A medical student sets out to recreate his decapitated fiancée by building her a new body made of Manhattan street prostitutes.A medical student sets out to recreate his decapitated fiancée by building her a new body made of Manhattan street prostitutes.A medical student sets out to recreate his decapitated fiancée by building her a new body made of Manhattan street prostitutes.
- Dolores
- (as Carissa Channing)
- Detective Anderson
- (as Helmar Cooper)
- Honey
- (as Charlotte Helmkamp)
- Zorro's Customer
- (as Ari Roussimoff)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film cost $1.5 million making it Henenlotter's most expensive (at the time), but there were still budgetary issues. The producers told him they had used up all of the allotted funds for pyrotechnics during the exploding hookers scene to which he replied "How the fuck am I gonna film the lab scene?!" He ended up calling in a favor to do some "unlicensed pyrotechnics" for the shoot. Lorinz recalls the guy finishing the setup and telling him "Don't worry, it's maybe safe."
- GoofsThe muscle chart that Franken is drawing on with the red sharpie in the beginning show the breasts as muscles. That is anatomically incorrect.
- Quotes
[Jeffrey talks to his mother for comfort]
Jeffreys Mother: Oh, Jeffrey... I'm worried about you.
Jeffrey Franken: Yeah - Well so am I, Ma. Something's happening to me that I just don't understand. I can't think straight anymore. It's like my reasoning is all, uh, twisted and distorted, you know? I seem to be disassociating myself from reality more and more each day. I'm anti-social. I'm becoming dangerously amoral. I - I've lost the ability to distinguish between right from wrong, good from bad. I'm scared, Ma. I mean, I feel like I'm - I'm plunging headfirst into some kind of black void of sheer and utter madness or something.
Jeffreys Mother: You want a sandwich?
- Crazy creditsNo animals or people were killed or injured in the making of this movie.
- Alternate versionsThe unrated version, which runs about 1 minute and 45 seconds longer, includes longer scenes, and shows more nudity and violence, especially the prostitutes and the blow-up scenes. It originated as a 'Not Rated' VHS that could be rented from mom & pop video stores, but has since been released on DVD and Blu-ray by Synapse Films.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Beyond the Wicker: Making 'Basket Case 2' (2007)
- SoundtracksNever Say No
Written by Roger Greenawalt and Clifford Lane
Performed by Roger Greenawalt and Clifford Lane
This film is a must for lovers of B cinema and films which mix horror, gore and comedy. Franken's character is very mad as he talks alone all the time and inserts a power drill into his head everytime he is about to have some nervous problems under pressure. Usually when characters talk all the time without reasons in films it just shows how bad the script is, but in this case, the talking (especially for himself) is normal for this kind of crazy doctor and thus it doesn't feel irritating and bad choice.
Henenlotter's other films like Brain Damage (1988) and Basket Case (1982) are so fantastic as they mix humor and horror so uniquely. They are creepy and very funny (and clever especially in Brain Damage's case) at the very same film. Frankenhooker isn't an exception and the first lawnmower scene convinces the viewer what will the film be like. There are many severed limbs and body parts, but they don't seem repellent as the tone of the film is so tongue in cheek and not wicked. The scene in which some ten hookers EXPLODE is as funny as possible, but not gory at all, since the film had to get an R rating. It is even funnier now as crimson doesn't fly all the time, they just explode!
The mutants and attached body parts at the end are really creepy and almost nightmarish, and reminded me of Brian Yuzna's Bride of Re-Animator which has similar monsters. The effects work in Frankenhooker is fantastic all the way, and it all is now perfect, and wouldn't work anymore if done with computers or CGI. The pace is fast all the time and the viewer doesn't get bored. The Frankenhooker herself is also pretty outrageous and very deadly a hooker! The lady who plays her part is very talented with all her face expressions and movements. I like Basket Case and Brain Damage even more, but still Frankenhooker is a little classic by this talented and mad film maker genius. I give Frankenhooker at least 8/10 now after the first viewing.
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $2,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $205,068
- Gross worldwide
- $205,068