Hollywood director Darren Lynn Bousman has especially good reason to love Halloween. His past three movies, "Saw II," "Saw III" and "Saw IV" opened on All Hallows Eve and debuted at number one, he got engaged in mid-October as the pagan holiday approached and his new movie, "Repo! The Genetic Opera," debuts the week after Halloween.

Unlike the vicious boobytrap deathfests of the "Saw" series, "Repo!" is a mindwarped flick that combines graphic violence with a campy storyline, resulting in a rock n' roll musical that's part "Ichi the Killer" (Takashi Miike), part "Rocky Horror Picture Show." In the movie, people are dying from an epidemic of organ failures and a ruthless multi-billion dollar biotech company, GeneCo, discovers a way to benefit from the suffering by conducting organ transplants en-masse. If you think the current housing crisis is bad, picture a similar scenario with patients who default on their organ loans. And when the "organ repo men" drop in to extract what isn't paid for, things really get messy.

Throw in an insane ensemble cast that includes Broadway star Sarah Brightman ("The Phantom of the Opera"), Paris Hilton, Skinny Puppy singer Nivek Ogre, and veteran horror actor Bill Moseley ("House of 1000 Corpses," "The Devil's Rejects," "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2") and mix with absinthe until everything takes on a incandescent glow, and the absurd vision of "Repo!" starts to take form.

During our Halloween podcast interview, Bousman talks about why he turned down "Saw V" to direct "Repo!"; how he picked the cast; what happens when you put Paris Hilton in the same room with Ogre; what caused the actors to burst out in tears on set; and the headbanging soundtrack, which was performed by members of Korn, Filter, Slipknot and others.

Bousman also discusses how he got into horror, how a script he wrote earned him the "Saw II" gig, the value of plot over splatter, how far is too far when it comes to graphic violence, true crime exploitation movies like "Faces of Death" and "Traces of Death," why his "Saw" party was raided by a SWAT team and the influence of directors like Takashi Miike, Ruggero Deodato and Dario Argento. Fasten your straitjacket and click "more" to stream or download the bloodcurdling podcast. Read more...

What could Paris Hilton possibly have in common with Filter's frontman Richard Patrick, Slipknot percussionist Clown and Ozzy Osbourne bassist Blasko -- besides a taste for Paris' homemade porn, that is? They've all contributed to the wacko horror film songfest "Repo! The Genetic Opera," the soundtrack of which comes out September 30. The opera also features Broadway star Sarah Brightman, Paul Sorvino, "House of 1000 Corpses" actor Bill Mosely, ex-From First to Last singer Sonny Moore, Skinny Puppy screamer Nivek Ogre and more.

The production was written by Darren Smith and Terrence Zdunich ("Chain of Souls") and directed by "Saw" franchise writer and director Darren Lynn Bousman, who helmed a version of the rock opera when it opened as a stage play in Los Angeles in 2001. The show has also been performed in New York. Repo! "The Genetic Opera" takes place in the future at a time when a worldwide epidemic of organ failures devastates the planet. Out of the tragedy, a savior emerges: GENECO, a biotech company that offers organ transplants... for a price. And those who miss their payments are scheduled for repossession and hunted by The Repo Man. Click "more" to read a guest blog from Bousman and stream eight songs from the offbeat production, which is best described as a cross between "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and "Blade Runner." Read more...