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The Guyver 2: Dark Hero (1994) Review

Alex Seda — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 04:07:14 +0000

Sadly, this is the best lead-in image I could find. Yeah, I know. I'm disappointed too.

First of all, let me state that the title of this film is actually The Guyver Dark Hero, not The Guyver 2 Dark Hero. I decided to call it The Guyver 2: Dark Hero so that everyone will understand this is indeed a direct sequel to The Guyver, the 1991 film I recently reviewed. In that review, I dissected my own memories of The Guyver a bit, and learned that not everything I enjoyed when I was younger holds up as well today. As luck would have it though, during my light research for The Guyver review, I stumbled upon its straight-to-video R-Rated sequel, and still being in the mood to see stuntmen in elaborate rubber suits and armor beat the shit out of each other, I jumped on it. This has turned out to be one of the best decisions of my weekend, and possibly my entire month!

To sum up the plot, I have to make a choice. Do I assume you have seen the first Guyver movie, or do I just start from the beginning? I’ll give you a brief summary of the initial live action installment, and then bleed it into the plot synopsis of the second entry.

*Spoiler Alert* (If you haven’t seen the first movie, this will ruin it for you.)

In the first Guyver, Sean Barker, a typical college aged white guy, stumbles upon the Guyver unit, which he then uses to save his girlfriend Mizky, who was the daughter of the doctor who stole the unit from the Chronos corporation, which is a company that is a front for shape shifting evil Zoanoids (Aliens). Phew, that was a mouthful. In the process he destroys the Chronos L.A. base, seemingly removing that threat. It is now some time down the road, and he (Sean Barker/The Guyver) is the resident anti-hero of L.A having mastered control over the activation of his parasitic armament. After the opening scene where e, in very graphic fashion, takes down a group of drug smugglers, his relationship with Mizky is ended, because she can’t stomach his murderous hero lifestyle. All the while he is having visionary dreams, jotting down the images that come to him during his slumber in a notebook. These images match those found at a archaelogical dig, a location also reported to be host to “werewolf attacks.” Sean Barker, knowing that the Zoanoids and their shape shifting ways have been responsible for the myths of vampires and werewolves throughout recorded history, goes to investigate. Ok, now that we are done with introduction…

ON TO THE REVIEW!!!!!! SALLY FORTH!

For the sake of organization (and my own minor fits with obsessive compulsive disorder) I will break this review down into three main parts, the same way I did with The Guyver review. The first item up for examination will be the acting. David Hayter, famous for voicing Solid Snake in some of the titles of that popular video game series as well as writing the screenplay for the recent Watchmen movie as well as X-men and X-men 2, takes over the reigns as Sean Barker/The Guyver. He does an admirable job, much better than his predecessor Jack Armstrong, but still seems to be overdoing in spots, contorting his face into overly expressive shapes and not being subtle enough in his approach. I wasn’t expecting miracles here, but someone could have slipped a whisper into his ear and told him to turn it down a notch so when his character is upset, it doesn’t look like he is pumping out a sharp, painful, triangular poop. Besides Hayter, the only performance that is memorable is that of Kathy Christopherson, who plays the love interest to our lead, Cori. She does her best to summon the ghost of Vivian Wu’s fucking hideous performance in the first film, but even she can’t sink as low as Wu did. She has her moments where you can tell why she is an actress who would be hired, but she suffers from the say same “way too busy with facial expressions” syndrome that Hayter succumbs to. Everyone else in the movie is just kind of there, and to my limited knowledge, they are no one of note.

Do you think I should get my nose done?

