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7. Repo! The Genetic Opera

Genny: 3
Johnbobb: 5
Karo: 6
Inviso: 9
JONA: 14
KBM: 20
Scarlet: 26

Genny - If you'd asked me eight years ago I'd have told you Repo! The Genetic Opera was not only my favorite musical, but my favorite movie as well. It still holds up to this day, but not to the lofty heights I'd held it to before. It's pretty easy to see why the grim dark dystopia setting would appeal to me, but the vocal talents of Anthony Stewart Head and Sarah Brightman are the real show-stealers. The casting choices for the other vocalists aren't nearly as strong, but the movie has a certain charm I can't ignore, and honestly Paris Hilton is intentionally made to be the butt of jokes both within and without the movie. It's campy, it's gritty, it's mindless entertainment that belies actual talent. It's got all the makings of a goth passion project and I love it.

Johnbobb - I really feel like I shouldn't like Repo very much. It's objectively not the best movie. It's cheesy and tacky and campy and not exactly well-written or acted. But goddamn if it isn't just a blast to watch and sing along too. There's so much style just bleeding out of every crack. Most of the style isn't particularly good, but it's catchy and fun and absurd.
Favorite song: 21st Century Cure

Karo - A bizarre film set in a humorous dystopian future where if you can't pay your medical bills the Repo Man comes around to repossess your goddamn organs.
Though the title says 'opera', the soundtrack actually has an eclectic musical style that goes between everything from Sesame Street to Music Man to Sonic the Hedgehog, and this somehow seems ok.
But where things really shine is the satire, where the puerile idiocy of human society gets eviscerated savagely with a rusty bonesaw. A sign advertises cosmetic organ transplants with the tagline 'it's what's on the inside that counts'. A rich playboy not content with a simple facelift has a second face sewn right onto his head. It is ridiculous but that is the point. We only see these things as moronic because we don't live in a world where they are 'socially acceptable', but we've got plenty of our own things that would look just as stupid. Such as Twitter.
Anyway, on the surface this doesnt look like something that should be any good, but rather some silly trainwreck filed under cult classicdom in the vein of Rocky Horror. But unlike that dubious movie this one has a real point and real character development and an epic tale of love and betrayal worthy of Game of Thrones.
Of course it is not without its share of problems, it seems directed by someone with ADD and several of the cast simply cannot sing, not to mention it just about reeks to high heaven with 2000's edgelordiness.
Nonetheless, Repo is something fresh and different. Fresh and different? Fresh and different. And when the movie ends it will change how you feel about surgery, surgery.

Score: 75/100

Best Song: 'Zydrate Anatomy'

Inviso - Who wouldve thought that a movie featuring Paris Hilton would actually be good? But yeah, this is such a bizarre premise for a movie, and its even more bizarre in the choice to turn this storyline into a musical. Yet somehow, it just works. Im sure that, barring an exceptionally violent movie among the last six I have yet to watch, this will rank at the bottom of Wickles list of course, and thats understandable. The disemboweling, while necessary to the universe-building of the film, was still very unsettling and gross. But if you can look past that, you have an interesting tale of rich men toying with the lives of their inferiors, all while becoming increasingly-deformed as they find new ways to supplement their existing bodies for longer life. The operatic songs and the soundtrack in general are all awesome, and the end result is a really cool movie that had just the right amount of horror and twisted visuals to be enjoyable.

JONA - I really like the tone and atmosphere. The little comic book scenes are nice touches. The soundtrack is pretty good despite the songs feeling like they blend together after a while. There are a lot of songs and none of them feel too short or too long which is nice. The story and dialogue are nothing to write home about, but it was decent enough for me to care about it. The fact that its so different from most of the movies on the list probably helped with its ranking.
Favorite Song: Chase the Morning

KBM - Why I Chose It: Written by Terrance Zdunich and Darren Smith, based on a musical originally entitled The Necromerchant's Debt which they had written some years prior, Repo! The Genetic Opera was directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, director of Saw II, III, and IV. The film, featuring quite a wide range of famous actors, including Anthony Stewart Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Sarah Brightman (Phantom of the Opera), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas), Alexa Vega (Spy Kids), Bill Moseley (House of 1,000 Corpses), and Paris Hilton, was released in only seven screens and initially received largely negative reviews, but developed a sizable cult following, often compared to the Rocky Horror Picture Show fanbase in terms of size and passion.

My Thoughts: For me, it's the big-name cast that saves this from being painful. It's not particularly well-made, and a lot of the music is somewhat awkwardly written and at times even painful. However, strong performances from actors whose parts seem tailor-made for their strengths (even when their strengths are... somewhat limited lookin' at you, Brightman) and a few truly kickass, catchy numbers save this from being a pain to get through. Alexa Vega in the lead role as Shiloh is a bit whiny and difficult to suffer through, but whenever her tantrums reach critical mass (as in probably the WORST song in the movie, Infected), generally Anthony Stewart Head as the Repo Man or writer Terrance Zdunich as the GraveRobber or someone will come along to steal the scene and make you forget why you were so irritated five minutes ago. It never truly lasts, but it certainly allows the proceedings to be enjoyable. (Particularly Head's wonderfully committed, Jekylland Hyde-esque performance.) All in all, it's not REALLY my thing, but I can enjoy it for its high points even when I'm not too keen on its lows.

Favorite Song: Night Surgeon (AKA I reee-mem-BEEEEERRRRR!)

Scarlet - Somewhere between Rocky Horror and straight-up Saw lies the rough draft for a David Cronenberg musical. At least thats what I see here. So many critics lambast this film, a