Repo! Last Stop: Los Angeles

I am so tired at the moment so I apologize for any stupid grammatical mistakes I might/probably will make. I didn't get a lot of sleep on Friday because of good times with friends and Saturday because I was all hyped up to go see "Repo! The Genetic Opera" again.

I was not disappointed. I took two of my cousins who hadn't even heard of the movie with me to the Royal Theater that night. They're young ones, but they aren't sheltered at all. Most kids don't know about screenings and other stuff until much later. I'm starting their "education" now. I made them dress up since I did. Another friend helped out with make up and made me a latex scar and applied more to my hairline to make it look like my face was falling off. I put more make up on them than they'll wear in their entire lives and dyed their hair. I don't think they believed me about other people dressing up until we stepped out of the car and into the brisk, cold night air of Santa Monica. People were waiting in a line that wrapped along the building. Most were dressed up and I'd bet everyone was wearing black. Zydrate addicts, scalpel sluts, Repo men, and Genterns lined the sidewalks. The first person who caught my eye was Terrence Zdunich who was walking up and down it with a camera guy in tow. People burst into song and yelled all manner of fun vulgarities that only Repo! fans would get.

We didn't wait long outside before they herded us in and we rushed to get seats. It's always a pain to decide whether to sit in the back where the director and cast will be, or sacrifice and move to the front for better photos. I sacrificed so I apologize for the quality of the photos I shall be posting later. Fans were rushing up and down the isles. Darren Lynn Bousman, the director, was pacing in the front. The same camera man who had been following Terrence was running up and down the main isles, yelling at people to shout and generally trying to get the crowd into a frenzy. It didn't take a lot of effort.

Once everyone was seated, Spooky Dan from Bloody-Disgusting.com started off the night with his own "Puppet Zydrate Anatomny" short film. It was great! Is it so wrong to write that I got a little hot when the Repo Man puppet jumped the Grave Robber? Probably is, but I laughed and hollered like the rest of the crowd. Darren Bousman introduced the film and the cast. Paris Hilton and Alexa Vega had just been taking their seats. He then encouraged everyone to "be as loud as fucking possible!" Oh, I think LA showed we kick ass in that department. No song went unsung. No corny line was given mercy. I cracked up every time I heard Bousman or Zdunich shout something from 10 feet away from me.

"Dead man walking!"

"Fuck, that looked like it hurt!"

The only thing that bugged me that night was the group of bloody Buffy fans behind me... I really feel for actors who have obnoxious fans. I cringed every time I heard one of them shout "Giles!" when Anthony Head was on screen. Finally one of the chits shouted something during a rare quiet moment and didn't receive a laugh, but did get a couple of glares. They took the hint at last and shut up about Buffy. Really, it was all about Repo! that night.

My cousins loved the movie. I filled them in on who's who and stuff like that during the credits. The cast and crew did a wonderful Q&A afterwards. It made me appreciate again how ignorant and challenged mainstream critics are. This movie is really the "film that would just not die." Bousman, but especially Zdunich, and Smith are so passionate about this story. They lived with it for years. I say its a tragedy if this were just to fizzle out and die with out any prequels or sequels. It was mentioned the cast is all up for it but they need the financial backing.

At this point, I was going on two hours of sleep and needed to drive the primos back to my house. We lingered in the cramped lobby for about two minutes and then split. Somehow after getting onto the wrong freeway and passing by the pier at 1 am, we made it back to my house in one piece. We didn't sleep until 3 though. No one ever told me latex was such a bitch to take off, especially when it got into one's hair. I loved the Road Tour though, so it was worth it.

A Couple Treats...

A couple things have come to my attention in the past couple days since I'm back at work and able to read the news a lot more.

First thing up, Big Finish Productions have a couple new Dark Shadow audio dramas that they will be releasing. At the end of this month, they will be releasing "The Wicked and the Dead." I really can't stress on how well made and brilliant these things are. I have the first series and can listen to it straight through for hours. They are more entertaining than most of the television shows up there right now. The stories are classic "Dark Shadows" themes with all the darkness and macabre comedy there for any fan of horror. As a die hard fan, I love how the original actors have worked on these, some even coming out of retirement. John Karlen sounds the same as he did in the 60's! I can't wait to hear Jerry Lacy's voice as the evil witch hunter, Reverend Trask in this new installment.

Next thing up... "Repo! The Genetic Opera" is returning to Los Angeles! For one day only, it will be screening in Santa Monica on January 24th as part as the 3rd Tour director Darren Lynn Bousman and Writer Terrance Zdunich will be on hand presenting it and signing autographs. This article mentions the actors showing up, but it doesn't mention who, where, or when... Los Angles is a safe bet in my honest opinion to see at least a couple of the main cast. These showings have sold out very fast so get your tickets if you live in one of the cities they'll be visiting! If for some reason you've missed the other hundred blogs or reviews out there about "Repo!" read this one HERE. It's a very good one that expresses just the simple joys of this movie...

One more thing regarding "Repo!" that I have to add. Apparently it is the middle movie of a trilogy planned, but we'll just have to wait to know if the "prequel" and "sequel" will pan out. I'm always against sequels because they are never done right, but who knows, right? Yay for pep and optimism!