been poisoning Shilo's "medicine" in an attempt to keep her safe from the outside world after being unable to cope with the loss of Marni. As his health rapidly declines, Rotti offers Shilo GeneCo if she kills her father. When she refuses, Rotti uses the last of his strength to fatally shoot Nathan, and dies after disowning his children. After a tearful farewell to her father ("I Didn't Know I'd Love You So Much"), Shilo decides that Nathan's actions do not dictate her future ("Genetic Emancipation"). Shilo flees, leaving GeneCo with no legal heir. Amber inherits the company instead and auctions her fallen face to charity, which Pavi wins after Luigi kills the top three bidders.

Cast

Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin; September 22, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music#J, Godmother of Punk", she is regarded as a Pop icon, rock icon and ...

makes a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

playing guitar during the song "Seventeen". Dean Armstrong appears as the victim during "Thankless Job". Co-writer Darren Smith appears during "We Started This Op'ra Shit" as the GeneCo band leader. Frequent Bousman collaborator

J. LaRose J. Adam Larose is a Navajo people, Navajo actor. J. Adam LaRose is a Chicago-born actor of Navajo descent whose career spans from 1998 to the present. Throughout his career, LaRose has frequently collaborated with renowned director Darren Lynn ...

appears during "Zydrate Support Network" as a GeneCo spokesman.

Music

The film's soundtrack was produced by Yoshiki from

X Japan is a Japanese Rock music, rock band from Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki (musician), Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi (musician), Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power metal, power/speed metal band with ...

. The '' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' was released September 30, 2008. In the film, the following songs are performed: # "Genetic Repo Man" – GraveRobber # "Things You See in a Graveyard" – Rotti # "21st Century Cure" – GraveRobber, Shilo # "Shilo Wakes" – Nathan, Shilo # "Infected" – Shilo # "Legal Assassin" – Nathan, Ghostly chorus # "Lungs and Livers" – GeneCo Chorus # "Mark It Up" – Genterns, Amber, Luigi, Pavi # "Tao of Mag" – Mag # "Things You See in a Graveyard" (reprise) – Rotti # "Limo Ride" – Rotti and Shilo # "Thankless Job" – Nathan # "Tao of Mag" (reprise) – Mag # "No Organs? No Problemo!" – GeneCo chorus # "Largo's Little Helpers" – Child chorus # "Genterns" – Genterns, Pavi # "Luigi, Pavi, Amber Harass Mag" – Luigi, Mag, Amber, Pavi, Rotti # "Seeing You Stirs Memories" – Rotti # "Seeing You Stirs Memories (Reprise)" – Rotti, Mag # "My, What Big Scissors You Have" – Shilo # "Inopportune Telephone Call" – Nathan, Shilo # "GraveRobber and Shilo Escape" – GraveRobber, Shilo # "Zydrate Support Network" – Rotti, Reporter # "Zydrate Anatomy" – GraveRobber, Shilo, Amber, Zydrate addicts # "Disposal Crew" – Disposal crew # "Who Ordered Pizza?" – Luigi, Pavi, Nathan, Rotti, Amber # "Night Surgeon" – Nathan, Rotti, Henchgirls, Luigi, Pavi, Genterns # "Chase the Morning" – Mag, Shilo, Marni # "Everyone's a Composer" – Mag, Nathan, Shilo # "Come Back!" – Nathan and Shilo # "What Chance Has a 17 Year Old Girl" – Nathan, Shilo # "Seventeen" – Shilo # "Happiness Is Not a Warm Scalpel" – Amber, Rotti # "Gold" – Rotti # "Nathan Discovers Rotti's Plan" – Nathan, Shilo # "Tonight We Are Betrayed" – Nathan # "At the Opera Tonight" – Shilo, Mag, Nathan, Amber, GraveRobber, Rotti, Luigi, Pavi # "Bloodbath!" – GraveRobber # "We Started This Op'ra Shit!" – Bandleader, Luigi, Pavi, Rotti, GeneCo chorus # "Interrogation Room Challenge" – Rotti # "Blame Not My Cheeks" – Amber, GeneCo chorus # "Chromaggia" – Mag # "Pièce De Résistance" – Rotti # "Let the Monster Rise" – Nathan, Shilo # "Sawman's Lament" – Rotti, Luigi, Pavi, Shilo, Nathan # "The Man Who Made You Sick" – Rotti, Shilo, Nathan # "Cut the Ties" – Rotti, Luigi, Shilo, Pavi # "Shilo Turns Against Rotti" – Shilo, Rotti, Nathan # "I Didn't Know I'd Love You So Much" – Shilo, Nathan # "Genetic Emancipation" – Shilo # "Epitaph" – GraveRobber, Zydrate addicts # "Repo Man" – Ogre (end credits) # "VUK-R" – Violet UK (end credits) # "Needle Through a Bug" – Shilo, Graverobber (end credits) # "Bravi" – Mag, Pavi, Luigi, Rotti, Amber (end credits) # "Aching Hour" – Sarah Brightman (end credits)

