Movies
Another Review For ‘Repo! The Genetic Opera’
The show is about to begin! Darren Lynn Bousman’s horror-musical Repo! The Genetic Opera begins its limited theaters run tomorrow here in the States (theater listings). In addition to our first review, beyond the break you’ll find Mike Pereira’s thoughts on the film that takes place in the not-so-distant future when an epidemic of organ failures devastates the planet, scientists gear for a massive organ harvest. A biotech giant comes up with easy organ payment plans, but all financed organs are subject to legal default, including repossession at the hands of repo men. Visit the official website for an added experience.
Audacity and originality are two qualities severely lacking in cinema today. Repo! The Genetic Opera has both of those qualities in spades. But does it work? Some of the biggest disasters in film have strived for the skies only to fall brutally flat on its face. There is no two ways about it; Repo! The Genetic Opera recklessly teeters on the plank of being brilliant or falling into utter disaster. Either way, this makes viewing it all the more exhilarating. Director, Darren Lynn Bousman’s personal venture into the dangerously risky world of rock opera is the most alive cinematic experience in quite some time.
To put it simply, Repo! The Genetic Opera is set in the apparent not-so-distant future, in which an evil corporation (is there any other?) provide organ transplants to the public. If a bill payment is missed, be prepared to have it repossessed by the organ repo man. Considering how insane the synopsis reads, it’s actually a rather engaging even poignant piece of storytelling. Some goodwill might be required for the first act in which the film begins a little too urgent and chaotically. It takes awhile to settle into this wildly imaginative world mainly because there is nothing out there quite like it.
The strong costume and production design only help in providing the film’s individuality. While the CGI work is noticeable, it’s beautifully realized and gives Bousman’s world a real presence and scope. Gore fans won’t be let down since it’s drenched in blood and guts from start to finish.
As for the casting department, this viewer will admit apprehension because…well, it’s one of the most eclectic and bizarre ensembles ever assembled. Amazingly, the filmmakers’ intuition was dead on. Anthony Head is just flat-out awesome as the Repo Man. He belts out every moment, every song with complete conviction and passion. Alexa Vega is moving as protagonist, Shilo Wallace. Her lovely voice and every-girl quality grounds the film in a reality in which the viewer can believe. Alexa successfully makes us care for the drama and not get overwhelmed by the sheer insanity going on within every frame. Paul Sorvino brings the necessary larger than life persona to the film’s main antagonist, Rotti Largo. Also, who would have known he can belt out opera like it was nobody’s business?! As his sons, Bill Moseley and Nivek Ogre (of Skinny Puppy fame) are an outrageous blast. Musical diva, Sarah Brightman is terrific as Blind Mag. Co-writer and co-composer, Terrance Zdunich also plays the role of Grave-Robber, essentially the Greek Chorus of this musical. He is magnetic in every moment he’s onscreen. Last and surprisingly not least…Paris Hilton. She gives a solid, committed performance here as cosmetic surgery addict, Amber Sweet, daughter of Rotti Largo.
There is very little dialogue since there is wall to wall music. The soundtrack is an insane blend of rock, industrial and of course, opera. The result is rather unique and unconventional but at the same time oddly infectious. The songs stayed with this viewer’s head long after he left the theater. The soundtrack is a must-get!
Props must be given to director, Darren Bousman. Surely, he was offered everything and anything after helming three successful Saw sequels. Instead Bousman used his clout and defiantly chose to bring to life his dream project which also, so happens to be outrageously uncommercial. His energy and passion for Repo! The Genetic Opera bleeds within every frame. One can see a million other ways in which the whole thing could have collapsed into a total mess but Bousman’s sure hand and focused vision amazingly holds it all together. He cleverly uses comic book panels to fill in back-story for individual characters. There is a great deal of story here but by utilizing such cinematic techniques, Bousman keeps the story moving along without sacrificing character development. It’s not perfect though. Aside from early pacing issues, there are moments that are cut too much like a music video. But the film’s blistering energy and bold offbeatness successfully takes its audience to an exciting new place and helps one to forget the world they were in for its duration. That’s what cinema is suppose to do but unfortunately very seldom does. Repo! The Genetic Opera is a genuinely original and riveting piece of entertainment. But it’s strictly a love it or hate it affair. There is no in betweens.
Every year genre fans receive films claiming to be the next bona fide cult classic in the vein of some seminal motion picture we hold dear to our hearts like The Evil Dead or The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Truth is, what made those films classics, was the fact that they weren’t marketed down the audience’s throats. They were made immortal by fans and fans alone. That being said, as a genre fan, I believe Repo! The Genetic Opera is the first in ages that can potentially claim this illustrious title. The studio was all but prepared to dump this film into obscurity like some bastard offspring in which it didn’t want or even claim. Thankfully, Repo! The Genetic Opera’s ever-growing fanbase has gotten Lions Gate’s attention. After some enthusiastic early screenings, more and more theatrical engagements are popping up all over North America. This kind of phenomena is reminiscent of the well-documented journeys of the likes of Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It’s still way too early to tell if Bousman’s bold venture will have a similar happy ending but for what it’s worth, it’s already a cult classic in my eyes.
8 out of 10
The problem with filming sequels back-to-back is that, unless you can afford expensive reshoots, there’s no easy way to adjust course in between movies if fans react badly to where the story is headed. That’s why it’s important to have a complete narrative thought out well in advance lest you accidentally kill a budding franchise.