The directing in a major step up from the first movie beyond a shadow of a doubt. That isn’t to say it is without its faults, but the good far outweighs the bad. Steve Wang is credited as one half of the directing team of the original flick, but here he shows a much different, and much more appropriate visual style, especially during combat. Where I feel the ball is dropped is during the middle stanza, where Wang brings the movie to a crawl as he attempts to examine the psychological and cultural implications of the existence of the Zoanoids, as well as the cultural and scientific weight of the…”relic” that is found during the dig. I praise him for exposing more than just the tip of the iceberg of The Guyver mythos, but at the same time I loathe the fact that it makes the middle piece of what otherwise is a highly entertaining sci-fi action picture such a chore to sit through. There were times where I wondered if I should turn it off, or fast foward a bit to save myself some time, but in the end I was very glad I stuck with it. The reason for that is right around the 1 hour mark, right when the sluggish pace was really starting to test my patience, Wang put his stomps his foot down on the accelerator HARD. The last 45 minutes is a blissful orgy of well lit monster martial arts mayhem. The fighting is edited and shot masterfully, bringing the distinct oriental flavor that was criminally absent in the first film. Another key element is that there is limited use of music during these fights, meaning that all the impact and the “boosting” and “whooshing” sounds The Guyver makes as his suit propels his up from the ground or through the air are that much more clear and emphasized. Tag that along with the leeway that the R rating gives, and the violence transcends above what it looks like on screen, which is simply guys in suits doing flips and ninja stuff. I will post a video to show you how effective this is below. One last thing to mention would be the pleasurable nighttime cinmetography. You can see everything that goes on clearly, and it never hinders the images quality.

The Guyver during one of my favorite fight scenes in the movie. He delivers a crazy arachnid kick (wrestling fans will get that) to the back of this Beast.

If you thought the effects were good in The Guyver (not only were they good, they were the driving force behind the whole damn thing) then you better hold onto your hat, because the sequel brings the rubber suits and thin, watery Japanese blood by the goddamn bucket full. The amount of on screen monsters and varying make-up and suits has doubled, and the addition of gore has helped to bring even the most immediately laughable creations to a more serious level. Sure, the guy who looks like a cross between a bumblebee and an ant looks funny at first, but wait until he gets his head cut off. And pictured above, that beast is a cross between a hedgehog, porcupine, and a iconic werewolf. Silly at first, but when you see the absolute devastation The Guyver lays down on it, which includes a double barrelled laser blast that implodes both the creatures eyeballs, you won’t be laughing. Instead you’ll be saying “OH SHIT! That was effin’ AMAZING.” I can’t give enough credit to whomever choreographed these fights, as well as the editor who picked and spliced just the right shots to make the combat and monster shenanigans less of a laughable affair, and more of a dead serious struggle for the preservation of Earth and the human race. The bright red, shiny blood flows pretty liberally too, showing that Sean Barker and his opposition are much more intent on getting the job done this time around. Killing is not just the last option, it is the only option. The only word I can summon to describe the entire special effects package on display here is superb. It is a major step forward, and my only regret is the days when audiences could marvel at the handiwork of artists with paint, latex, rubber, and plastic maybe be behind us.

You got a little something on your lip there Zoanoid. To your left. Yeah, you got it.

In closing, Dark Hero is a few light years ahead of The Guyver. It suffers from an obviously low budget, which I’m sure was set low due to the less than favorable reception of the first film. But despite having no name actors, a mountain of bad reputation to try and repel, and a rare R Rating for these types of genre fare, Dark Hero succeeds in being, if nothing else, a satisfying guilty pleasure. The direction and acting are both adequate, and at times break free from the schlocky straight-to-video chains that bind them, but the martial arts, costume design, and unexpected grisly violence all elevate this just enough to be considered a hidden gem of the mid 90′s. It isn’t a must watch, but it is surely something that made my entire weekend, and filled the empty void left inside me after the dissapointment that was my rewatching of The Guyver 1.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

P.S. A 2005 “re-edit” with new music and and enhanced digital effects is available in 13 parts for free on youtube, for those who aren’t download or amazon savvy. Here is a link to Part 1.

Food allergies are killer.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnQnP5ibCLM

Retro Horror Gaming: A Few of My Favorites

Alex Seda — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:27:33 +0000

Jason Voorhees. Mass Murderer. Neglected Camper. Lover of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Being a gamer and fan of horror, it can be difficult to find games that scratch both those itches at the same time. Sure, everyone will say that there’s Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and even newer offerings like Gears of War that tap into some of the key themes horror has based itself around for the last century. But Are there any hidden gems out there that can quench the thirst for traditional horror icons and practices, while delivering a fun, if not dated, experience? YOU BET YOUR SWEET ASS THERE IS!

SPLATTERHOUSE TRILOGY (’88-’93)

Available for: Sega Genesis, Wii, NES, TurboGrafx-16

Number of Players: 1

I can't even count how movies they are ripping off on this cover.

