Fantastic Fest 2008

Brief Summary:
Darren Bousman, director of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th installments of the wildly popular SAW franchise, pulls a "what-the-f..." 180 degree turnaround to creates a very personal, very demented, bloody goth rock opera about organ repossession with lead performances by Paul Sorvino, Paris Hilton and Ogre from Skinny Puppy.

Full Description:
I was predisposed to hate this. While I'm pretty damn immature for a 38 year old, the black-nail-polish crowd is one of the few things that somehow manages to make me feel my age. Also, I'm a curmudgeon when it comes to musicals. I like a few of the modern musicals, CHICAGO and MOULIN ROUGEROUGE for example, but DREAMGIRLS and PHANTOM OF THE OPERA almost caused me internal bleeding. I came to this project with trepidation to say the least. But when I heard that REPO! was helmed by Darren Bouseman, director of the last 3 SAW films, and this was a very personal project that he championed for years and agreed to complete on an unusually tight budget, I had to check it out. This could be the most devastatingly awful career mutilator or it could be an amazingly bold auteur decision that breaks him free of being "the SAW guy." I'm happy to report that it's the latter.

The world of REPO! emerges on screen as a decaying futuristic city, think BLADE RUNNER as seen through a NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS goth filter. Organ failure runs rampant, leading to the rise of GeneCo, a multinational corporation offering quick and plentiful organ transplant as well as a plethora of enhancement surgeries. There's a little catch, however. If you can't keep up with your organ payments, the GeneCo repo men are dispatched to retrieve their property, quickly and very painfully.

Paul Sorvino is clearly having a ball here as Rotti Largo, the patriarch of GeneCo. He is a trained opera singer and seems to have been waiting for this part for a lifetime. He belts out his numbers with scene-chewing gusto. His character is on his deathbed, and before he dies, he must settle some old romantic scores as well as choose an heir to his empire.

Paris Hilton plays Rotti Largo's only daughter Amber Sweet, one of three deadbeat siblings vying for control of GeneCo upon the imminent death of their father. A bold choice for Paris, she plays the prima donna daughter of millionaire tycoon. She's precocious, has temper tantrums, is addicted to drugs and plastic surgery and tries to launch a singing career despite her lack of talent and responsibility. Wow, big stretch. The funny thing is that Paris has never been better. Her singing is impeccable and she delivers a spot-on performance with grace and ease. Bouseman initially refused to consider Hilton for the role, considering it "novelty" casting, but when she persisted and nailed both her vocal and acting auditions, he realized the perfection of this choice.

With a wild ensemble cast (Joan Jett for example, literally emerges from a bedroom closet to jam on one of the harder rocking numbers), a lush mixture of practical sets and opulent CGI, REPO! sucks you into it's dark and alien world and doesn't let you go. It's operatic, it's flamboyant, and it's dripping with blood. Damn it all, despite myself, I'm a big fan of REPO! Open to the idea of a goth rock opera or not, I highly recommend you check out this film. There's nothing else like it this year at Fantastic Fest and there may never be again in the history of film. (Tim League)

Director Darren Bousman will be live in person at the screening.