"The best advice I can give to ensure Repo! is an enjoyable experience is to go in with an open mind and low expectations."

I don't like musicals and I don't like operas, but I do like horror movies, so when I heard about Darren Lynn Bousman's Repo! The Genetic Opera I was intrigued and a little worried. I knew Bousman would deliver the goods in terms of gore and violence, but a rock opera starring the chick from the Spy Kids movies and trashy celebrity Paris Hilton? I had my doubts. So did Repo! deliver? Let's find out together.

Repo! is a solid mix of rockin' tunes, Goth-like style, a nightmarish vision of the future, a bizarre cast of characters, and comic book storytelling wrapped into one tasty and unique morsel. I could try and compare to other unconventional musicals like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Moulin Rouge, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, but the reality is, I haven't seen anything like Repo! before, and likely neither have you.

Of course, being different and original doesn't necessarily mean it's worth watching. But I found myself, a self-proclaimed hater of musicals and operas, enjoying the hell out of Repo! from beginning to end. I didn't really want to, as I had heard nothing but bad things from just about everyone who had seen it. But to my surprise, as the first rockin' musical number came booming in, I found myself sucked into the twisted story and horrifying world of GeneCo. (and the Genetic Opera), where organs are sold and repossessed at the ultimate price.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly what sucked me in to Repo!, as there were so many different things that were working for me. I dug the dark and colorful visual style that Bousman (Saw 2, Saw 3, and Saw 4) created, the unique and all-out rockin' tunes by Terrance Zdunich, the use of comic-book panels to help tell the story, the amount of gruesome disembowelments and other disgustingly gory violence, or the entertaining performances by Anthony Head, Alexa Vega, Zdunich, and yes ... even Hilton herself. In a nutshell, I dug it all ... or at least, most of it.

Repo! works well based on a number of factors. The impressive cast definitely contributes to the enjoyment level, but don't think that means all the performances are worth the price of admission. Veteran actors Paul Sorvino and Bill Moseley were way too over the top for my taste and, honestly, their singing wasn't all that great either. Vega, Head, and Zdunich were the biggest scene-stealers, and Hilton's biggest trick was coming off as a legitimate actor. Anyone who can peel her skin off during a song number has talent ... and Hilton pulled it off.

All this praise doesn't mean Repo! isn't without its faults. Some songs seemed out of place, while others felt rushed and slightly off in their pacing. I liked the dark visual palette, but at times it was a little too dark. And while the comic-book style of storytelling worked really well, it proved unnecessary as they showed the same scenes in "flashback" mode. The flashbacks in the film weren't done nearly as well as the comic-book panels and could have been cut out completely.

Repo! The Genetic Opera isn't for everyone. Not everyone will like it, and chances are most people will hate it. Under normal circumstances, I would have hated it. And yet I enjoyed the hell out of it. Repo! was made for the small niche of folks who love musicals, operas, and horror movies -- in that they succeeded brilliantly. There's no doubt in my mind Repo! will be the next big thing in midnight screenings and cult adoration. It's obvious this was a labor of love by all of those involved, from Bousman to Hilton. The best advice I can give to ensure Repo! is an enjoyable experience is to go in with an open mind and low expectations. You may leave the theater proclaiming that Repo! was "different" like the guy did after my screening, but you may find that as different as it was, you still had a good time.

Grade: B

*******

Ammon Gilbert covers the latest in horror (and horror musicals) every week for Film.com

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