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 | grindhouse | prostitution | scene before opening credits | hooker | 

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Taglines:

Got any money?

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Swedish

Release Date:

1 June 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

FRanken Puta

Filming Locations:

New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$205,068

Company Credits

Production Co:

Levins-Henenlotter,Shapiro-Glickenhaus Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Beverly Bonner plays "Casey", a character that appears in Basket Case (1982), Brain Damage (1988) and Basket Case 2 (1990), all also directed by Frank Henenlotter.

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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

Spoofs Tales of the Unexpected (1979)

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Soundtracks

Love Handgrenade
Written by Roger Greenawalt and Clifford Lane
Performed by Roger Greenawalt and Clifford Lane

User Reviews

Truly brilliant horror/comedy.

Frank Henenlotter's "Frankenhooker" is an excellent horror/comedy filled with gore and tongue-in-cheek humour.James Lorinz plays Jeffrey Franken,a young guy who is obsessed with medical experimentation.After his fiancee Elizabeth Shelley(Patty Mullen)is killed in an accident by a lawnmower,he makes plans to build a new body for her.In order to get the parts for the body he cruises New York's Times Square luring hookers with his explosive super-crack."Frankenhooker" is truly amusing-there are lawnmower mutilations,drills in the head and exploding hookers.So if you liked this one check out two other gems made by Henenlotter-"Basket Case" and "Brain Damage".My highest recommendation.