Are 'Repo!' and 'The Room' Really 'Rocky Horror' 2.0?
Filed under: Comedy, Horror, Independent, Music & Musicals, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, Fantastic Fest
Since last September, at Fantastic Fest, it became immediately apparent that Repo! The Genetic Opera was due for a cult following, and a successful roadshow run last November and December seemed to confirm as much. I wasn't the biggest fan of Darren Lynn Bousman's goth-rock horror musical at the time, and don't exactly see myself giving it another look any time soon, but when its DVD release hasn't prevented fans from organizing summer screenings with shadow casts far and wide, it's futile to deny that it has at least an audience beyond home video and into the realm of true theatrical cultdom.Meanwhile, the sheer sloppiness of Tommy Wiseau's infamous The Room has it similarly garnering underground popularity. I settled for seeing it on Cartoon Network when Adult Swim aired it as their idea of an April Fool's joke, and it became much more of a chore to sit through than I could've possibly imagined (and it's not like the constant commercial breaks weren't helping).
Would it have been much better with a crowd? I couldn't say, as the appeal hasn't quite reached Central Florida yet, but I ask: just because a film has reached the ranks of something like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, does that mean it truly deserves to? What are your personal criteria for a proper cult classic? What's your fondest memory of audience partici... pation, and what other films do you feel stand to join the ranks of the modern midnight movie that maybe haven't quite crept up on the ol' cultural radar just yet?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-03-2009 @ 10:05PM
Senatorwhoopass said...
Are you kidding? I didn't catch the TV edit of 'The Room' but I've seen it once in the theater and over a dozen times at home. It just keeps getting better. It's lightning in bottle; a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters couldn't create as beautiful a trainwreck.
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6-03-2009 @ 10:05PM
Bob Foster said...
Isn't going to happen. I happen to be one of those freaks geeks and assorted weirdos who perform in the RHPS shadowcasts.
The Repo! marketing people have been actively trying to MAKE it into the next Rocky Horror - having a hand in making shadowcasts for it and posting to RHPS sites and messageboards, emailing casts and the like. There have been a few casts of Repo but buy n large the RHPS crowd has rejected Repo and treats it as a joke.
At the latest RHPS Convention in Cincinnati last month whenever Repo came up - it was followed by a large amount of boos and negativity (although there were many who were fans).
You can't manufacture cult, and they are trying to do so.
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6-24-2009 @ 10:52AM
Kathy said...
"You can't manufacture cult, and they are trying to do so."
Very, very true. The initial release of "Shock Treatment" proved that.
Fox released it as a midnight movie only, hired people to reinact it from the first showing...did everything except stand up in the theater and scream "We're doing everything we can to get your money with this!"
Part of why RHPS became a "cult" film was - besides being a funny and fun film - because the studio buried it when the first Broadway production wasn't a big hit. It felt like some dirty little secret they'd uncovered. And the intial RHPS audiences were the last of Anti-Establishmentism as the Yuppies took over. "Shock Treatment" showing up with the studio's seal of approval doomed it from day one.
(and those of you who think it was a bad movie - go back and look at it now in context of reality TV, Dr. Phil and corporations owning media outlets - "Shock Treatment" a musical version of "Network")
As far as cult movies go, I'd rather see a live interactive performance grow around "Phantom of the Paradise" or an Ed Wood film than anything that gave Paris Hilton a bit part.
And for those who haven't heard...Rifftrax (.com) have done a Riff of "The Room". Pretty funny stuff. The stuff they do to avoid commenting on the sex scenes is tough for a first timer - they built them around a "character" that you'd understand if you'd seen previous Rifftraxs. So it may seem like you're listening to a mini version of "The Room" then... :-)
6-03-2009 @ 10:05PM
Chelsea said...
Of the two, I think THE ROOM has the greater likelihood of becoming the next ROCKY HORROR. As Bob Foster observed, the REPO producers are crying like spanked children to be seen as the next ROCKY, and no amount of trying to convince an audience that the film is the next ROCKY will make it so. Plus, the songs aren't as good as the ROCKY songs were.
By contrast, THE ROOM -- which is by any definition a horrendously awful picture -- has become a sensation because an audience has made it, not the creators or the distributors. It lacks the charm of ROCKY, but because the audience has made it a hit, it's more authentic and has more appeal.
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6-03-2009 @ 10:38PM
MCW said...
Arg! Why didn't you tell me The Room was going to be on TV?! I wanted to see it, since there's no other way...
Anyway, the closest thing I've experienced to audience participation is the raucous laughter, screams and gasps while watching Drag Me to Hell in the theater recently. Sure, the audience didn't throw plastic spoons at the screen or anything, but everyone just had a great shared time --- something I haven't experienced in many many years at the theater.
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6-03-2009 @ 10:40PM
William Goss said...
I didn't find out until it had already started... :(
6-03-2009 @ 10:47PM
MCW said...
That's OK, bro. If you see it's showing on TV some other time, be sure to brief us! I suppose it's only in LA theaters... I read about it in Entertainment Weekly a while back, but haven't heard much else. I just know there's no DVD freely available of it, and I don't think I'd ever pay to see it.