Splatterhouse was a series of games made by arcade giant NAMCO, who would later go on to produce some of the most popular games the arcades of the world had ever seen. But before the glory days of Time Crisis and Soul Caliber, NAMCO made one of the first games that actually got into serious trouble over the its gratuitous on-screen violence. Splatterhouse was one of the first games to supply a warning directly on the box letting potential customers of the bloody gameplay and horrific images that await them inside. Despite that, Splatterhouse stood on its own two feet as a competent brawler. Players controlled Rick, a college parapsychology student, who is apparently good friends with a few MLB players, who goes with his girlfriend to some creepy old mansion to meet up with one Dr. West. Anyone familiar with their Lovecraft, as you all should be, will get that reference in the doctors name. Rick’s girlfriend, Jennifer, gets captured and in order to save her, Rick gets to use some ancient Mayan mask that gives him superpowers. He then proceeds to clobber the shit out of hideous and putrid looking monsters, some modeled after more popular and iconic creatures, while other are just flat out disturbing and unique, like the overgrown babies being hung by what appears to be there own umbilical cords. The trilogy gathered a cult following, and 2 sequels were made, with my personal favorite being Splatterhouse 3 for the Sega Genesis. While it pales in comparison to the orgy of violence that almost every game seems to be required to have these days, there are some moments where even the most hardened of modern day gamer will say “Well that is just fucking weird.” Splatterhouse combines its gore opera aesthetic with some tight controls, a steep learning curve, and an overall difficulty level that teeters between very hard and damn near impossible. The sound is mostly good, with some sound effects and music in the 3rd installment being quite great and perfectly setting a mood. Visually, it is on par with most everything else that was happening during their respective times of release. It feels like a series that started 20 years ago, but it still deserves credit for trying something new and being way ahead of the curve in the violence department.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars (Rating reflects my score on the Trilogy as a whole, not just one game)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjmuMlvhb3c

Night Slashers (1994)

Available For: Arcade (easily emulated on pc)

Number of Players: 2

Generic looking I know, but you get to karate kick zombies heads off.

Night Slashers is another game that, for some insane reason, never got a port to ANY home console system. That means the only place this existed was in the arcades (and on own computers thanks to emulators and roms). It’s a damn shame too, because during the Beat ‘Em Up explosion of the late 80′s into the early 90′s a game like Night Slashers would have been eaten up by the public. The story is of little significance, and come to think of it, I don’t even think there is one! The game stars a Van Helsing-ish suave dude in an orange business suit from the 1800′s, a feisty oriental-looking martial art femme-fatale, and an American guy wearing an American flag wife beater, has long blonde hair and a bandanna, and robot arms. Yup, no bullshit. Robot Arms. Their job is to just go from location to location, roundhouse kicking and karate chopping there way through every major type of horror movie bad guy there is. From zombies, to werewolves, to Ventriloquists with deadly dummies, to Frankenstein. The game is best enjoyed with two players due to a typically high arcade difficulty level that ramps up exponentially with every level passed. The music and graphics are all solid, with bright colors and some splendid animations and creature design. For anyone who liked games like Final Fight, Streets of Rage, and Double Dragon, and horror movies, this is a must. Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAMb9uYdwLs

DOOM TROOPERS (1995)

Available for: Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo

Numbers of Players: 2

OOOOOOOO special edition bonus card you say?

Doom Troopers is a title that comes from a confusing history of board games, comics, TV shows, and toy lines. While I have seen the recent Mutant Chronicles movie, which is apparently based on the same collective Universe as this game is, I will talk only about the game here as if I know nothing of the other entities. Doom troopers is a side-scrolling shooter, similar in nature to Contra or Megaman. The main difference being, is it is drenched in pixel gore, and, for a 1995 game pushing to get the most from dying 16-bit technology, it sounds and looks surprisingly good. The jumpy and catchy soundtrack, the cheesey sounds effects when blood pours out of a neck wound, and the incredibly tinny and pathetic sound of gunfire will be sure to warm your retro heart. Combine that with some hellaciously unfair difficulty, a nice co-op mode allowing two players to go at it as a team, and some helpful cheats you can input to make the game beatable, and you have another decent addition to you Genesis or SNES (rom) library that you and a buddy can try to get through, but won’t. Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvq3SZWp6vs

Zombies ate my neighbors (1993)

Available for: Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo

Number of Players: 2

A parody in game form and a true work of art.

