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Post by stefancrosscoe on Mar 1, 2017 15:22:02 GMT
"In a blaze of blood, bones, and body parts, the vivacious young girl was instantly reduced to a tossed human salad... a salad that police are still trying to gather up... a salad that was once named Elizabeth."Meet "Dr." Jeffrey Franken (James Lorinz) a heartbroken medical student dropout who will use all of his scientific knowledge of the human body, in order to try and bring back his ex-fiancée Elizabeth Shellen (Patty Mullen), the victim of a ill fated and bizarre accident with a lawn mower. But to get a hold of the kind of ingredients needed for his little experiment, Dr. Franken will need to make a couple of short visits into New York's sleazy underworld and its famous meat market, which should provide him with enough possibilities of making the perfect woman.
Frank Henenlotter is one my favorite directors and with his third feature he decide to take a far more lighthearted approach into the not so unfamiliar kind of horror-comedy adventures as seen in films like The Man With Two Brains (1983) or Re-Animator (1985). Still Frankenhooker (1990) manages with a far less budget to succeed on all cost with including a hilarious plot, a sleazy and gritty New York, a solid cast were specially former Penthouse Pet Patty Mullen comes off as a fantastic comedic surprise, along with bodybuilder Joseph Gonzales who are pure comedy gold to watch as the hilarious Zorro! the pimp, and Frank also make sure that his favorite lady, Beverly Bonner gets a little part in there too. James Lorinz is the main star though, and I remember seeing him appear in films such as Robocop 2 or was it 3, and also had a good, but small part in Abel Ferrera's gritty action film King of New York, which all were made around the same time. Not sure why his career did nok take off, but I thought he handled himself very well in these films, but I guess it was not meant to be. Anyway, if you're like me, and do love a good low-budget b-movie, make sure to follow Bill Murray's (yeah the actor) advice and go see this movie. You will not be disappointed, as it comes with lots of sleaze, cheese, crazy characters, tits & ass all over the place, oh yeah super crack!, and of course a certain danger of explosive prostitutes, Zorro: "My bitches, they just blew up on me!"
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Post by naterdawg on Mar 1, 2017 15:41:32 GMT
I saw this only once and thought it was hilarious.
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TheSowIsMine
Junior Member
@thesowismine
Posts: 2,655
Likes: 1,686
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Post by TheSowIsMine on Mar 1, 2017 17:50:54 GMT
This is a funny movie. Great ending.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Mar 1, 2017 18:00:31 GMT
"SPOILER AHEAD!"Yes, the ending scene is fantastic, also the one right before with Zorro the pimp is pure solid comedy gold. Gotta love how that man is caring for his bitches!
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Mar 1, 2017 18:08:03 GMT
Another, and even better tribute to the greatest pimp of them all, Zorro!
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yearspew
Sophomore
@yearspew
Posts: 148
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Post by yearspew on Mar 1, 2017 18:55:25 GMT
Hell yeah, Frankenhooker is a great horror comedy. James Lorinz was so great in this. He was also in Street Trash, which is another one of my favorites. Patty Mullen's mouth twitches are always hilarious to me.
I think Frankenhooker might be my favorite Henenlotter movie, though Brain Damage is close.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Mar 1, 2017 22:29:50 GMT
Hell yeah, Frankenhooker is a great horror comedy. James Lorinz was so great in this. He was also in Street Trash, which is another one of my favorites. Patty Mullen's mouth twitches are always hilarious to me. I think Frankenhooker might be my favorite Henenlotter movie, though Brain Damage is close. I forgot about Street Trash, talk about a movie living up to its name. By the way have you seen Bad Biology (2008) by Frank Henenlotter? I remember back in spring/summer of 2006 there were some rumours that he was gonna do another Brain Damage sequel, called Sick In The Head but turned out it was Bad Biology, which is not bad at all, well maybe not up there with his best work, but still it did showcase that Frank made movies like no other out there, also rapper R.A. The Rugged Man helped with the script.
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Post by alpha128 on Mar 2, 2017 4:31:10 GMT
I saw this only once and thought it was hilarious. My thoughts exactly!
