Review of "Repo Man"
REPO MAN (1984)
Directed by Alex Cox
Written by Alex Cox
Starring Harry Dean Stanton, Emilio Estevez, Tracey Walter, Olivia Barash, Sy Richardson and Susan Barnes
This film is set in Los Angeles and centres around teenage punk Otto (Estevez) who quits his job stacking shelves in a supermarket and quickly finds himself recruited by car repossessor (or “Repo Man”) Bud (Stanton) to help him repossess a car and soon ends up being drawn into the murky world of car repossessing. It turns out that there is a $20,000 reward for a 1964 Chevrolet Malibu, which is being driven around by a lobotomised nuclear scientist, and is being searched for by a group of professional car thieves, some dim-witted street punks, a group of sinister government agents led by a woman with a metal hand (Barnes) and a group of UFO conspiracy theorists. What they are all after is the deadly secret that is contained in the Malibu’s trunk, a glowing white light which disintegrates anyone that looks at it and seems to be having some very strange effects on the surrounding city.
This bizarre blend of comedy, science-fiction and punk was not successful at all in it’s original run in cinemas but became a huge cult hit on video. The film is fast, funny and exciting, it also makes more sense then a brief plot summary may appear. Sometimes the background is almost more interesting then the events in the foreground, for example in the course of the film Los Angeles seems to be crumbling before the viewer’s eyes, the packaging is devoid of any brand names (just white and blue boxes, cans and tins with labels reading simply “BEER”, “DRINK”, “FOOD” or “CORN-FLAKES”) and on the soundtrack there are voices of radio and TV announcing strange and violent events. The film depicts a violent decaying urban landscape full of cynicism and casual brutality, but beneath it all there is a kind of playful anarchy. Another interesting touch in the film is the fact that all of the Repo Men are named after beers (Bud, Miller, Lite etc). Despite the fact that the film is over twenty years old now it hasn’t dated much at all. Fans of early 1980s American punk will enjoy the soundtrack. This is a true original and well worth checking out.
Eight out of ten.
Directed by Alex Cox
Written by Alex Cox
Starring Harry Dean Stanton, Emilio Estevez, Tracey Walter, Olivia Barash, Sy Richardson and Susan Barnes
This film is set in Los Angeles and centres around teenage punk Otto (Estevez) who quits his job stacking shelves in a supermarket and quickly finds himself recruited by car repossessor (or “Repo Man”) Bud (Stanton) to help him repossess a car and soon ends up being drawn into the murky world of car repossessing. It turns out that there is a $20,000 reward for a 1964 Chevrolet Malibu, which is being driven around by a lobotomised nuclear scientist, and is being searched for by a group of professional car thieves, some dim-witted street punks, a group of sinister government agents led by a woman with a metal hand (Barnes) and a group of UFO conspiracy theorists. What they are all after is the deadly secret that is contained in the Malibu’s trunk, a glowing white light which disintegrates anyone that looks at it and seems to be having some very strange effects on the surrounding city.
This bizarre blend of comedy, science-fiction and punk was not successful at all in it’s original run in cinemas but became a huge cult hit on video. The film is fast, funny and exciting, it also makes more sense then a brief plot summary may appear. Sometimes the background is almost more interesting then the events in the foreground, for example in the course of the film Los Angeles seems to be crumbling before the viewer’s eyes, the packaging is devoid of any brand names (just white and blue boxes, cans and tins with labels reading simply “BEER”, “DRINK”, “FOOD” or “CORN-FLAKES”) and on the soundtrack there are voices of radio and TV announcing strange and violent events. The film depicts a violent decaying urban landscape full of cynicism and casual brutality, but beneath it all there is a kind of playful anarchy. Another interesting touch in the film is the fact that all of the Repo Men are named after beers (Bud, Miller, Lite etc). Despite the fact that the film is over twenty years old now it hasn’t dated much at all. Fans of early 1980s American punk will enjoy the soundtrack. This is a true original and well worth checking out.
Eight out of ten.