Zombies ate my neighbors may be a wee bit too popular to be cosidered a true hidden gem, but everytime someones writes about this game, there’s someone out there who goes and tries it for the first time. Zombies is a top down view run and gun game, where you play as a punk kid using household items to rescue your neighbors and defeat legions of monsters all inspired by the horror films of the 50′s up to the 80′s. It’s equal part parody and tribute, as it celebrates and lampoons the genius and schlocky elements of the beloved genre. Tight controls, memorable soundtrack, and a good use of color helps this game elevate itself from often-recommended to a must play. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

www.youtube.com/watch?v=b13fGKYmPPQ

BLOOD (1997)

Available for: Most home computers (can be difficult to operate since it was originally written for DOS)

Numbers of Players: 1 (there are mods available for co-operative and competitive multiplayer that remains active to this day)

How can you say no to that!?!?

Blood is DOOM cranked to 11. It’s DOOM on crack, heroine, pcp, and meth, all while sitting inside the 9th level of hell. It’s campy, it’s chock full of horror movie and literature references, and to this day is still one of the most brutally violent games in public circulation. You can light a guy on fire with a flare gun. You can kick severed heads around like soccer balls. You can throw dynamite like an NFL quarterback, and stab people with a pitchfork. You also play as a dead guy who spouts off movie one liners as he kills things. It’s super great. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1SaWmgU1h8

That’s all for now. If you enjoyed this short list and would like more suggestions, please leave a comment for us and I will scrounge up some more treasures for you. If your having trouble finding and playing any of these games, shoot me an e-mail and I’ll send ya some info on how you can get them working. Enjoy the chills boils and ghouls!!

Çilgin kiz ve üç süper adam (1973, aka: 3 Supermen and Mad Girl)

Ronnie — Sun, 24 May 2009 16:40:59 +0000

Çilgin kiz ve üç süper adam (aka: 3 Supermen and Mad Girl)

Normally, I would start my review with some pithy comments and an IMDb synopsis. Unfortunately, this movie is so rare (read: barking mad) that IMDb has literally nothing on it, and it took me some leet Google-ninja skills just to get the poster (left)!

Before I get in to the review I have to preface it with this: this movie is old, probably ripped from an old billionth generation VHS tape, in Turkish and (as if that’s not bad enough) has no subtitles/English what so ever. So without further ado, here’s what myself (Ronnie), Alex, and Erin could decypher from the film.

In a deep underground cave, some fit chick in a skimpy red outfit (and wearing Elton John’s reject glasses) is plotting some evil deeds.

Mad Girl - in her mad outfit, mad glasses and mad technology

Her boss seems to be some guy who’s wearing a two dollar mask and sits on his fat ass for the whole film, he’s maybe a cripple, but I can’t prove that.

Satan, 666 - I think that's what his mask cost him, $6.66

Their minions seem to be KKK Klansmen, but in green:

The henchmen - no seriously, it is!

… and their ultimate weapon seems to be a robot made out of cardboard boxes sprayed with silver paint:

ILM - eat your heart out...

We are then introduced to the first of the supermen, lying on a boat, surrounded by chicks while Tom Jones is playing in the background. Enter the other two goons supermen, the three of them dress up in red costumes (with black capes), branded with an ‘S’, and the tight outfits apparently make them bullet-proof.

The 3 'Supermen' - I use the term 'supermen' VERY loosely!

Our heroes then head off to a sleazy bar in their beetle. Fly? Heavens no. Why fly when they have their ‘Beetle Of Justice’ (™, Alex). Their car journey is accompanied by some fine circa 1970 organ music. Beautiful. After bitch-slapping one girl several times, she is shot by a henchman which causes an epic battle on a rooftop. Which seems to be about an envelope (or something).

One superman rescues a chick from a car (for reasons unknown) and she’s smitten by the Beetle Of Justice:

Behold! The Beetle Of Justice! *fanfare*

After another epic battle, one of the supermen is captured, put on a table and spun several times. As Erin said: obviously dizziness is his Kryponite.

One of several super-taint shots...

He is, eventually, rescued by the other supermen where we were so close to getting a good nudie scene, except for one little green fucker who interrupts. He deserves to die 1,000 deaths.

I hope that little green guy dies, he spoiled the potential nude scene. Bastard!

After the (near)naked chick is captured, our heroes (again) spring in to action in their hot-rod:

The Supermen to the (somewhat slow) rescue!

