You’ve really got to hand it to
Darren Lynn Bousman. After a successful run with the SAW franchise- Bousman
could have easily made his first post-SAW project a big budget studio horror
film. Instead, he decided to make something personal and daring. The result is
REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA– a rock opera that takes place in a world
where a mass epidemic of organ failures has crippled society.
The organ trade is now run for profit
under the villainous Rotti Largo (Paul Sorvino), and his three psychotic
offspring (Bill Mosely, Ogre of Skinny Puppy, and the one & only Paris Hilton).
If Rotti’s customers are unable to make their payments- their organs are
repossessed by the dreaded Repo Man (Anthony Head), who’s been forced into
Rotti’s employ as a way to protect his sick daughter- Shiloh (Alexa Vega).
REPO! had it’s world premiere at the
FANTASIA FILM FEST in Montreal, and director Bousman & star Alexa Vega were on
hand for the premiere. They also graciously made time for an interview with
yours truly. Despite my reservations towards the film, I was impressed by the
obvious passion the two share for the film- and it’s obvious that both are proud
of the finished result.
DARREN
BOUSMAN & ALEXA VEGA INTERVIEW
Chris Bumbray (interviewer): Are you guys excited for
the big show tonight (the Fantasia world premiere- which took place Friday July
18th)?
Darren Lynn Bousman: I’m super, super excited. You know-
this had been nine years in the making and tonight is the first time we’re going
to show it to anyone. You know, I’ve never had a film in a festival. The SAW
films were the first features I ever did- and luckily they went theatrical. I’m
excited to be a part of something like this.
CB: So after the SAW movies- what made you decide to do
a musical- which I presume is not the usual follow up to that type of film?
DLB: When I came to LA, I was that very arrogant guy who
said he’d never do a sequel or a remake- I want to be original. My idols are Jim
Jarmusch & David Lynch- here are guys that are so unique in what they do. I was
very honored to be a part of the SAW franchise- but then I did Saw 3, and then
4, and now I’m attached to every remake in the world. I’m becoming that guy I
didn’t want to be- and I wanted to do something that’s so vastly different and
unique, something that’s personal to me. I LOVE musicals, and I wanted to put my
own spin on that, and jump out of this cookie-cutter sequel, remake kind of
thing. Everyone wants to see something fresh and original- that’s what the fans
want to see. I’m a horror fan, and I wanted to see something unique and
original- so that’s what I did.
CB: Would you say you were inspired by THE ROCKY HORROR
PICTURE SHOW, or rock opera’s like TOMMY?
DLB: Yeah- I’ll list my top three favorite movies and
you’ll see where I come from. JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, BRAZIL, & BLADE RUNNER. I
try to do a mash up/homage to those movies. Especially BRAZIL- because it’s so
weird that when you’re watching it, you’re like “what the FUCK just
happened!!!”, and it looks beautiful and the characters are unique. And ROCKY
HORROR… I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve seen it. I wanted to do a film
that encourages audience participation. The more people hear the music- they’ll
get it. We have a very straight-laced producer- and he’s seen it four times, and
the last time I could see him tapping his foot to the music- and this is the
most straight-laced dude in the world. I could only hope and dream that it’ll
become that type of phenomenon.
CB: Alexa, what brought you to the film?
Alexa Vega: Well, the girl who runs my MySpace page told me
that there’s the guy emailing me saying he wants me to read his script.
Originally I told her to ignore it, but he sent along another message saying he
directed the SAW films. My little sister was in SAW 1- so I asked her– was the
director a guy named Darren. She said no- so I thought this guy’s crazy! But
then I found out he did the sequels. At the time I was doing HAIRSPRAY on
Broadway- he came to the show and we talked about it, and he gave me this comic
book version of the script that broke everything down. He also gave me a DVD of
the short film he made for it, and I watched it with my best friend Alyssa. We
both freaked out, and at one point we had to stop it so Alyssa could double lock
the door because she was scarred! So it grabbed her right away, and then I
really got into it, so I emailed him and told him I HAD to be in it. It’s raw &
edgy and exactly what I’m looking for.
DLB: This movie is so weird and eccentric, and eclectic-
that the casting had to be the same way…
AV: Yeah, we’re all a little off…
DLB: Exactly, including Sarah Brightman, Paul Sorvino, etc.
But everyone is the first choice. They left me alone to cast whoever I wanted,
and the first person I cast was Bill Mosely because I’m a huge DEVIL’S REJECTS
fan, and then Alexa. Then it just started happening. Everyone fell in place.
Sarah Brightman was easy- I thought she’d be the hardest.
CB: Yeah, I thought it was neat you had her in it…
DLB: I couldn’t believe it! We were looking at another
Opera singer- but someone said, why don’t you just go for Sarah Brightman? I
thought there was no way she’d do it- but I sent her a script on a Friday- by
Monday she was calling saying she loved it, saying “Darren it’s LOVELY”, I was
totally star struck. And Paul Sorvino too- read it once and said “I’m in!”
CB: I was surprised by how well he sang opera.
DLB: He’s actually a classically trained opera singer. And
Anthony Head- he was my number one choice from the beginning.
AV: He’s AMAZING!
CB: Yeah- I’m a hard core Buffy fan too…
DLB: What did you think of him in the movie?
CB: I thought he was great- I remember him from the
musical Buffy episode…
DLB: ONCE MORE WITH FEELING…
CB: Yeah, and I remember watching that thinking he could
really sing…
DLB: Anthony Head is my hero and I have a man crush on him.