Score tracks

Includes songs only heard as instrumentals and not parts of any deleted songs: (* = instrumental) # "Depraved Heart Murder at Sanitarium Square"* (First song heard in the film) # "The Prognosis"* (Heard right after "Crucifixus") # "Nathan's Story"* (Heard right after "Infected") # "Rotti's Story"* (Heard right after "Tao of Mag") # "A Ventriloquist's Mess"* (Heard right after "Thankless Job") # "Blind Mag's Story"* (Heard right after "Seeing Your Stirs Memories") # "Before the Escape"* (Heard right after "Inopportune Telephone Call") # "Worthy Heirs?"* (Heard right after "Zydrate Support Network") # "A Dump Truck Home"* (Heard right after "Disposal Crew") # "The Visitor"* (Heard right after "Night Surgeon") # "Pre-Happiness"* (Heard right after "Seventeen") # "Not Your Parents' Opera"* (Heard right after "Bloodbath!") # "Mag's Fall"* (Heard right after "Chromaggia") # "A Ten Second Opera"* (Heard right after "Let the Monster Rise")

Production

Development

In 1996, Darren Smith had a friend who was going through bankruptcy and whose possessions were going into foreclosure. Inspired by this, Smith came up with the idea of a future where not only one's property, but also one's body parts, could be repossessed. Smith and Terrance Zdunich collaborated on ideas and plot lines to create the first version of ''Repo!'', titled ''The Necromerchant's Debt'', which told the story of a grave robber in debt to a Repo Organ Man. It premiered at the

John Raitt John Emmet Raitt (; January 29, 1917 – February 20, 2005) was an American actor and singer best known for his performances in musical theatre. His most notable roles were Billy Bigelow in the original Broadway cast of ''Carousel'' and Curly ...

Theater in 2002. After being such a success, Smith and Zdunich expanded on the universe to create all of the storylines that became ''Repo! The Genetic Opera'' later in 2002. Many changes were made, gradually, to the characters and music throughout various incarnations through 2005. For example, Rotti, in the earliest performances, was not father to Luigi, Pavi and Amber. Instead, he was a younger brother to Luigi and Pavi, while Amber was Luigi's daughter. Lyrics were adjusted to new arcs and some songs were dropped altogether, such as "But This Is Opera!", cut out to change the direction of Mag's character. After years of being performed as a stage play, ''Repo!'' was adapted into a ten-minute

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

directed and financed by

to pitch the idea to film studios. The film starred Shawnee Smith as Amber Sweet (then named "Heather Sweet"),

Michael Rooker Michael Rooker (born April 6, 1955) is an American actor who mainly plays roles of antagonists. He first rose to prominence for portraying the titular role in '' Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer'' (1986), and is best known for starring as Mer ...

as the Repo Man, Kristen Fairlie as Shilo, Zdunich as GraveRobber and

J. Larose J. Adam Larose is a Navajo people, Navajo actor. J. Adam LaRose is a Chicago-born actor of Navajo descent whose career spans from 1998 to the present. Throughout his career, LaRose has frequently collaborated with renowned director Darren Lynn ...

as Pavi.