They are again in a scuffle, this time in a large expanse of grassy area. Obviously the sun must have been out that day as the entire screen is white and we can hardly see a damn thing.

The kidnapped chick is now tied up in Mad Girls underground lair. Kinky! After which we FINALLY, after fifty minutes of this nonsense, get to see some boobage:

Are they allowed to show boobs in Turkey?

After the supermen crash their entirely uneventful orgy of nothingness, Mad Girl is nearly captured! Gasp! But she manages to escape back to $2-mask-Satan. But unfortunately, for one of the supermen, the cardboard robot is set free! But fear not, it is disabled as Mad Girl heads back to her (kinky) dungeon to try and strangle the kidnapped chick with a large piece of chain. But the supermen crash this party too and save the day. Not only that, but someone finally phones the cops. They have police in Turkey? Well I’ll be…

But the evil protagonist isn’t done yet, he still has the all powerful robot of doom!

The evil robot, dubbed 'drill-do' by Alex

The movie finishes with the cops closing in on Mad Girl where she, and the evil old guy (whoever he is) are arrested.

Your nicked!

And so, the reign of Mad Girl (and Old Guy) has come to an end. But since it’s Turkey, I’m sure they’ll probably bribe their way out of prison to terrorise the 3 Supermen once again.

I just want to add that if you, the reader, think I’ve embelished the plot with superflous details to make it sound funny, I have NOT! All the stuff about them not flying, driving around, several superman taint shots (noticed by Erin I may add), making them dizzy… it’s all there! Honest! And when I say it was a billionth generation VHS, I’m not kidding:

This happened a few times throughout the film...

I have to say, this film was a barrell of laughs. So bad it was hilarious. It seems to be so obscure that clips of it aren’t even on YouTube. I’ll maybe put up one or two later.

The all important ratings:

Ronnies Rating: 5 out of 5 stars = 14 out of 5 (just to three-up Alex)

Erins Rating: 5 out of 5 stars = 8 out of 5

Alexs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars = 11 out of 5

UPDATE: don’t say we’re not good to you readers. I personally uploaded the first ten minutes of this superhero madness to YouTube, just for you. Yes, you. You personally!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziRJOICt8Mw

The Alliance: The product of rediscovering my old action figures and having entirely too much fun with my webcam.

Alex Seda — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 04:46:31 +0000

The Alliance (rough first cut and edit) from Alex S on Vimeo.

Yeah, I know Batman isn’t a Marvel Hero and he doesn’t fit, but he’s the Dark Knight, how could I deny him?

But seriously, if anyone out there in Hollywood needs someone to tell you how to make a proper comic book superhero movie or a great movie trailer, Alex a.k.a. Bulldozer86 on Midnight Showing is avaiable for a small fee. Also, I always work with a smile on my face, so that is a bonus, free of charge.

BONUS VIDEO!!!!!!!!!

The goriest work safety video I have ever seen. It’s also unintentionally hilarious. The matrix-like “nail” scene is fantastic.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAnAaFgjiiA

REPO! The Genetic Opera Review (Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman of SAW fame)

Alex Seda — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 11:17:07 +0000

Badass. Digging the Communist theme.

Repo! The Genetic Opera is the brainchild of Darren Lynn Bousman, who most of you know as one half of the team that made SAW such an immensely popular and lucrative franchise, and buddy Terrance Zdunich, who is mainly a storyboard artist working on movies and TV shows.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the plot.

In the year 2056 – the not so distant future – an epidemic of organ failures devastates the planet. Out of the tragedy, a savior emerges: GeneCo, a biotech company that offers organ transplants, for a price. Those who miss their payments are scheduled for repossession and hunted by villainous Repo Men. In a world where surgery addicts are hooked on painkilling drugs and murder is sanctioned by law, a sheltered young girl searches for the cure to her own rare disease as well as information about her family’s mysterious history. After being sucked into the haunting world of GeneCo, she is unable to turn back, as all of her questions will be answered at the wildly anticipated spectacular event: The Genetic Opera. Written by Lionsgate

If there’s one thing that is grossly apparent right off the bat, it’s that Bousman and Zdunich have a lot of respect and love for cult classics such as Rocky Horror Picture Show and also seem influenced by more elegant and classic opera works such as Phantom of the Opera. There’s even a bit of The Who’s rock opera Tommy in there. It’s no shock that the mind that helped push the SAW franchise forward would be able to create a Gothic, dystopian future, but credit must be given for slick, yet earthly atmosphere embedded in the sometimes hallucinogenic visuals of the film. It looks great, period.

