Review of Frankenhooker (1990) by Gimly M — 06 Feb 2015

Written and directed by Frank Henenlotter (Basket Case (1982) and Brain Damage (1988)), this black comedy horror is inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but you get the impression that Shelley would never have dreamt that her book would have inspired something like this.

It has to be seen to be believed, and there's stuff in this that'll have you absolutely howling with laughter, it's absolutely hilarious!! When Elizabeth Shelley (Patty Mullen) is accidentally killed by a remote controlled lawnmower at a birthday barbeque, her fiancee Jeffrey Franken (James Lorinz) is devastated, but he's also an amateur scientist, and he comes up with a plan to bring Elizabeth back to life, he salvaged her head and a few other parts from the accident, and decides to kill prostitutes to fill in the missing pieces.

He kills them in a massive orgy using some industrial strength "super meth". He uses the parts to put her back together, and it seemingly works, but the reassembled Elizabeth doesn't want Jeffrey, she wants to have sex with stranger for money, or she'll kill them!! You cannot believe a film like this got made, but thank god it did!! It's refreshing to see a comedy-horror with it's tongue firmly in it's cheek, and it's a shame that Henenlotter hasn't made more films, as he has a true talent.

This is a prime example of a film so bad it's absolutely brilliant!!