★ 6 / 10
Death by lawnmower is not the end of
John Chard
Death by lawnmower is not the end of the strange twists in this case. A medical student sets out to recreate his decapitated fiancée by building her a new body…
Death by lawnmower is not the end of the strange twists in this case.
A medical student sets out to recreate his decapitated fiancée by building her a new body made of Manhattan street prostitutes.
Frank Henenlotter (Basket Case/Brain Damage) brings us this trashy - but fun - blend of the Frankenstein legend with Re-Animator's comedic spice. Naturally this isn't one for the taste conscious highbrow peeps, for this is a purposely bloody tongue in cheek black comedy horror farce. It's awash with exploding body parts, chaotic everyday Americana scenarios and plenty of gloopy schlock. Cast are in on the joke and deliver perfectly low-key perfs, with the gorgeous Patty Mullen deliciously riffing on "Bride of Frankenstein's" classic worth.
From jigsaw death by lawnmower to a superb twist in the tale at pic's end, this is a riot for the so inclined towards low-brow horror comic bookery. 6/10
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★ 6 / 10
Outrageously Goofy and Trashy Frankenstein
Cineanalyst
If they could use Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein" for "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975), among other bizarre iterations, then I don't see why not have…
If they could use Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein" for "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975), among other bizarre iterations, then I don't see why not have a mad scientist re-animate his girlfriend with the leftover parts of prostitutes who exploded from lethal doses of crack cocaine. Moreover, after seeing fellow Frankenstein exploitation flick "Flesh for Frankenstein" (1975), it's difficult to be shocked by such a premise as that of "Frankenhooker."
The mad scientist here is a young man named Jeffrey Franker who lives with his parents and creates his hooker monster in their garage. He has a brain with an eyeball in it that he experiments with in the house, and he uses an electric drill to literally prod his brain to come up with good ideas. It's no wonder he didn't finish med school. His garage laboratory is essentially what one would expect from generations of Frankenstein films following in the footsteps of the original design of the 1931 version, full of gizmos, beakers and the spark of life from a lightning bolt. To this, Jeffrey adds his estrogen-based blood serum, which keeps the body parts fresh. Jeffrey's girlfriend, whose name Elizabeth Shelley is a combination of the names of Dr. Frankenstein's wife from the novel and of the author of that novel, is torn to pieces by a runaway lawn mower. Jeffrey preserves what he can of her in his serum and seeks to remake the rest of her out of the body parts of prostitutes. He kills these women with an especially lethal crack formula of his own design, which causes them to explode.
It may seem pointless to analyze a film such as this, which was clearly intended to be goofy and trashy fun not to be taken seriously. But, its overriding joke regarding the objectification of women is asking for it. From the start, Elizabeth is shamed for her supposed excess weight. Jeffrey plays doctor with the prostitutes to find the best bits for her re-animated corpse--grading the women on their arms, legs and breasts and writing a check mark on his preferred buttocks. The prostitutes are stereotyped as only wanting money and drugs. I'm sure film theorists of the Freudian-Feminist, Laura Mulvey persuasion could and probably already have had a field day with this one. To top it off, the film's conclusion, as poetic justice, is a literal realization of castration anxiety. I'd like to sit in on a film theory class that screened "Frankenhooker," as opposed to old chestnuts such as the male gaze of "Rear Window" (1954). Freudian film theory, after all, already always has me rolling my eyes and chuckling--something "Frankhooker" does just as well.
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★ 7 / 10
Superbly twisted horror-comedy
The_Void
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…
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.
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61%
TOMATOMETER
· 18 reviews
59%
AUDIENCE
· 5K ratings
6.2/10
17.4K
•••
STILL an awesome movie... one of my personal favs