Monday 4 November 2013

Review - Frankenhooker (1990 - Dir. Frank Henenlotter)



Never really fancied watching this one. I always imagined that it would be completely unfunny and lacking in gore. Nevertheless, I'll give it a go. Surprisingly, it's not too bad. In true DVD cover, Sun quote style, it's Weird Science meets Re-Animator, but with extra sleaze. 



Jeffrey (James Lorinz) is a medical student who could well have been tutored by Herbert West. One fine day his girlfriend, Elizabeth (former Penthouse Pet Patty Mullen) has a fatal accident that involves a present that she's bought for her dad. Not every day you're killed by a pair of Duff Beer socks. Okay, maybe not. Jeffrey decides he still likes his lovely Elizabeth and so comes up with the slightly deranged plan of rebuilding her with body parts from other women. As luck would have it, he ends up with a load of dead prostitutes on his hands, much to the consternation of their pimp.



Frankenhooker takes about fifteen minutes too long to get going and unleash the titular Frankenhooker on the world. And when she does finally appear, too little time is spent in her company. Admittedly she has some irritating facial ticks that wear thin almost immediately, but it's a shame that her talents aren't explored further.



The standout scene has to be the death scene of the prostitutes. The whole thing is played for its black comedy potential. The effects are not too bad; they certainly do the job, anyway. Plus pimps are always funny so Zorro (Joseph Gonzalez) getting involved is always a welcome sight. 



This was a pleasant surprise and a welcome start to the allnighter. At this point I was still quite awake. I struggled a bit with The Return of the Living Dead (I've reviewed this already this year so just click on the link if you fancy reading it) which came next. I had a few near-sleep experiences. Although once The Beyond got started I was back to wide awakeness. I'd been waiting a long time to see it on a big screen and I wasn't going to let sleep deprivation spoil it. (I'm afraid that you'll have to wait a little while for the review of this, I'm saving it for a special occasion and it needs extra attention.) 
Then, the last film in the allnighter appeared. And it included an even better pimp...
5/10
evlkeith

If you like this you could also try:
Re-Animator, Weird Science.



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