Frankenhooker (1990)

From the director that brought you "Brain Damage" and "Basket Case" comes another classic piece of comedy horror. Low budget, comedy horror, gore, over acting, imaginative, stupid, fun and brilliant. When Jeffrey's fiancé is killed in a tragic lawnmower accident his grief pushes him further into his scientific research to try and come up with a way to cheat her death. Experiments with "Supercrack" have mixed results, results however that he can still utilize in order to re-animate his girlfriend, as a Frankenhooker. Think you know the Frankenstein story? Watch this film and be prepared to re-imagine what you knew. If you like other 80/90's tongue in cheek OTT horror films you really won't be disappointing!!

Frank Henenlotter is famous for directing the Basket Case movies and Brain Damage, which is a fantastic, uncelebrated horror gem from the 1980's. I saw Frankenhooker recently, another of Henenlotter's cult films, and if you had a choice between seeing it and Brain Damage, I really couldn't recommend Brain Damage more. Plot: the girlfriend of a medical school dropout is killed in a freak lawnmower accident (oh, so it's a comedy) resulting in him resurrecting her by using the assembled body parts of hookers. Killing prostitutes for their "parts" could work, kind of, I guess, as a kind of social commentary. I guess. Women in prostitution are indeed objectified, as they sell their bodies (almost always out of desperation) for sexual consumption. But prostitution is a notoriously frightening and grim way to make money, so I found the entirety of the plot disgusting. A crude term for a prostitute is "street meat," which robs prostitutes of humanity, edging them towards the realms of disposable commodities: but they're human beings. With that in mind, the 'comedy' of this movie really doesn't carry through. The movie wants us to like Jeffrey, the med school dropout, and perhaps even sympathize with him (aw, c'mon, he just wants his girlfriend back) but my stomach turns thinking about him. Additionally, he's played by the actor James Lorinz, who continually and annoyingly mumbles his lines in a tedious New Jersey-esque accent. Oi!The way I see it, Frankenhooker has two things going for it. First is its seedy presentation. The city and the sets where Jeffrey hires his hookers are infested with smokey, drug-fumed gloom. At any moment you expect to see teams of cockroaches and other vermin peeling out from the walls. There's some terrific worldbuilding and atmosphere at work here.Second is the film's climax. I won't spoil anything, but I found it happily creepy, and perhaps even poetic--which are feelings horror fans pursue in their movies like heroin junkies chasing that first, initial high.But there is not one laugh to be had in Frankenhooker. It works more as an offbeat fantasy, and not an especially great one at that. Watch Brain Damage instead.

At the home of Jeffrey Franken (James Lorinz) an accident with a lawnmower leaves his fiancé Elizabeth Shelley (Patty Mullen) in pieces all over the garden. Medical school dropout Jeffrey steals her head and decides to use his knowledge to bring Elizabeth back to life, by acquiring body parts from local prostitutes, killing them using exploding crack cocaine. However, the project backfires on Jeffrey when Elizabeth turns into Frankenhooker! Elizabeth then embarks on a killing spree in New York, uttering phrases such as 'Wanna date?'With a limited budget, most of the special effects are rubbish. It isn't very funny, not erotic, not horrific. Just weird, mainly. The directing isn't that special either. The acting is poor, dialogue lazy and no-one seems to be taking control over the whole thing. Ultimately it's Patty Mullen who gives the most watchable performance here. She's really very good. Just a shame she didn't do another film. And it's because of her I give it 5.

Frankenhooker starts at the New Jersey home of Jeffrey Franken (James Lorinz) where at a birthday party a freak accident with a remote controlled lawnmower leaves his fiancé Elizabeth Shelley (Patty Mullen) in pieces all over the garden. Medical school dropout Jeffrey is devastated & decides to combine his medical & electrical knowledge to bring Elizabeth back to life, with only Elizabeth's head to work with Jeffrey has to find her a new body & decides to travel to times square in New York to pick up prostitutes in order to construct the perfect body for his beloved Elizabeth...Co-written & directed by Frank Henenlotter this horror comedy is quite enjoyable if your in the right mood, a silly mix of horror & sex Frankenhooker is fun if nothing else. The script is obviously a parody of the classic novel Frankenstein with Henenlotter's brand of bad taste humour & quirkiness the main thing going for it, from lawnmower accidents to exploding prostitutes to electrifying sex Frankenhooker is not the type of film for those with delicate moral sensibilities. Like a lot of films like Frankenhooker it's a mixed bag, some of the humour & crudeness works & it's occasionally amusing while at other times the jokes & gags fall a bit flat while horror aspect is also varied with some weak effects spoiling a few scenes. The character's are pretty cartoon like with the re-animated Elizabeth quoting prostitute pick up lines & Jeffrey inserting a drill into the back of his head for inspiration, as you do. Frankenhooker is quite likable & at only just over 80 minutes long the pace is decent & it doesn't outstay it's welcome but there are better horror comedies out there, watchable enough & positively amazing when compared to many modern day low budget horror films but I didn't love it or anything.There's plenty of female nudity & bare breasts on show even if some of the actresses who play the hookers aren't the best looking, to go with the nudity there's some gore as well including a couple of decapitations, some severed limbs, some blood splatter, some fake looking exploding prostitutes, a brain in a fish tank & a mangled mass of body parts that comes to life at the end. The final shock twist ending is sort of spoiled by the poor special effects but at least the makers tried to put as much on screen as they could even if they didn't have either the talent or budget to do their ideas justice. Apparently director Henenlotter improvised the pitch for Frankenhooker to a producer when his original didn't impress the money men, he has a small cameo as one of the passengers on the subway train.With a supposed budget of about $2,500,000 this was filmed in New York & some of the seedy nightlife locations add a certain dubious atmosphere. The acting is alright, no-one seems to be taking things seriously which is just as well although it's the Frankenhooker herself Patty Mullen who gives the most watchable performance here.Frankenhooker is a fun little horror comedy with plenty of sleaze & bad taste humour, it's not amazing or life changing but it is fun for what it is & I liked it well enough.