In 1984, first-time director Alex Cox unleashed upon an unsuspecting public one of the weirdest, most brilliant indie movies ever made. If you think of the Eighties in terms of John Hughes and Cameron Crowe teen movies, Repo Man is like the crazy hot punk guy who crashed the prom, spiked the punch, and threw a grenade into the Teacher’s Lounge…in other words, it’s the coolest movie ever. And now there’s going to be a sequel.
Well, technically it’s Sequel Number Two, if you count the graphic novel version, Waldo’s Hawaiian Holiday, written by Cox and illustrated by Chris Bones and Justin Randall, which came out in March 2008. Either way, I have no idea what to think about this. David Lynch is apparently producing, which could be a great sign. But how the hell do you make a sequel, twenty-five years later, to the trippy mishmash of William Burroughs references and the L.A. punk scene, film noir and Plates of Shrimp, aliens, beer, and pre-Mighty Ducks Emilio Estevez that made the original so…well, original?
According to Cox, the new movie will “unfold against the background of the credit crunch and the subprime mortgage crisis in the US, where repossessions of homes, cars and other forms of property is at a new high.” Also, there’s a female lead, apparently, since the film, which is scheduled to begin filming in January, is titled Repo Chick.
I don’t know. I’m nervous, but also kind of excited to see what Cox comes up with. My biggest question, though, is about the soundtrack: how can the sequel even attempt to match the original in terms of music, when it remains one of my favorite soundtracks of all time? Iggy Pop, Suicidal Tendencies, Black Flag, The Plugz, and The Circle Jerks…the music is the heart and soul of Repo Man, and perfectly captured the essence of the gritty Los Angeles punkdom of the time. Not that there’s not a ton of great music out there, but what really compares nowadays? At least Iggy’s still out there rocking, same as he ever was, but it will be interesting to see who else will help Cox fuel his anarchic punk vision all over again…
