Frankenhooker (1990)

A medical student sets out to recreate his decapitated fiancée by building her a new body made of Manhattan street prostitutes.

Director:

Frank Henenlotter

Writers:

Robert Martin, Frank Henenlotter

Stars:

James Lorinz, Joanne Ritchie, Patty Mullen

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Lorinz	...	Jeffrey
Joanne Ritchie	...	Mrs. Shelley
Patty Mullen	...	Elizabeth
J.J. Clark	...	Mr. Shelley
C.K. Steefel	...	Dolores (as Carissa Channing)
Shirl Bernheim	...	Elizabeth's Grandmother
Judy Grafe	...	Newscaster
Helmar Augustus Cooper	...	Detective Anderson (as Helmar Cooper)
Louise Lasser	...	Jeffrey's Mother
John Zacherle	...	Weatherman
Charlotte J. Helmkamp	...	Honey (as Charlotte Helmkamp)
Kimberly Taylor	...	Amber
Shirley Stoler	...	Spike the Bartender
Joseph Gonzalez	...	Zorro
Ari M. Roussimoff	...	Zorro's Customer (as Ari Roussimoff)

Storyline

A medical school dropout loses his fiancée in a tragic lawnmower incident, and decides to bring her back. Unfortunately, he was only able to save her head, so he goes to the red light district in the city and lures prostitutes into a hotel room so he can get parts for his girlfriend.

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Plot Keywords:

prostitute | prostitution | scene before opening credits | hooker | psychotronic film | 

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Taglines:

Wanna Date?

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for gore, drugs and sensuality, and for language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Henenlotter gave out the fake breasts as parting gifts at the end of the film's production. He signed them first of course, and to this day my Ebay searches for one have come up empty.

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Goofs

Incorrectly regarded as goof: As 'Frankenhooker' is an homage to writer Mary Shelley, the 'Frankenstein' films and the low budget gore movies of the 1960s and 1970s, the FX, make-up and prosthetics are deliberately clumsy.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jeffrey Franken: [Jeffrey examines his creation of a human eyeball on the inside of a human brain] Just watch my hand. Watch it. Watch my hand now. Nice and slow, back and forth. Watch the hand.
Jeffrey Franken: [Jeffrey begins snapping] Come on. Do something, wake up. Let's go! Let's see that peeper.
Jeffrey Franken: [Jeffrey pauses before pulling out a scalpel] Be very careful here. I'm gonna give it a lobotomy.
Jeffrey Franken: [the brain and eye begins to move rapidly] Jesus - That's it, that's it. That's right. Now follow my hand. Look at the hand. ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

No animals or people were killed or injured in the making of this movie.

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Connections

Referenced in Basket Case 3: The Progeny (1991)

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Soundtracks

Never Say No
Written by Roger Greenawalt and Clifford Lane
Performed by Roger Greenawalt and Clifford Lane

User Reviews

Makes you smile

Frank Henenlotter's Frankenhooker (1990) is a funny horror comedy starring James Lorinz as Jeffrey Franken, a young man who is extremely interested in medical studies and becoming a doctor. He makes his weird experiments in his house while his parents are little concerned as they think their son is little weird, understandably. Soon a horrible but incredibly comical accident happens to his girlfriend Elizabeth so Jeffrey takes all the body parts he can in order to re-build his girl. But he needs various body parts in order to complete his love and he develops a drug which makes its users explode. He goes to the streets searching for prostitutes and you know what he wants from them. He gets the parts, but will the new Elizabeth, Frankenhooker, be the same as she used to be?

This film is a must for lovers of B cinema and films which mix horror, gore and comedy. Franken's character is very mad as he talks alone all the time and inserts a power drill into his head everytime he is about to have some nervous problems under pressure. Usually when characters talk all the time without reasons in films it just shows how bad the script is, but in this case, the talking (especially for himself) is normal for this kind of crazy doctor and thus it doesn't feel irritating and bad choice.

Henenlotter's other films like Brain Damage (1988) and Basket Case (1982) are so fantastic as they mix humor and horror so uniquely. They are creepy and very funny (and clever especially in Brain Damage's case) at the very same film. Frankenhooker isn't an exception and the first lawnmower scene convinces the viewer what will the film be like. There are many severed limbs and body parts, but they don't seem repellent as the tone of the film is so tongue in cheek and not wicked. The scene in which some ten hookers EXPLODE is as funny as possible, but not gory at all, since the film had to get an R rating. It is even funnier now as crimson doesn't fly all the time, they just explode!

The mutants and attached body parts at the end are really creepy and almost nightmarish, and reminded me of Brian Yuzna's Bride of Re-Animator which has similar monsters. The effects work in Frankenhooker is fantastic all the way, and it all is now perfect, and wouldn't work anymore if done with computers or CGI. The pace is fast all the time and the viewer doesn't get bored. The Frankenhooker herself is also pretty outrageous and very deadly a hooker! The lady who plays her part is very talented with all her face expressions and movements. I like Basket Case and Brain Damage even more, but still Frankenhooker is a little classic by this talented and mad film maker genius. I give Frankenhooker at least 8/10 now after the first viewing.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Swedish

Release Date:

1 June 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Frankenhooker

Filming Locations:

New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$205,068

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$205,068

Company Credits

Production Co:

Levins-Henenlotter, Shapiro-Glickenhaus Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min 82 min (R-rated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1