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yearspew
Sophomore
@yearspew
Posts: 148
Likes: 87
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Post by yearspew on Mar 2, 2017 7:20:51 GMT
Hell yeah, Frankenhooker is a great horror comedy. James Lorinz was so great in this. He was also in Street Trash, which is another one of my favorites. Patty Mullen's mouth twitches are always hilarious to me. I think Frankenhooker might be my favorite Henenlotter movie, though Brain Damage is close. I forgot about Street Trash, talk about a movie living up to its name. By the way have you seen Bad Biology (2008) by Frank Henenlotter? I remember back in spring/summer of 2006 there were some rumours that he was gonna do another Brain Damage sequel, called Sick In The Head but turned out it was Bad Biology, which is not bad at all, well maybe not up there with his best work, but still it did showcase that Frank made movies like no other out there, also rapper R.A. The Rugged Man helped with the script. Yeah, I saw Bad Biology a few years ago. I thought it was weird as hell, which is of course Henenlotter's specialty, but it's my least favorite of his movies, which doesn't mean it's bad, just not as good as the others. I remember the Rugged Man from the special features on the Basket Case DVD where they go searching for the Hotel Broslin in New York. That was pretty cool. Henenlotter's audio commentary is also very entertaining.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Mar 2, 2017 13:56:11 GMT
I can't seem to find the clips, but I think it came from the 20th Anniversary edition DVD back in 2001, with Frank and R.A. The Rugger Man standing on a roof with a great view over New York City in the background, talking about their memories of the film and how the city has changed since then. Frank also says that it would probably be almost impossible for a young filmmaker without lots of money, to go out and make film similar to Basket Case today, well even worse 17 years later on I would think.
I do wish more directors had his kind of love for the bizarre world of quirky, low-budget b-movies from the 60s, 70s and 80s, but as he said in one radio interview, "Most kids today seem to think of guys like Tarantino as being grindhouse" or something like that, and it was not a negative shoot at Quentin, instead Frank just had to realise that things have changed a lot since his days, and most of the cinemas located on 42th street are probably now ended up as just another Starbucks or McDonalds.
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Mar 3, 2017 7:12:34 GMT
6/10 Not bad.
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Post by HorrorMetal on Mar 10, 2017 20:34:46 GMT
Great film. I love all of Frank Henenlotter's work, I wish he made more films. Such a unique and creative style.
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Trigonomics
Sophomore
@trigonomics
Posts: 122
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Post by Trigonomics on Mar 12, 2017 0:00:06 GMT
One of the greatest films of all time. A true masterpiece and Patty Mullen is just as beautiful today.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Oct 22, 2019 15:43:59 GMT
Just watched it for a FTV for the challenge. A trashy riot, you really gotta go with the flow in anticipation of what type of pic it is, if able to do so it's a good time to be had. Agree with the poster above me about Mullen, she was a very gorgeous and sexy looking lady - even in stitched body parts mode!
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Post by petrolino on Oct 26, 2019 11:55:20 GMT
Tremendous film. Hopefully, I still have the cinema-sized poster rolled up in a tube. Used to have it on my bedroom wall when I was younger.
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Post by darkreviewer2013 on Oct 31, 2019 4:07:39 GMT
Easily the sleaziest horror film I've ever watched. It's certainly unique.
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Post by poelzig on Nov 1, 2019 0:25:00 GMT
Anybody suddenly craving a crack rock and sex with a hooker? Two great tastes that taste great together.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jan 27, 2022 12:18:42 GMT
Thought I should just post my last night re-watch, of this absolute hilarious and silly b-movie horror comedy in here.
Finally got around to upgrade my two much older DVD copies, to the impressive looking and sounding Arrow Blu-ray release, which I picked up last fall, and started up with Your Date’s on a Plate: The Making of Frankenhooker (2012), which ran for about 40-45 minutes or so, but even though it did not sit down as well, as my last year view of the Basket Case documentary (included in the Trilogy Blu-ray set), it still came forward with some rather neat and unknown (for me that is), new insights, of what seemed like a rather troublesome and hectical shooting.
