A young punk recruited by a car repossession agency finds himself in pursuit of a Chevrolet Malibu that is wanted for a $20,000 bounty - and has something otherworldly stashed in its trunk.
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Frustrated punk rocker Otto quits his supermarket job after slugging a co-worker, and is later dumped by his girlfriend at a party. Wandering the streets in frustration, he is recruited in the repossession of a car by a repo agent. After discovering his parents have donated his college fund to a televangelist, he joins the repossession agency (Helping Hand Acceptance Corporation) as an apprentice "repo man". During his training, he is introduced into the mercenary and paranoid world of the drivers, befriended by a UFO conspiracy theorist, confronted by rival repo agents, discovers some of his one-time friends have turned to a life of crime, is lectured to near cosmic unconsciousness by the repo agency grounds worker, and finds himself entangled in a web of intrigue concerning a huge repossession bounty on a 1964 Chevy Malibu driven by a lunatic government scientist, with Top Secret cargo in the trunk.Written by
Baroque <gopher_baroque@hotmail.com>
Meet Otto. He's a clean-cut kid in a dirty business. He's a Repo Man. He steals cars legally. Now, he's out to repossess a '64 Chevy Malibu...with an amazing reward of $20,000. But Otto is not alone. There are others who want the car and will do anything to get it. The risks are great, because hidden in the trunk is something so incredible it could destroy them all. We'll give you a hint... it glows in the dark. See more »
Dave Schaffer noticed that Alex Cox didn't have his own car, and suggested that he use the Malibu as his personal transportation, saving Schaffer the effort of having to assign a Teamster to look after it. One evening, Cox drove the Malibu to the Edge City offices in Venice to confront his producers about Muller and the slow filming pace. While they were lost in spirited conversation, the Malibu was stolen. Scenes involving the car were rescheduled and the Teamsters mounted a frantic search to find a similar car. Eventually, one was found, and technical experts worked on it to make it resemble the stolen vehicle. Just as they got done doing so, the old Malibu was found abandoned in Riverdale. A silver lining was that they now had two 'hero cars'. See more »
Goofs
Reflected in the glass above the door before Otto leaves the market for the second time. See more »
The 'current' UK video version (released by Universal) has masked the camera tracks visible in the scene leading up to the store robbery. These tracks WERE visible in the CIC video version (released in the mid-80s). See more »
This is NOT a film that the average film viewer will love. Many will be alienated because of the film's strong language and rather amoral characters. Many will be alienated because the film is so strange and,....well, strange! But, if you have a high tolerance for these factors, then you'll no doubt have a great time watching this cult classic. Just be prepared--this is PROBABLY NOT a film for grandma and the kiddies! In addition to very harsh language, there is drug use, sex (though you don't see anything) and violence galore.
The film almost defies description, though I'll try. Emelio Estevez stars as a rather low-key guy who falls into the job of repossessing cars. And, once he takes the job, he finds that the subculture is bizarre. In fact, the people he works for are the most motley crew of freaks you could imagine. And, into the midst of this group of freaks comes a plot about stolen alien corpses and a car trunk that vaporizes anyone who opens it!! Heck, I won't even bother continuing...suffice to say it's just weird.
Overall, while the acting and script occasionally fall flat, the film is funny, twisted and never fails to surprise--particularly the hallucinogenic ending! In addition, the film has a great sound track--one of the best I've heard. It's full of punk music AND retro 50s rifts that I particularly loved. Who would have thought I would have liked music from the likes of Iggy Pop and The Plugz?! Plus, if you really like the tunes, you can buy the special edition which comes with the movie on DVD and a music CD as well.
By the way, as you are watching here are a couple interesting things to note. The food in the movie is all in generic-style containers and say 'food', 'beer' and the like. Also, note when the one punk is dying--listen to his death speech--it's a classic!
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This is NOT a film that the average film viewer will love. Many will be alienated because of the film's strong language and rather amoral characters. Many will be alienated because the film is so strange and,....well, strange! But, if you have a high tolerance for these factors, then you'll no doubt have a great time watching this cult classic. Just be prepared--this is PROBABLY NOT a film for grandma and the kiddies! In addition to very harsh language, there is drug use, sex (though you don't see anything) and violence galore.
The film almost defies description, though I'll try. Emelio Estevez stars as a rather low-key guy who falls into the job of repossessing cars. And, once he takes the job, he finds that the subculture is bizarre. In fact, the people he works for are the most motley crew of freaks you could imagine. And, into the midst of this group of freaks comes a plot about stolen alien corpses and a car trunk that vaporizes anyone who opens it!! Heck, I won't even bother continuing...suffice to say it's just weird.
Overall, while the acting and script occasionally fall flat, the film is funny, twisted and never fails to surprise--particularly the hallucinogenic ending! In addition, the film has a great sound track--one of the best I've heard. It's full of punk music AND retro 50s rifts that I particularly loved. Who would have thought I would have liked music from the likes of Iggy Pop and The Plugz?! Plus, if you really like the tunes, you can buy the special edition which comes with the movie on DVD and a music CD as well.
By the way, as you are watching here are a couple interesting things to note. The food in the movie is all in generic-style containers and say 'food', 'beer' and the like. Also, note when the one punk is dying--listen to his death speech--it's a classic!