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:

Some assembly required

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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

Louise Lasser had just recovered from being sick and hence could hardly speak when she shot her scene talking to James Lorinz. Lasser redid all her dialogue in a post-production recording session.

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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 Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1993)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Superbly twisted horror-comedy

Frankenhooker is without a doubt one of the most stupid, ridiculous, moronic, pointless, fun and brilliant films that I have seen. From the film's opening; which sees our would-be hero working on a strange brain with an eye in it, with some ridiculously out of place, relaxed suburbia music playing in the background; I knew that I was in for a comic treat. This movie features several moments of delicious comic brilliance; such as the out of control lawnmower sequence that sees the central character's girlfriend get tragically murdered, to the rather tactless news report detailing said tragedy, to the exploding whores and all the way down to the weather report which details a storm that is coming, "for all you mad scientists out there"; there's plenty to make you laugh in Frankenhooker.

The film takes obvious influence from the classic Frankenstein story, and it should appeal to anyone that is a fan of cheesy 80's gorefests. Of course, this was released in 1990, but that's incidental. As mentioned, the main character's girlfriend is killed in a lawnmower accident. The accident itself is a comic masterpiece; it's so absurdly silly! Anyway, this accident leads our hero to the brink of madness (to which his mother responds to by asking him if he would like a sandwich), and he decides to make his girlfriend a new body from the parts of various prostitutes that he picks up. Of course, it doesn't quite go to plan, which leads him into all manner of weird troubles. James Lorinz takes the lead role of Jeffrey Franken (and his girlfriend's surname is Shelly...can you spot the tribute?). Lorinz is great as the hero for the movie, he spends a lot of it acting on his own and he more than holds the audience's interest with his speeches and great accent. A film like this needs an offbeat star; and it has one in Lorinz.

Overall, this terrifying tale of sluts and bolts is sheer comic brilliance, and if you're a fan of weird and wonderful cult films, and even if you're not; you won't want to miss Frankenhooker.

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