Kind of a bummer, to hear how it ended up becoming such a negative and hostile affair, due to Frank Henenlotter and the sudden inclusion of cinematographor Robert M. Baldwin, who arrived with producer James Glickenhaus blessing. However, I guess sometimes, the most fun and seemingly light hearted movies, tend to often have a far more chaotic and "dark" story going on behind the camera, and yeah, I think it sadly influenced how this documentary never quite caught on, as neither Frank or the other guys (minus Lorinz, how seemed rather joyful for most of the time) involved, were all that "interested", and well, at least some fun information, such as how cool Bill Murray seemed to be towards Frank and the crew:
(From Wikipedia)
Bill Murray was quoted as saying "If you see one movie this year, it should be Frankenhooker." Henenlotter said that Murray had been editing his film Quick Change and hung out with the Frankenhooker crew. After Murray expressed interest in their film, the distributor attempted to get an endorsement from him. Embarrassed that they would abuse Murray's friendliness, Henenlotter attempted to avoid Murray. When they eventually ran into each other, Henenlotter apologized and explained that he was not responsible. Satisfied with the explanation, Murray volunteered a quotation. I rated the documentary a 6/10, but kind of wished it would include the lovely Patty Mullen and Joe Gonzales (Zorro the Pimp), who both sure were a huge part of some of the funniest scenes, and I still burst out laughing at some of the "random" comical and campy stuff they delivered throughout the film.
Also speaking of a few funny moments from the documentary. I loved how James Lorinz and Frank, still was kind of amazed at not knowing who the heck that blonde "swede" guy, randomly appearing on Time Squares, really was. I think one of them (and this seems like a mistaken identity, among many fans of the film) tought they had gotten a quick cameo by Rutger Hauer, wearing a Batman t-shirt, as yeah, I could see how it might turn into such a confusing part, but it was actually not a swedish guy, but a Norwegian fella by the name of Eivind Harum, but listed as Aivind Harum on IMDb.
Still made me smile, when he said "JA, og jeg vil ha to for meg selv" or in english "YES! And I would like to have two of them for myself" or something like that, when Lorinz ask him if he has spotted Frankenooker lately.
Anyway, the film is still one of my favorite horror comedies. And yeah, I might be a bit too generous with my final rating, since I think both Brain Damage and Basket Case (the original), are better films, also way more serious or dark in tone and characters, yet this goofy, campy and quirky love story, somehow always hits home with me. Would surely do a lovely double-billed horror-comedy, and with a romantic theme, along with Re-Animator or maybe even more, Bride of the Re-Animator, on February the 14th. And if one is so lucky to have a nice girl, who really appreciates this kind of entertainment, to share it with.
Considering that Frank made both Basket Case 2 and Frankenhooker, just within a few weeks/month from each other, that is damn impressive. I also have kind of overlooked how neat the special effects and make-up by Gabe Bartalos really is, and kind of agree with what Lorinz said, about this kind of movie making, being at the very end, right before "everything" went into total CGI-mode, and people had already began looking down on practical effects, but I guess there were really no going back, when films such as T2 and Jurassic Park changed the game, maybe not all for the better, at least for many of these low budget films.
All in all, Frankenhooker is still as lively and funny as I remembered it. Few ones, still make me burst out in laughter, such as this one, and while the pace and plot is not too fast filled, for the first half, it picks up very well, and kind of a shame that Lorinz and Mullen never had more scenes together, but considering that Henenlotter worked overtime, with two films for such a short period of time, he did one hell of a job with what he had.
As mentioned, I think Basket Case and Brain Damage are surely better films, but Frankenhooker is still such a likeable and fun film, and I never tire off re-watching it, and cannot give it anything less than a:
10/10
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Post by Hurdy Gurdy Man on Feb 1, 2022 12:34:08 GMT
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Feb 1, 2022 13:42:22 GMT
Would have liked to look it up, but sadly my anti-virus system was not very interested in that, as it put a huge warning sign, of potential risk of opening the link above. So yeah, I did not get to read it.
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