The Rock musical is a franchise that, fair to say, never really kicked off. Well, musicals in general have done very little to stir the imagination of late, the last film to attempt success was last years Sweeney Todd, which was pretty good in visual style, lacked songs catchy enough to warrant a second viewing. So it was upto Mamma Mia to be the biggest grossing film of the year. Nice one.

So Repo! The Genetic Opera comes along, with the fresh promise of gothic style and visual flair, and Saw director/producer Darren Lynn Bousman at the helm, and I got very excited! Then Lionsgate, the film distributors, anally violated the film by doing literally fuck-all advertising in the States or anywhere else. And it flopped. Big time. The UK never got it, and the USA limited the film to a few random screenings. But, regardless, Necromag got a copy!

Firstly fuck Johnny Depp, Anthony Stewart Head is the king of the cutthroats, he can sing better, he can act better, and he was Giles from Buffy. Epic win. His character is a troubled man, blackmailed by GeneCo’s owner Rotti Largo into performing organ reposessions to protect his terrible secret. Paris Hilton  manages to poke (ahem) fun at her heiress lifestyle through the parallel between herself and her character Amber Sweet, a surgery addicted spoiled brat, heiress to a massive empire. She even manages to look quite hot dressed as a goth…..

Now, the songs. Where Todd failed, Repo triumphs. The songs are far catchier, more rocking, some industrial, and fit in better with the story than Burton’s film could ever hope for. Until you get too much of it. This film is literally all singing, all the time. There is some random dialogue in parts, but even the smaller lines are sung to a certain degree. And while about 70% of the songs are very good, the ones that aren’t too necessary tend to get boring, and drag the film slightly.

This tale of organ failure, graverobbing and murder is a fantastic concept, and one which Lionsgate have a lot to answer for because they have let it down. By not promoting it they have potentially helped kill stone dead a very exciting franchise, and this film, while by no means perfect, is as fresh and exciting as you could hope for.

The DVD will be out later this year in the UK, but you can get the Region 1 version out this month if you’re desperate. Highly recommended viewing, and a very original movie.