By Chris Snellgrove
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Horror isn’t a style you usually affiliate with music, although there are some killer musicals on the market, together with previous classics like The Rocky Horror Image Present and newer options like Anna and the Apocalypse. The one drawback with horror musicals, although, is that they have a tendency to focus extra on biting Broadway’s model than bringing the bloodshed. In the event you’re like me and have been in search of the good mixture of tunes and terror, you’re in luck: Repo! The Genetic Opera is now streaming without cost on Tubi.
The Plot Of Repo! The Genetic Opera
Primarily based on the musical of the identical identify, Repo! The Genetic Opera is about in a bleak future the place most of humanity has been worn out as a consequence of widespread organ failure. The ruthless firm GeneCo will transplant organs into those that have the money, which has managed to save lots of lives whereas additionally making a tradition of hedonistic physique modifications. However when somebody misses a fee, these organs could be repossessed, and when GeneCo’s founder will get a deadly analysis, it places him on a collision course together with his Repo Man that can change every part.
The forged of Repo! The Genetic Opera is small however stuffed with acquainted faces, together with shock appearances by Paris Hilton and even a cameo by Joan Jett. Our chief feminine protagonist is performed by Spy Youngsters veteran Alexa Vegas, and horror icon Invoice Moseley memorably performs one of many GeneCo discovered’s failsons. In the meantime, the titular Repo is performed by Buffy the Vampire Slayer legend Anthony Stewart Head, and the dying CEO is performed by Paul Sorvino, who hasn’t been so scene-stealingly good since Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo+Juliet.
A Cult Failure
Regardless of this stacked forged, Repo! The Genetic Opera was a field workplace bomb thanks largely to its very restricted theatrical launch. Towards a price range of $8.5 million, the film earned solely $188,126 (no, that’s not a typo). Happily, the film discovered new life on DVD and Blu-Ray, and it has since picked up an intense cult following that many have likened to The Rocky Horror Image Present, one other weird horror musical that has solely grown extra fashionable over time.
Critics definitely didn’t know what to make of Repo! The Genetic Opera: on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie solely has a 37 % essential rating. Basically, critics begrudgingly praised the film for its model however derided it for being gross and insubstantial when it comes to its narrative. Notably, although, the film has a 73 % viewers score through the Popcornmeter, signifying simply how far more it resonated with normal audiences than with critics (who’re, traditionally, very exhausting on horror motion pictures).
Now, time to reply the query you’ve in all probability been screaming at your display: why the heck am I recommending that you simply watch Repo! The Genetic Opera, a film that couldn’t even earn $200,000 on the field workplace and is usually reviled by the critics? For one factor, the music is surprisingly catchy. That won’t sound like a lot, however contemplating how a lot the lyrics to “Issues You See In A Graveyard” stay in my head rent-free, I can’t assist however suggest this film to different horror fiends anticipating a recent bag of ear sweet.
Moreover, whereas Repo! The Genetic Opera has some horrible performances (Paris Hilton rightfully earned a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress), it additionally has some unforgettably great ones. Paul Sorvino manages to provide nice line readings and croon some killer tunes whereas chewing each little bit of surroundings he can discover, and I’ve genuinely by no means discovered this gifted actor extra fascinating. As for Anthony Stewart Head, it’s extremely rewarding as a Buffy fan to see him ditch his staid librarian persona to play towards kind as a type of hitman with a coronary heart of gold.
Lastly, as a horror fan, I’ve to suggest Repo! The Genetic Opera for making an attempt one thing completely different. It is a style stuffed with drained tropes and shopworn concepts…like, what number of occasions am I speculated to care about youngsters getting hunted within the woods or killer sharks terrorizing a tiny city? Repo! takes large swings that don’t all the time join, but it surely has the excellence of being utterly distinctive…the type of bold horror freakshow splatterfest that we could by no means see one other director try and create.
REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA REVIEW SCORE
Will you discover Repo! The Genetic Opera as participating as I did, or will you need the Repo Man to come back take your eyes after you watch? You received’t know till you stream it without cost on Tubi. After realizing that you simply’ll by no means see one thing so bizarre once more, although, you could be left with an vacancy within you that not even GeneCo might correctly fill.