AV: So easy to work with- makes work so much easier when
you have great people to work with. That’s what was great about this film-
everyone was prepared and ready to go. Paris Hilton surprised me! I was
impressed.
DLB: People don’t realize what goes into a film like this.
We had to have the music done months before we started filming- people had to
lip-synch to themselves. All the music was recorded months before in a studio.
AV: You really had to do your homework- you couldn’t change
it on the set. We’d record different versions- I had no idea what they’d use
until a week before filming.
DLB: We’d do twenty takes on each song- it was like being a
rock star for a month I was sitting in the studio with these rock icons- like
Filter & Ogre. I had no idea what went into the production of an album. That
took us three months, and then we rehearsed for three weeks. It was so low-
budget, less than any of the SAW movies…
CB: Really, because it looked much more elaborate…
DLB: Much less- we had only two takes for everything, and
we re-used SAW sets. It was a labor of love for everyone involved- so we got a
lot for free. The costumes were donated, the sets were from SAW. When I did SAW
IV- I made a list of sets for it that I knew I’d need for REPO! I said- I need a
mausoleum for the opening, and they’d be like “why?”, and I’d insist we need it-
but really we didn’t- I needed it for this! This is the most running gun movie
I’ve done. For a movie like this you’d usually get two days a song- we had to do
three songs a day. We had to know everything BEFORE walking onto the set.
AV; People worked really hard and put their heart & soul
into it. That’s why we’ve got fans rooting for it.
DLB: That’s what will make or break the film- because it’s
a real love it or hate it film. Many will hate it, others will love it. It comes
down to the fans. It’s a weird acquired taste. If people understand that=
they’ll appreciate it more…
CB: Well, it might be one of those films that people
will like more on repeat viewings…
DLB: Well it’s like a foreign language- you need to become
accustomed to what’s going on. It’s all sung, and the whole plot is revealed in
song.
CB: What kind of release are you doing? Halloween?
DLB: It comes out Nov.7- the size of the release depends on
the response out of Fantasia. The soundtrack comes out Sept. 30th, which is
great because it’ll give people time to get used to the music.
CB: You going to hit the road with it
DLB: We’re going to Sitges…
AV: And Comicon…
DLB- Yeah, next week. We’ll have a huge viral campaign
around the music to prepare them. If you walk into it without being familiar
with what it is- you’ll be ready to vomit- makes it more exciting if you know
the music.
CB: Of course, I have to ask the Paris Hilton
question…
DLB: We should just always start with that- she was a nig
surprise. What people think they no about her is not who she is. She’s not the
dumb blond, she’s articulate & smart, and she hangs which I couldn’t believe.
When we hired her- my big concern was that she’d stay in some penthouse suite,
and she’d never hang with the cast. But no- she stayed at the same hotel with
us, same rooms- ate at the same shitty restaurants and drank beer with us. She
was part of the team. She’s promoting the hell out of it- was at every
rehearsal, never late, knew her lines. And when you look at the movie, she
transformed herself. She was great!
CB: The film was pretty heavy duty- did you get an
R-rating?
DLB- Yeah we got an R. Making it a musical helped it-
because we have a suspension of disbelief.
CB: Did people pretty much leave you alone to do what
you wanted?
DLB: Well, it was a very hard process- because no one knew
what they were getting into. Lionsgate & Twisted Pictures trusted me after our
great relationship during the SAW movies – and when we showed the first cut-
people were totally silent. They were like “where’s the talking?”. I asked them
if they read the script- and there was silence. But after time they really
understood what I was making. They were expecting- to a degree another Saw, but
that’s not what they got- but they’ve been great with it…
CB: What’s next- REPO 2?
DLB: I wish…
AV: That would be AMAZING!
DLB: I’d love to do it. I’m working with Dimension next.
I’m NOT doing SCANNERS- I want that on the record.
CB: Yeah- we were wondering about that here in Canada-
that’s our proudest moment in film…
DLB: Yeah- I’m not doing it. But I’m working with them- but
it’s too early to say what the project is. I’m also working on a comic book that
I’m excited about with Terence Zudnich (who also wrote, produced and starred in
REPO!), and we’re writing a script for it at the same time- but I can’t really
talk about it- too early.
CB: How about you Alexa?
AV: I just got back from Australia where I did a film
called BROKEN HILL- another film with music. I’m hooked now. Right before that I
did a film in Chicago called HELIX which was all shot in one-take. It’s about a
kidnapping- the hardest film I’ve ever worked on. I had to run two miles in and
hour and a half, barefoot. I could not feel my feet. One continuous take. Eight
consecutive days, doing it over & over- one take a day. The second day of
filming I dislocated my shoulder- but we had to keep filming. I’ve done drama
before- but it’s easy when you a break it up- but the continuous take wears you
out. I’m beaten up in one scene- the camera would pan to the person beating me
up, while off-screen they’d be smearing make up on my face!
DLB: Why the hell didn’t I think of that!
AV: It’s my twenty year old roommate…Pretty exhausting.
CB: Well guys- good luck tonight…
DLB: I’m super-excited.
CB: Is the film locked?
DLB: More or less- the credits are temporary, and some of
the VFX might need a bit more work. But we had to cut so much out. You talk
about director’s cuts- there’s so much I took out of this. Some of my favorite
songs got cut- watch out for the Director’s cut!
Thanks again to Darren Lynn Bousman &
Alexa Vega for being generous with their time, and to Michael Oliver Harding for
setting this up.