I assumed it would get a Foot Fist Way-like DVD release with all the celebrity support behind it... I think I read that Paul Rudd takes everyone he meets to see it.
6-18-2009 @ 7:01PM
brian said...
go buy it on amazon its like 8 bucks
6-18-2009 @ 7:06PM
MCW said...
Or you could perhaps send me your copy (If you have one), brian, and I'll watch it and send it back to you. Would that be cool? If so, my website is in my profile here... you can easily contact me through there.
6-04-2009 @ 1:30AM
maestro610 said...
I'm going to have to disagree with several people here regarding the idea that Repo the Genetic Opera's fandom is manufactured, false or completely rejected by the RHPS community.
I have been a RHPS fan for many years and became involved with many casts in both NYC and NJ. I am someone who remembers when Reefer Madness came out and heard the grumblings then from members of the Rocky community when there were rumors of shadow casts for that flick. I know The Rich Weirdos even managed to perform it in Orlando and heard the ridiculous things people in Rocky fandom said about them.
The minute I heard of the existence of Repo the Genetic Opera, years ago when Shawnee Smith and Darren Lynn Bousman made a short form of the flick for Lion's Gate investors, I knew I'd love it. A rock opera featuring the removal of organs because you're late on your payments is so brilliant another movie studio stole the idea and decided to put Jude Law and Forest Whitaker in it. So there is something to this thing.
I think the hang up with some members of the RHPS community is short memories. I saw Repo opening weekend in NYC to a sold out theatre in the Anjelika, I've since been to the Road Tour stop in NJ, and the first shadow cast was performed about 10 minutes from my house at a convention.
I have sat with members of the cast and crew to discuss the film, Paris Hilton, Hollywood in general and other projects they're working on. I have been to fan produced screenings and gatherings of Repo fans working on costumes. I also have watched as one of my best friends and a very prominent member of the local Rocky cast has become a Repo Addict. In all I've seen it over a dozen times in public forums.
This experience sounds very familiar to me and I don't mean other Repo fans. I mean its the kinds of things I've heard people like Madman Mike talk about when he first saw Shock Treatment and countless others talk about when they first saw Rocky Horror. The problem is no one was mad that people weren't going to see whatever other midnight movies there were at the time (The Harder They Come or El Topo), they weren't losing castmates and fans to something, hell even when Shock Treatment happened it worked around the Rocky schedule.
I know that around here when Repo was doing well in the City and there was a local tour stop... that local Rocky casts saw surges in audience members. I know the cold reaction Repo fans got from some at Rocky... and I also know that when there are Repo events scheduled on the same night Repo will definitely pull from Rocky's attendance. I know this because I see the people there with me at the shows who go to the RHPS. The Rocky community needs to understand that this flick is not trying to destroy it... in fact most Repo fans started with RHPS and would love for them to work together. The issues arise when the new audience brought about as purely Repo fans aren't along for the RHPS ride.
I've seen Repo fans reach out to Rocky casts to get help booking theatres and promoting shows... I've seen what happens when they're not interested in following established Rocky Horror hierarchy for things like parts and costuming. It doesn't have to be this big thing but many who consider themselves major members of the Rocky Community don't want to lose standing to these new kids dressing up in weird costumes, singing loudly and shouting at the screen. As such I haven't been back much and that local Rocky Horror cast has found themselves with some defections, they're letting members of the audience jump on stage in the coming weeks to act out the parts b/c of lack of available cast. Meanwhile finding space in a Repo cast in the area is pretty damn hard.
Does any of this mean Repo will make the many hundreds of millions of dollars Rocky has made over the past 30 years, of course not. Is it actually the first real contender... absolutely. Does that mean they cannot coexist well that's up to the two groups to decide. I have to say this... thinking of RHPS as the "establishment" was something I never thought I'd see in life. The idea that the new kids are going to be beholden to Rocky and just some day watch it and "come around" is a very old fashioned idea. If you don't adjust you break... I know some of these 16 17 18 year olds that usually end up as Rocky virgins are now never going to be and without that the movie will eventually die. Making room for them would likely do more for RH over time than simply shunning them as non existent or as non starters. They exist and the rabidity of these kids and the defectors hasn't been quelling its been growing. Let them have it, work with them to schedule double bookings and you'll see both fandoms coexist... fight them and people like me will have to make a choice and if that's the case I'm going to pick Repo.
Also... not trying to that guy but I'd worry more about the upcoming Rocky Horror Picture Show remake as a threat than I would Repo but that's just me.
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6-04-2009 @ 10:46AM
The Addict said...
With an ad campaign with quotes such as "Move over, Richard O'Brien," and the film being booked almost exclusively in Rocky Horror theaters at midnight the night that Rocky is usually shown, how can you possibly say this is not an attempt to throw Rocky right out the door?
