When I rented the movie I was expecting it to be along the lines of The Rocky Horror Picture Show or The Phantom of the Paradise; a lot of singing mixed in with the dialogue.  However, apparently the producers wanted REPO! to be like a “real” opera which is entirely singing.  So, there is about five minutes total spoken dialogue in the movie.  At first this really threw me for a loop.  After I finished watching it, I couldn’t really decide whether or not I liked it.  My opinion was that it had a pretty interesting story, but they needed to talk more and sing a little less.  Although there were a couple of songs that I did really like; Zydrate Anatomy performed by the Grave-robber and Amber Sweet and Infected where Shilo laments her fate.  However, after I slept on it I realized that I did very much enjoy the movie.  I even watched it again before I returned it.

There are some surprisingly good performances in the movie.  It stars; Paul Sorvino, Anthony Stewart Head, Bill Mosely, Alexa Vega, Sarah Brightman and Paris Hilton.  Darren Lynn Bousman is the director.  Now; I have, on occasion, made fun of Paris (although who hasn’t jumped on that ass bandwagon) but I have to say she turned in a really good performance as Amber Sweet in this movie.  Both her acting and her singing are very good.  As far as I have been able to determine, all of the actors also sang their songs and most of them do a very good job of it.  In my opinion though, Paul Sorvino’s singing was the weak link, but his acting was solid.

So if you like to see some blood and guts and you have a desire to hear a rock-opera,  you should check out REPO! The Genetic Opera.  You can rent it, or I understand that it is playing in select theatres this summer or maybe you’ll even be lucky enough to catch a live performance in a city near you.