April 25, 2025
Must-See Musicals
Musicals are one of the biggest “you either love them, or you hate them” types of films. If you’d consider yourself a member of the latter group, you’d better scroll away now — because this time, we’re talking musical movies! Sometimes they’re taken straight from the stage; sometimes they’re on-screen originals — when it comes to musicals in cinema, there’s certainly a lot to choose from. This week, we wanted to sing the praises of a handful of musical films!
Repo! The Genetic Opera
Now, here’s a campy film that could definitely pass in our “Trash Vortex” section. I mean, come on — it’s got Paris Hilton. Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) is my absolute guilty pleasure film. It’s got so-cheesy-it’s-good writing, hilarious delivery, freaky special effects, and, of course, countless musical numbers.
The film takes place in a dystopian future during which an organ failure epidemic has killed a majority of the world. In response to this, the company GeneCo provides transplants on payment plans, where those who fail to make their payments will have their transplanted organs violently repossessed by the “Repo Man.” If that doesn’t paint enough of a picture, I’ll tell you outright: It gets bloody. The movie follows Shilo Wallace (Alexa PenaVega), a young girl with a genetic blood disease that causes her widower father — who is also a doctor — to keep her locked inside under special care. Everyone seems to be keeping a secret, and the sheltered Shilo is keen on discovering what has been kept from her. Did I mention it’s a rock opera? Yeah, that, too.
Songs like “Zydrate Anatomy,” “Chase the Morning,” and “Chromaggia” are my favorites — they’ve weaseled their way into my Spotify likes, I’ll admit it! And the movie’s got some really well-done special effects — two of the producers are the guys who did the Saw films, Oren Koules and Mark Burg. The costume and set design are also delectably gothic; to my fellow goths out there: this is seriously a must-see. Listen guys, this movie is an especially entertaining convergence of horror and musical campiness that we really haven’t seen since Rocky Horror Picture Show (honorable mention shoutout!). Don’t listen to the Rotten Tomatoes score. Don’t think about the fact that it earned $188,126 at the box office against an 8.5-million budget. You’ve just got to hear me out on this one.
Available for free on Amazon Prime Video, Pluto TV, Fandango at Home, PLEX, and Freevee.