Review of Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) by Jonathan B — 11 Apr 2010

Never have I seen a movie with such polar reviews (people either love it or loathe it), but I ended up on the positive side. I saw it after learning Anthony Stewart Head (Giles from Buffy The Vampire Slayer) was asked after Darren Bousman saw his performance in the brilliant "Once More, With Feeling!" musical episode of the Buffyverse.

The cast was surprising. Alexa Vega (the girl from the Spy Kids movies) is spunky and energetic in the role of Shilo, and her songs border on innocent ("Genetic Emancipation") to rebellious ("Seventeen"). Sarah Brightman, together with Anthony Stewart Head and Paul Sorvino, added a touch of maturity to the movie, with their songs being powerful additions to the soundtrack. The trio of Rotti siblings, led by Paris Hilton, were spot-on parodies of the images the celebrities have, and perfect in both their roles and the story.

A horror musical is a brilliant (albeit niche) idea, and Terrance Zdunich's narration-through-song together with the comic-book inserts provide unique ways of cutting through the interesting exposition to get to what the film is all about - singing about the repossession of organs.