Repo Man (1984)

Director:

Alex Cox

Writer:

Alex Cox (written by)

Release Date:

2 March 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Sci-Fi | Action

Tagline:

A repo man is always intense... but only a fool gets killed for a car.

Plot:

Young punk Otto becomes a repo man after helping to steal a car, and stumbles into a world of wackiness as a result.

Plot Keywords:

Experiment Gone Wrong | Torture | Cult Favorite | Repossession | X Rayed Skeleton

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Harry Dean Stanton	...	Bud
Emilio Estevez	...	Otto
Tracey Walter	...	Miller
Olivia Barash	...	Leila
Sy Richardson	...	Lite
Susan Barnes	...	Agent Rogersz
Fox Harris	...	J. Frank Parnell
Tom Finnegan	...	Oly
Del Zamora	...	Lagarto
Eddie Velez	...	Napo
Zander Schloss	...	Kevin
Jennifer Balgobin	...	Debbi
Dick Rude	...	Duke
Miguel Sandoval	...	Archie (as Michael Sandoval)
Vonetta McGee	...	Marlene

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

New Zealand:R | USA:R (Approved No. 27271) | Argentina:18 | Australia:MA (cable rating) | Australia:R (original rating) | Finland:K-15 (re-rating) (2003) | Finland:K-18 (original rating) | UK:18 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Edge City

Trivia:

The maps shown in the opening credits are presented in geographic sequence. The car is apparently driving from Los Alamos, New Mexico (site of an actual U.S. Government weapons research lab), traveling west through the towns of Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Grants, Gallup, Ramah, and through the Zuni Indian Reservation into Arizona, through St. Johns (down US Highway 666), Winslow, Flagstaff, Williams, Ask Fork, Kingman, and then into California, where the car is shown as being outside of the town of Needles, about 240 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Otto's mouth when he asks Duke when he got out of the slammer.

Quotes:

Otto: Bud, listen to me, you're sitting in a car worth $20,0000 dollars. Look, if we turn it in, we'll slipt the money, 60/40, you and me.
Bud: [Laughs] Who gets the 60 kid?
Otto: Well, I was figuring, since I found the car first that...
Bud: [Pulls out a gun]
Otto: That you get it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Futurama: Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV (#5.15)" (2003)

Soundtrack:

When the Shit Hits the Fan

Repo Man's got all night, every night!

I've seen this movie more times than I know. Fifty at least, since I was able to find a copy two years ago. And I still don't know what it all means. But I sure do love it anyways.

I suppose Repo Man was one of those essentials in the catalogue of must see punk movies. I think that's where I first heard of it, as a punk science fiction movie. That explains why it's such a crazy movie.

Emilio Esteves is down and out suburban punker Otto, wasting away in his little town with no way out. He just got fired from his crappy price tag job at some hoser supermarket. His girlfriend dumps him and hooks up with newly released convict, Duke, who, along with a punker named Archie make a hobby out of robbing stores. Plus, his friend Kevin is a total nerd. And his parents, perpetually brain dead from overexposure to the tv preachers, gave away the money they promised him, which would've helped him get out that dump.

Bud (played by super duper Harry Dean Stanton), a Repo Man, turns Otto on to the dangerous business of reposessing cars, which then becomes Otto's new occupation and introduction to some pretty crazy sh!t. Aside from dodging bullets by angry debtors and the fierce competition among the Repo Men to obtain a high stakes Chevy Malibu, Otto is also turned on to some UFO conspiracies as weird scientists go searching for extra terrestrials. That town Otto lives in is one crazy place. There's a lot going on, but it is so wierd, that it actually turns out to be good.

If you like punk culture movies, this is definitely one to try out. Plus, you get a slamming soundtrack with most of the songs performed by the Stooges and the Circle Jerks. The Jerks also appear as the lounge act in the bar, and the guy who plays Kevin, Zander Schloss, later joins the Jerks.