Filming

Once picked up by Lionsgate,

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began in September 2007 in Canada. The film was scheduled to be released on April 25, 2008, but was pushed back to November 7.

leader Yoshiki produced the soundtrack, along with composing one extra track for the film.

Release

Theatrical release

The film received a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

in the United States and Canada on November 7, 2008. It had a further limited Canadian release, playing in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

from November 21–27, 2008. It was released in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

on November 20, this was followed by a theatrical release in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

on January 2, 2009. In December 2008, several more US theatrical screenings were announced, running between January 13–24, 2009, in several cities. The Repo! Road Tour made its 4th and final leg in Europe from March 7–12, 2009. After initial theatrical release and DVD sales, fan support has caused ''Repo! The Genetic Opera'' to be played in select theaters for the duration of 2009 and well into 2014, some with "shadow casts" in which a group of actors and performers re-enact the film in front of the big screen while the film is playing on stage, much like the followers of ''

The Rocky Horror Picture Show ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 independent musical comedy horror film produced by Lou Adler and Michael White, directed by Jim Sharman, and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The screenplay was written by Sharman and Richard O ...

''. It was re-released in a special screening at the 2010

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

Home media

The film was released January 20, 2009 on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

and

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

in the United States. In Canada, the DVD was released on January 20, 2009, and the Blu-ray was released February 10, 2009. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United Kingdom on March 9, 2009. It was released in Ireland on March 6, 2009. The DVD was released in Germany on April 14.Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)
EOFF The US DVD release contains two audio commentaries (one by Bousman and actors Vega, Moseley and Ogre; the other by Bousman, creators Smith and Zdunich, and music producer Joseph Bishara), two featurettes and the theatrical trailer. The Blu-ray contains all DVD features including a select-scene audio commentary by Bousman and Hilton, two additional featurettes, a video sing-along with bouncing heart, four

deleted scene A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread, and can al ...

s and the theatrical trailer.

Reception

Critical response

Nathan Lee for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' declared the film "feels destined to please a campy coterie of fans and no one else" and criticized the music, saying, "A few catchy melodies, some clever lyrics or even a sense that the score wasn't just one long, unmodulated track might have energized this singularly inert tale..." Tasha Robinson for ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' said, "One of the main issues with Repo! The Genetic Opera is that nearly every aspect of it goes on too long. The songs are generally overextended, which is a particular problem given that most of them are also atonal and dull, either chanted or seemingly assembled from a series of clunky, ill-fitting, barely rhyming lines." And ultimately "...I spent the vast majority of the film either bored or squirming with discomfort over the cheap gore, the arrhythmic songs, and the phenomenally bombastic performances..."

Box office

''Repo!'' grossed $53,684 in its opening weekend, a $6,711 average per theater. The film's full eleven-theater release earned $146,750 in the United States, and an additional $41,376 internationally, for a total of $188,126 worldwide.

Accolades

Hilton's performance won her the

Golden Raspberry Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic failures. Co-founded by University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John ...

for Worst Supporting Actress at the 29th Golden Raspberry Awards. The songs "Chase the Morning", "Chromaggia" and "Zydrate Anatomy" were shortlisted for the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the Film industry, motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who h ...

, although none were nominated.

References

External links

* {{Twisted Pictures 2000s American films 2000s English-language films 2008 horror films 2008 films 2008 science fiction films American dystopian films American musical films American post-apocalyptic films American satirical films American science fiction horror films American splatter films Biopunk films Circus films Fiction set in 2056 Films about organ transplantation Films based on musicals Films directed by Darren Lynn Bousman Films set in 2056 Films shot in Toronto Golden Raspberry Award–winning films Goth subculture American gothic horror films Lionsgate films Musical horror films Rock operas Science fiction musical films Sung-through musical films American business films Films about businesspeople Films about corruption American exploitation films Films about contract killing Films about organ trade Films about inheritances Films about dysfunctional families Films about child abuse Films about grave-robbing English-language horror films English-language science fiction films English-language musical films 2008 musical films