Paris Hilton debuts new film in Las Vegas

By Melissa Arseniuk

Friday, Nov. 7, 2008 | 12:20 p.m.

Paris Hilton may have launched her acting career with a scandalous sex tape but her latest foray into the world of legitimate film made its Las Vegas debut Thursday at Planet Hollywood.

A handful of other “Repo the Genetic Opera” stars – Alexa Vega (“Spy Kids”), Kevin Ogilvie (a.k.a. Nivek Ogre from the industrial rock band Skinny Puppy), and Bill Moseley (“Halloween,” “Grindhouse”) – joined Hilton on the red carpet.

Good Charlotte guitarist Benji Madden was also there to support his girlfriend of nearly a year.

A special post-screening soirée was held across the casino floor at Privé nightclub, where the stars mixed and mingled after the show.

“Repo” opens Friday at eight theaters nationwide, including Brenden Theatres at the Palms.

In addition to its limited theatrical release, a post-premiere promotional “Repo road tour” will begin Nov. 10. During the tour, director Darren Lynn Boysman (“Saw”) will visit seven cities in seven days, starting Monday with Portland, Ore.

New York and L.A. aren’t on the docket, but the tour will visit Seattle, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Orlando and Chicago before it’s through.

“Repo” was born in 2002 as a 10-minute skit on the L.A. club circuit before being rehatched on the East Coast as an off-Broadway theatrical production.

Its latest incarnation, “Repo” the full-length feature, emerges to stand in “Rocky Horror Picture Show’s” considerable shadow.

Hilton has a supporting role in the film and plays a so-called “scalpel slut” whose face eventually falls off after repeated alterations.

The film is a gory, graphic-novel-meets-exaggerated-musical that’s not for the faint of heart or discerning film aficionado.