I'm the cast head of the JCCP out in Pittsburgh and know people in the Pittsburgh Repo cast. I know that they've been getting help from the filmmakers, at least a little bit. I know that other casts have been financed by these filmmakers as well. When's the last time 20th Century Fox dropped a dime on Rocky Horror, short of merchandising or a convention where they can charge fans up the ass to capitalize on a thirty year old phenomena?
I've seen Repo twice now - once to see it, in hopes it was truly awesome after seeing the kick ass teaser from that SpikeTV awards show a year and a half ago, then once again to see if it was really as awful as I remembered. With that kind of a concept, I thought "I must have been stupefied by how good 'Let the Right One In' was (which I saw right before seeing Repo) that it can't be that bad, right?" It was that bad.
Sure there are people that actually like Repo, but there are also people who think that "Howard the Duck" is a masterpiece; just don't make it so. We, the majority of the Rocky Horror community, at least the vocal ones about this kind of thing, hate Repo not so much because it's a shitty film, but because the marketing department for it comes on OUR message boards, bashes OUR film, and says how freaking great they are. If Repo was destined for greatness, the fans would embrace it on their own. But really, the number of people that have embraced this film are about the same number that embraced Shock Treatment on its initial release, or that embraced the freaking Scorpion King. Yeah, now you know the numbers I'm talking about.
And as for the Rocky Horror remake? The one coming out in October? That hasn't started production and was set to go straight to MTV anyway? Yeah, kinda like Repo, it shouldn't even be a blip on our radar, but people are making it out to be this big bad threat. They want a RH remake? Give it to the fans and let them give people something they really want - the old movie to be left alone by Darren Bousman's shitty entourage.
6-04-2009 @ 2:43AM
Senatorwhoopass said...
The Room is available at Amazon. Well worth nine bucks, even without the theater full of hecklers.
http://www.amazon.com/Juliette-Danielle-Sestero-Haldiman-Carolyn/dp/B000CFYAMC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1244097741&sr=8-1
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6-04-2009 @ 7:13PM
Jewish Dave said...
all you have to do is go to one of "The Room" monthly screenings in Hollywood to understand why YES, "The Room" will be right up there with rocky horror one day. repo on the other hand is too manufactured to be a true cult classic. the room just is what it is and is wonderful for that. every time you watch it you'll find something new to love and it will make you wonder how you lived your life without that little tidbit of information buried in your subconscience... best movie ever...
and on a side note, not to BRAG or anything... but i really was there from one of the very first screenings, years ago when Tommy Wiseau showed the room at a film festival here in las vegas, way back before it was even on dvd. i was walking through the theatre on my way to an animated shorts screening and out of nowhere stepped this vampire looking man (wiseau) telling me to come see his movie instead because it will show me things about life i didn't already know and that he spent "2 million dollars on the score" ... it was one of the highlights of my life :-)
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6-05-2009 @ 11:03AM
Stunbunny said...
The Room is definitely a marathon, not a sprint. It's also best endured with lots of sick, like-minded people and booze.
Might I suggest for future drunken-theater-filled cult status: Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, featuring Deborah "Debbie" Gibson and Lorenzo Llamas!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa7ck5mcd1o
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6-05-2009 @ 5:44PM
Jeff said...
Hedwig!
I couldn't make it halfway through Repo. I couldn't tell if it was trying to be serious or not, with the awful singing, lyrics, and sound mixing.
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6-07-2009 @ 10:34PM
Rich said...
Darren Bousman and Terrance Zdunich have both stated that they were never trying to bump RHPS. The problems between to two seem to be coming more from the fans. Some RHPS fans love REPO and some hate it, going to the extent of making shirts that express their disgust.
I think part of the issue that that RHPS fans are angry because RPHS grew to cult status in a time when all they really had was word-of-mouth to promote the movie. Now, REPO has the advantage of the Interent to get the word out. Add campaigns like those "The Addict" stated are probably coming from the fans.
DLB has stated a number of times, that he was never trying to make REPO into RHPS and encouraged REPO fans to embrace RHPS despite the RHPS fans who are angry at REPO.
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6-13-2009 @ 2:20PM
Bogeybo said...
I am first and foremost a repo fan, but i love rocky horror. All the people that are around my age (16) started with either show, but saw the other soon after. I started with repo, saw rocky the next week. I've yet to meet one repo fan with hostility towards the rhps community...not one. But I have met several people who started with rhps in the 70's that are bitter that a new show is out there competing with them. You know what? If you hate the film that much, Dont see it and stop bitching. Maybe advertise your show that much more, and bring in a larger crowd, and instead of shunning the fans of repo that go to rhps showings, embrace them, or they wont want to go anymore.
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6-22-2009 @ 10:44PM
XyberDAWG said...
I love RHPS. We watch it at our local theatre, The angela in Coaldale, PA. My friends and Family who have seen Repo (And all are RHPS fans). Have been trying to get a small shadowcast running to coincide with RHPS. We want to keep our shadowcast low budget to keep in line with the RHPS cast. And hopefully if we do well, enough we want to be able to have Repo/RHPS double features every so often with both performed by shadowcasts. I think the two have a good chance of thriving off of each other.
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