Chad

Undeadcow

I want to like Repo more than I do. It's got great production values and I find musicals to be creative with good upbeat energy. Repo does crescendo nicely to a frantic carnival like conclusion. The constant subtle background music mixing in different sound effects is it's strength, a slow steady unending song.

I think it helps me to look it is as Shakesphere tragedy more than as a musical. The songs are so subdued and 'sing songy' dialogue more than jamming melodic beats. I think it would have struck me more if the songs had been more empathic. So much of it's lyrics are strangely specific about how 'Rotti Largo owns GeneCo' or 'Shilo's very ill' instead of the more general relatable themes. I feel like Repo is trying to be sardonic about our world but it's a little too 'on the nose' about over-exaggerated medical dependence or financial exploitation, more subtlety and wit might have saved those themes. Casting Paris Hilton was a clever idea and you usually cannot go wrong with Bill Mosley, but they are not the musicians someone like Ogre could be.

I'll admit that I sat through the credits to hear out the music and despite it's weaknesses Repo hits some of the right tones.

omike

I love this movie. I first saw it five or six yeras ago but for some reason never rewatched it until now. The sets and costumes totally drew me in and I liked the comic book panels used for the background and character backstories. The story is absorbing and the songs and music are really good as are the actors, who handle the singing very well (and the singers do a good job acting). I especially liked Anthony Stewart Head in his dual role where he changed voice and posture for his two identities and Terrance Zdunich as the Grave Robber with his comments on the story. For whatever the reason, this hit all the right notes for me.

Undeadcow makes a good point about the songs. Even the big numbers seem more part of the general flow of the story than separate production numbers. I recall being a little disappointed about this the first time I saw the movie but it worked better for me this time. I think some of this and the specific nature of the songs may come from classical opera but I'm no expert on that and I don't know if that influenced the composers at all.

Trevor

For some reason I always thought this was a Troma film, which explains why I wasn’t in a rush to see it. Once I started it and saw it wasn’t Troma, and finally clued in that it was a musical, I expected to love it. Seems right up my alley. But something just never quite clicked, and I don’t think the songs were all that good. Not horrible, just sorta average and disappointing.

jholmes

Hmmm. Interesting. I didn't love it. The music was the big issue for me. There weren't any actual identifiable songs or melodies. It felt like everything was random riffing and it got very repetitive. I love musicals, like Rocky Horror or Jesus Christ Susperstar or Tommy. So this was really disappointing for me on that level. The plot also felt unnecessarily convoluted and hard to follow.

WillieMLF

Phew! I'm a fan of musicals but not this one. This felt like a huge slog, and I'm really glad it's over. Famous Broadway star X leaving is leaving the hugely popular Musical Y to have a solo career. This feels like the album they released.

Was this somehow the seed inspiration for that Jude Law movie about repossessing organs?

wishbone

I liked the reveals of the main characters and their relationships but the Sprechstimme approach to dialogue didn't really work for me.

rbrown498

I'm not a fan of musicals, and I hated the film's sequel, The Devil's Carnival, when it was a subset film a few years back, so I was really dreading watching this. It turned out to be a bit less painful than I thought that it might be, but that certainly doesn't mean that it was any good. When your musical doesn't have one even slightly memorable song, you've failed. Sarah Brightman was the lone point of interest in this for me, only because I kept asking myself "What's she doing in swill like this?"

numbercrunch

sheer torture to sit through. Paris Hilton, really?

Trevor

I’ve only strongly disliked one of them, but am thinking that this could be the worst year for subsets yet. Lots of mediocrity and few stand-outs so far.

clckworang

I've meant to watch this one for a long time but just never have. Like others have said, I wanted to like this more than I did. Anthony Stewart Head was probably the highlight for me. He was great in it, but most of the other performances didn't really work for me. Funny enough, the thing that hurt this movie the most was probably the music. The music just felt repetitive and didn't have much melody to it. I would have preferred watching the same movie told in the style of those comic panels.

Dick Laurent

I'm updating my list and noticed IMDb cites an "Original Cut" at 150 Min. This wouldn't be listed unless it was at one time released at this length. Anyone know anything about it, or if it's something that can be seen?

Undeadcow

I'm not sure but I do understand there were several songs cut (like the pin in a bug one from the end credits) and that the director fought some with the studios, apparently the grave robber scenes were sometimes shot without studio approval. IMDB trivia section talks a lot about studio interference and un-used material. It wouldn't surprise me if there was a more complete pre-release cut.