Frankenhooker is about a guy named Jeffrey Franken (James Lorinz) from New Jersey whose fiancee Elizabeth (Patty Mullen) is chopped apart in a horrific lawnmower accident. Unable to move on, he tries to piece her back together, and then develops a process to bring her back to life. Unfortunately, they couldn't find all of her body parts, so he needs to get some new ones. Who better than some ladies of the night plying their trade in Times Square? After he accidentally kills a bunch of them with some explosive crack, he takes the spare parts back to his lab to reanimate his fiancee--but when he does, will he like the results?
This is the classic you expect it to be, it hits all the right notes. It has the late 80s/early 90s feel you want; the goofy, sick, twisted humor from a horror comedy that is equal parts macabre and hilarious; but then also this novel concept that works even considering how crazy it is. I loved the scene after the fiancee's death, when Jeffrey is watching the news and a reporter is interviewing a police detective who's describing the process of trying to find all her body parts as "she's just one big jigsaw puzzle." As the name implies, this is also an homage to Frankenstein, and Henenlotter does a great job with that as well, mixing what was then a modern 1990's setting with the schlock horror films of the 50s and 60s that he grew up with. One of the best scenes is when he reanimates Elizabeth, the mix of animation and practical effects, it looks great, but also doesn't betray the camp and humor this is going for. This one is a classic for a reason, and well worth the watch.
It's been awhile since I've seen Basket Case or Brain Damage, but I think out of the three, I like this one best. The budget was a little bigger, Henenlotter was more experienced as a director, and the concept was more novel and interesting--and was executed better, which always helps. As much of a classic as this is though, and as big a name as Henenlotter has in the horror world, he doesn't have many other feature film credits to his name. Just this, Brain Damage, three Basket Case movies, and in 2008 a film called Bad Biology. Since then he's done a few documentaries, the last one coming in 2018, and that's it. The good news is though, all of his feature films are available on free streamers, with everything but Bad Biology on Tubi, and that one on Plex.
We always talk about New York City being its own character in a film, and Henelotter was one of the best to use the city that way. What's interesting is just how much it's changed since 1990 when this was made. Times Square is not a place where people can engage sex workers, it's tourist trap where you can get pictures with Marvel characters and have lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. or Olive Garden. When Franken asks a guy where his fiancee ran off to, and the guy responds in Swedish, he says "You're speaking to me in Swedish in Times Square!", because back then the idea of tourists going to Times Square was unfathomable. For me, I never saw that earlier incarnation, my first trip to Times Square was in 2014 when my wife and I had a layover at Penn Station between trains, and she took me there so I could see it. That's one thing that was great about having Fred on the pod to discuss this, he's a lifelong resident of NYC, so he's seen the changes and could speak to it better. Maybe that's why Henenlotter doesn't make movies anymore, New York is no longer the New York he knew--though I would love to see a sequel to this where Elizabeth is in Times Square interacting with tourists in jorts and fanny packs.
This was a Troma release, so we have the Troma opening, which is one of the best for me. Ty from Comeuppance and I were talking about this, how there aren't as many iconic low-budget releasing and production company openings as there used to be. Cannon, PM, Vestron, Imperial--I could go on, but like Troma, they give you a comfort food feeling that gets you in the right frame of mind before you start your film, as opposed to the current DTV climate where you may have anywhere from 6-8 companies before the film starts, all as indistinguishable from the one before it, engendering a sense of cynicism that puts you in the wrong frame of mind and makes the film work uphill before it even starts. The other thing about Troma is they've been a victim of the changing New York we were talking about in the previous paragraph, priced out of Hell's Kitchen and forced to move to Long Island City in Queens. When I started the site, I expected to have more Troma, but with the way the action reviews blew up, Troma was left behind, and now we're 1250-plus posts in and this is only their 12th tag. I always say "we'll have to work on fixing that," but I never seem to get around to it, so I'll leave at as Troma is one of the all-time greats, and the DTV and low budget film world wouldn't be what it is without them.
Finally, in the opening scene, before Elizabeth is cut up by the lawnmower, Elizabeth, Jeffrey, and her mother are in the house, when her mother says "I need to make my cole slaw." It was a reminder of how much things have changed since this came out, when my initial thought was "she's going to dump a bunch of pre-cut ingredients from a bag into a bowl," and instead saw her pull out a big head of cabbage and start cutting. Yes Matt, at one time--and within your lifetime--that's how cole slaw was made, it wasn't bought pre-cut at the grocery store. The thing is though, I love the pre-cut stuff. I guess the kids would call it a "hack," but I saute it with my onions, mushrooms, and tofu when I'm making fried rice. Mix in some soy sauce and rice vinegar, and it's perfect.
With that, I think it's time to wrap this up. You can currently get this on Tubi, which I think is a great way to watch it--though if you're a collector and you don't have this, it's one you should add. This is the fun horror classic romp you came for, great for a bad movie night with friends. And if you haven't yet, you can check out the podcast episode I did with Fred from Full Moon Reviews, number 156 in the archives.
And my newest novel, Don's House in the Mountains, is available now on Amazon! Click the image to buy.
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