However, this isn’t always the case. Every once in a while, it seems like the cinema gods smile upon certain chaotic productions and gift moviegoers with complete franchises that feel like more than the sum of their hastily produced parts. Ted Nicolaou’s Bloodlust: Subspecies III is precisely one of these miraculous pictures, with the raw talents of the artists involved (as well as the continued support from Romania) turning the feature into an effective conclusion for a series that kind of made things up as the filmmakers went along.
That’s why I’d like to invite my fellow readers to join me on this third part of our journey through the Subspecies franchise as we look into Bloodlust and talk about how it remains a surprisingly satisfying finale to the original trilogy.
A Trilogy Planned on the Fly
Released only a year after Bloodstone found plenty of success in rental stores and mail-in VHS catalogues worldwide, 1994’s Bloodlust was produced at the same time as its predecessor in (mostly) the same locations and with the same team. This means that the movie benefited from all the same upgrades as Bloodstone, with the crew now being more experienced with the ins and outs of surviving a low-budget Romanian production and the cast really settling into their characters.
At this point, everything from location scouting to the makeup process had been streamlined, with Wayne Toth and Norman Cabrera, the main duo behind special effects, even switching out time-consuming prosthetics for latex gloves in order to speed up Anders Hove’s monstrous transformation. The titular “subspecies” demons were also once again relegated to a mere cameo appearance due to the laborious puppetry required to bring them to life.
The only real hiccup came from the fact that actress Denice Duff had replaced the first film’s Michelle (Laura Mae Tate) and was immediately expected to portray the character as both an innocent victim in part II and as a secondary villain in part III. According to behind-the-scenes interviews, the hectic production schedule that blended two different movies meant that Duff would often find herself having to alternate between two incredibly different versions of Michelle during the same shooting day – though it’s obvious that she’s having more fun with Bloodlust’s more traditionally vampiric version of her character.
In the finished film, we pick things up immediately where the previous entry left off as Rebecca (Melanie Shatner) is forced to leave her vampire sister Michelle (Duff) behind in the dungeons of Castle Vladislav due to the rising sun. This allows Mummy (Pamela Gordon) to use Michelle’s blood to revive the vicious Radu (Hove) so that he may continue his quest for the coveted Bloodstone – a magical artifact that perpetually drips the Blood of Saints.
Meanwhile, the dreamy US embassy agent Mel (Kevin Blair) agrees to help Rebecca plan a rescue mission, though they’re unaware that Radu has become infatuated with Michelle during his attempts to guide her growing bloodlust. This all culminates in a climactic confrontation meant to tie up all of the series’ loose ends in one of Full Moon Pictures’ most ambitious productions.
The Evolution of Radu
Like its predecessor, Bloodlust: Subspecies III was also warmly received by fans who argued that the series was an even bigger success than Full Moon’s other major horror franchise, Puppet Master. This praise wasn’t unanimous, however, as 1994 had seen the rise of a more modern breed of sexy vampire popularized by Anne Rice, with old-school Nosferatu like Radu being viewed as obsolete when compared to the likes of Lestat and Gary Oldman’s take on Dracula.
In a way, one might argue that Nicolaou’s film is something of a swan song for the classic vampire story, as Bloodlust combines all of the traditional elements we tend to associate with these tales into a single tragic yarn that ties a neat little bow on Radu’s story as well as the old-fashioned monster movies that he represents. The finale remains shocking despite the fact that this is the third time we see Radu get brutally killed onscreen, with the brief tease that he may one day return feeling more like a nod towards the nature of evil rather than sequel bait.
The film dabbles a bit in gothic romance and even explores the inherent power fantasy behind transforming into an immortal creature of the night, but the filmmakers never lose sight of Radu as a demonic force even when he’s willing to betray his beloved Mummy for Michelle’s sake. In fact, his twisted “love” for his fledgling makes him even creepier as we get the feeling that his passion comes from a dark and disturbing place.
Anders Hove is at his absolute best in this film, with the effects department boosting his moments of what the younger generation would call “aura farming” whenever Radu emerges from shadows like a 90s version of Count Orlok. There are even a couple of surprisingly effective jump-scares here, which is why I’d argue that Bloodlust cements Radu as one of the most memorable cinematic vampires of all time despite his humble origins.
Subspecies Saves Its Best For Last
Nicolaou and Vlad Panescu also saved the best for “last” (more on that in a bit) regarding the film’s visuals, with the cinematography and overall atmosphere of Bloodlust absolutely surpassing what we saw in the previous films. Everything feels appropriately climactic this time around (including the wonderful soundtrack that was co-composed alongside an authentic Romanian orchestra), and I appreciate how this is the fastest-paced entry in the trilogy since the film doesn’t need to waste time setting anything up.
Bloodlust still suffers from some of the same low-budget blemishes as its predecessors, but there’s so much creative passion here that no amount of wonky effects work or stilted dialogue can get in the way of appreciating the flick’s gothic grandeur. That’s why it’s not surprising that the movie’s definitive(-ish) ending would later be retconned as fans begged for more Radu.
Of course, the next entry in this series would be a different kind of vampiric endeavor altogether, with the filmmakers attempting to engage with the same trends that ultimately killed Radu and his antiquated kin. That, however, is a story for another time. For now, I’ll merely insist that Bloodlust: Subspecies III remains a highlight of Full Moon’s expansive catalogue and is definitely worth seeking out today.
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