Repo Man/Fun Facts

The Special Edited for TV Version

• As a common TV watcher, Director Alex Cox was familiar with the use of editing and overdubbing for the purpose of deleting gratuitous violence and offensive language. So he created a special edited for TV version of Repo Man himself. By using crazy words, in place of the swears, Cox made an even wackier version of Repo Man than the actual R rated film. Some examples of the dialogue he changed is as follows: "Fuck You Motherfucker" became "Flip You Melonfarmer". "Fuck Off Queer" became "Shove Off Pervert". "Doesn't mean shit" became "Doesn't mean zilch". These slight changes might sound relatively tame, but in the context of the movie, they add yet another layer of zaniness to an already bizarre film.

Repo Facts

• A cameo by the LA punk band The Circle Jerks (the band Otto "can't believe he used to like.") at a club singing a lounge version of their punk song "When The Shit Hits The Fan".

• Musician Jimmy Buffett has a small part as one of the Federal agents in the film.

• The generic supermarket product brands that simply say: FOOD, DRINK.

• All the repo men (except Otto) are named after beers.

• All cars (plus the police motorcycle) have X-Mas tree air fresheners. The company that makes the "xmas tree" air fresheners was one of the sponsors of the movie.

• The Repo Man's code is a parody of Isaac Asimov's "Laws of Robotics". The man who drives around with the dead aliens in his car resembles Asimov.

• Allusions to William S. Burroughs 'novel "Naked Lunch": "Paging Dr Benway" in the hospital and mentioning Bill Lee.

• Otto's co-worker (Kevin) at the supermarket sings the jingle for 7-Up just before Mr. Humphries fires them. Later at Mr. Humphries' house, Kevin can be seen in the background, adjusting a TV set that's playing a 7-Up commercial.

• Miller talks about the cosmic unconsciousness: "You'll be thinking about a plate of shrimp, and all of a sudden someone will say plate, or shrimp, or plate of shrimp." Later, the two Latinos who've stolen the "Asimov" car park outside a diner which features a huge sign in one of its windows reading: PLATE O' SHRIMP $2.95.

• Graffiti behind the punks dancing in the alley says "Circle Jerks", which is the name of the band which appears later in the film.

• Lite gives Otto a book called "DIORETIX" to "help change your life". This is a reference to L. Ron Hubbard's "Dianetics".

• When the entourage enters Bud's hospital room looking for him, the preacher on the television can be heard saying "He has risen!"

• The movie was made by "edge city productions" - edge city is a recurring theme in 'Wolfe, Tom' 's "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test". The destination placard on the bus that Otto takes back to his folks' house reads "Edge City". Edge City, the name of this film's production. It is also the U.S. title of director Alex Cox's first film, Sleep is for Sissies (1980).

• Director Cameo: [Alex Cox] on a bench watching the Rodriguez brothers steal a car.

• Producer Michael Nesmith can be seen briefly on TV in the repo office in an ad for "Art Remnants," a segment from his movie Elephant Parts (1981).

• In addition to his appearance on a TV screen in the "Art Remenents" segment, Executive Producer Michael Nesmith has a non-speaking cameo as the Rabbi who approaches the glowing Malibu with Reverend Larry.

• Zander Schloss , who plays Kevin the Nerd, ended up joining the punk band "The Circle Jerks" after production ended.

• 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), travelling 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 tge car is shown as being outside of the town of Needles, about 240 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

• When Leila is talking to the scientist J. Frank Parnell in the phone booth and he's on the scrambler all Leila can hear is gibberish. This is because he's actually talking backwards but even when played backwards its hard to make out what he is saying. The scrambled voice is actually someone reciting a poem from Alice in Wonderland.

• When filming began, they only had one 1964 Chevy Malibu. It was stolen a couple of days into filming, forcing the film crew to scramble to find a replacement. Shortly after finding a replacement, the original was recovered by the police undamaged. This was fortunate timing because about a day later Fox Harris (who plays the driver of the car: J Frank Parnell) severely damaged one of the Malibus by accidentally plowing it into a gasoline pump! In the carwash scene, one of the gas pumps is clearly severely dented up and this is the pump Fox plowed into in a previous take.