Sleaze and Cheese in Frank Henenlotter’s  FRANKENHOOKER
by Melissa Howard

Newly released on Blu-Ray by Synapse films comes the third and by far most tongue-in-cheek of all Frank Henenlotter films, Frankenhooker. This grisly gem clearly inspired by the original Frankenstein, also takes its cues from the more obscure The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (1962).  Like The Brain…Frankenhooker focuses on a mad scientist who yearns to bring his fiancé back from the dead only not all parts of her are gone and buried.

Similar to Henenlotter’s Basket Case trilogy and the blood drenched Brain Damage, Frankenhooker keeps time with the director’s penchant for exploitation, tossing all moral compasses out to sea.  Herein lies the cinematic thrill and sludge of the Henenlotter motif and Frankenhooker is no different.  Set in both New Jersey and the bawdy 42^nd street strip of New York’s Times Square (pre city council’s clean-up operation in the early 90’s), Frankenhooker opens on a ludicrous note with a death by remote controlled lawnmower.  What ensues is a touching viagra online 25 mg story of a man compelled to resurrect his gal at any cost.

Jeffrey Franken (James Lorinz) loses his fiancé If you only take one supplement take this one! It supports your immune system from the inside! Your body will thank you. Overnight levitra - today, oral tablets are the most common ED treatment. This is one of them. in a lawnmower accident after she is chopped to bits.  Falling into a deep depression, he racks his brain over how to revive his darling Elizabeth, but there are literal pieces missing from the equation.  Jeffrey devises a plan to put Elizabeth (a well cast Patty Mullen) back together again by using different body parts of top notch prostitutes from New York’s 42^nd street district.  Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s head is bobbing in a biochemically engineered elixir, being preserved – a knee slapping scene that sees Jeffrey pulling her head (or approximation of it) out of the female viagra next day delivery water, only to slap it down on the dinner table across from him.  Did I mention he’s wearing a suit and tie?  How romantic.

Here’s what follows; Jeffrey reanimates Elizabeth during a major lighting storm, only she’s not quite the same.  Suddenly she’s hollering, “wanna date?”, “got any money?”, and lumbering around town with a crooked leer on her face.  She’s become ‘Frankenhooker’, a monster-prostitute hybrid who single-mindedly makes her way back to the mean streets of New York in search of potential tricks…much to their explosive demise.

Frankenhooker is not a film steeped in realism with well-crafted dialogue and big budget props, but this is what characterizes its schlocky, unconventional appeal.  The old school effects and colourful sequences are wonderfully absurd, particularly during the resurrection scene when electric blue lightning bolts look capable of leaping off the screen – a creation that Henenlotter had used to great effect in Brain Damage too.  Another repeat performance worth mentioning is the cameo appearance of the famous horror host, John Zacherle.  Zacherle was also heard but not seen in Brain Damage as the voice of the muttering, maniacal parasite, Aylmer.

Although this movie shows signs of its age – parts of New York are not what they used to be – it remains a hilarious flick that deals with the common themes of sex and drugs, in not so common ways.  It’s not every day that a film reveals seven exploding hookers, who blow up one by one after a frenzied feeding on “Super Drugs”.  Gabe Bartalos was the special effects/make-up artist who set these girls in motion and has been the man responsible for creating several Henenlotter ghouls – lest we forget Lorenzo from Basket II, the orphaned freak with a gapingly wide mouth and “beautiful singing voice.”

The extensive cast of Frankenhooker rounds out this warped story nicely. Patty Mullen, a former Penthouse Pet, gives Frankenhooker a memorable lurch and much of the supporting cast – many of whom were also centrefold models – deliver some of the best lines.

Of course James Lorinz nails the part of Jeffrey with his over-the-top seriousness in getting the job done.  In any case, Frankenhooker is a must see for anyone who enjoys demented tales of love lost and love found…sort of.

Special Features:

This Blu-Ray edition of Frank Henenlotter’s comedic masterpiece, Frankenhooker, includes an audio commentary with the director himself as well as make-up artist and effects master, Gabe Bartalos.  The four featurettes offer fans insight into the making of the monster and what life was like on set.  These include; A Salad That Was Once Named Elizabeth, a featurette about Patty Mullen, Turning Tricks:  Jennifer Delora Remembers Frankenhooker, Jennifer Delora’s Frankenhooker Photo Scrapbook, and finally A Stitch in Time:  The Make-Up Effects of Frankenhooker – an informative featurette hosted by Gabe Bartalos.

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Melissa Howard is a barmaid, blogger, concert reviewer and all round film-fanatic.  Hailing from the Hammer, she has spent the past decade in Montreal where she most recently worked her first Fantasia International Film Festival.

About the author:

Melissa Howard