Bousman manages to keep the narrative moving along swiftly with great focus, even while dealing with the difficult medium of opera. That’s right kids, an opera where no word of dialogue is ever simply “said.” Unlike musicals, where there can be breaks in between musical passages to drive the story home with normal movie dialogue, Bousman ensures that every word is “sung”, which can be very awkward at first when your not expecting it. It’s difficult to accurately describe, but once you see and hear it you will clearly understand what obstacles must have popped up from this bold and daring choice. Other than that, Bousman also unleashes some incredibly awesome graphic novel panels to fill us in VERY quickly of a particular characters background.

Paul Sorvino and his shotgun-wielding ninja chick bodyguards.

It may be a tricky type of film to make, but Bousman is a razor-sharp horror producer and director, and knew that if he brought in the right talent, he would have a chance to lure in a slew of fans regardless of the experimental nature of the film. Paris Hilton (Super Global Slut) , Anthony Head (Giles from the Buffy TV Series), Sarah Brightman (acclaimed opera/classical singer and once married to Lloyd Weber who wrote Phantom of the Opera), Bill Moseley (Of House of 1,000 Corpses and The Devils Rejects fame) and Paul Sorvino round out the eclectic nucleus of the cast. Terrance Zdunich also has a fairly large role as the Graverobber, and steals the show with his “Zydrate Anatomy” song. The cast is, like so many aspects of this brave venture into total cult cinema, uneven throughout, with those who can sing clearly being more enjoyable and tolerable than those who can’t, with Alexa Vega and Bill Moseley probably being the two biggest culprits. Hopefully the star power and notoriety brought by those actors outweighs the damage they have done by simply being the weak links vocally.

Sarah Brightman definitely has some bitchin' pipes. And she's kinda sexy, in that scary way. She's probably a goddamn witch in real life.

Which leads me to my assessment of the acting itself, which again can be easily defined as uneven. While some amount of over and under acting is perfectly acceptable in horror, especially in something this theatrical and over the top, but sometimes the cartoon like personalities crossed the line between tasteful and embarrassingly out of place. At times the actors would play very serious, as if this carried the same weight as The Phantom of the Opera, and at other times it was clear everyone was having fun and things were much more airy and carefree. I waited for the flick to settle down, and choose a definite mood and direction, but it never did, as it gleefully jumped back and forth between trying to be emotionally heavy and serious, and being grin-worthy, funny and lightweight. Maybe I am reading to much into something that can’t truly be defined, but I would have loved to see some lines drawn pertaining to acceptable behavior from all characters, as you would with any other film.

She's got the creepy, googly eyes. Burn at the stake, you kinda-sexy witch.

The final piece of the Repo puzzle is one that isn’t a very common problem in movies, the soundtrack. That’s not to say all movies has great soundtracks, but they also don’t rely as heavily as Repo does on its’ music. So how does the song selection hold up? Take a guess.

UNEVEN.

Some of the songs, like Zydrate Anatomy and Legal Assassin knock it completely out of the park, while others are either too short or too gimmicky to be considered truly great. While taste is bound to vary from viewer to viewer, I felt the music was acceptable, but could’ve benefitted from maybe one or two ballads complete with verses, chorus, and a bridge and a few more rock and roll anthems.

There's also some gore, which is very well done, but used very rarely.

I, like so many of you, have waited for years, eagerly anticipating this movie to be released in any format, anywhere. And while it may look and sound like I have nothing but negative things to say about Repo!, I feel it’s a case of me being exceptionally critical of a piece of work I felt had all ingredients to really show the world how versatile the “horror” genre can truly be. Repo is by no means a failure, but instead comes off as a combination of over-indulgence and lofty ambitions. It succeeds at what it aimed to do, but the cost for achieving that goal may be a dent in Bousman’s reputation, depending on how this is received in the community. There’s no doubt in my mind that this vehicle can be used to create an amazing, genre-bending film, but Repo! isn’t that flick.

There’s a lot of psychotropic, semi-gory fun to be had with Repo!, but it’s kinda like looking for a 20 dollar bill in your friends extremely messy room, you know it’s worth it to look, but your gonna have to sift through some shit to get what you want.