Repo Man (1984)

Directed by Alex Cox. Starring Emilio Estevez, Harry Dean Stanton, Olivia Barash, Tracey Walter, Fox Harris, Vonetta McGee, Sy Richardson, Dick Rude, Jennifer Balgobin, Miguel Sandoval, Susan Barnes, Richard Foronjy. [R]

Scuzzy delinquent Estevez is recruited by Stanton to join his car repossession agency, which sends him on a quest to find a Chevrolet Malibu driven by Harris that has a trunk that emits a blinding light that can vaporize a person down to their smoking boots. Bizarro punk-sci-fi-comedy-adventure is a renowned cult item for good reason; too shapeless to ever really come together, making it far less than the sum of its parts, but most of those parts are pretty wild. Smartly cast, from the featured stars to the bit players, with a particularly memorable turn from lovably weary cynic Stanton. Soundtrack is loaded with punk rock music, including the title track written by Iggy Pop; the Circle Jerks make a cameo performance. Followed twenty-five years later by an indirect sequel from director Cox called Repo Chick.

69/100