‘I seem to be disassociating myself from reality more and more each day…’
I first encountered exploitation horror director Frank Henenlotter through his 1982 bizarro body horror Basket Case – a film about a nice boy who carries his medically separated conjoined twin around in a wicker basket. It’s a weird one. Eight years later, having already produced a sequel to Basket Case, Henenlotter returned with Frankenhooker. A film that is exactly what the name suggests…
Following the tragic death of his fiancée, Elizabeth (Patty Mullen), in a freak lawnmower accident, aspiring scientist Jeffrey Frankin (James Lorinz) does what any logical man would do. He chops up a bunch of hookers (to indulge in the film’s own parlance) to build a new fiancée using Elizabeth’s head (that he somehow managed to smuggle from the site of the accident). This, as you can imagine, doesn’t go well.
As with all of Henenlotter’s films, Frankenhooker was filmed without permits on the streets of New York, which always elevates everything he does beyond simple B-movie schlock (although it is that). This snapshot of NYC’s now-defunct seedy side is one of the things that makes Henenlotter’s films so compelling. I was also pleasantly surprised by how genuinely funny this film is. And I’m not talking so-bad-its-good funny. There is a self-awareness here that is actually very ahead of its time. Lorinz gives a winning and efficacious performance as the titular Franken, and Mullen, apparently best known as a former Penthouse Pet, delivers a surprisingly haunting turn as the ‘monster’.
Frankenhooker is not an intellectual film, but nor should it be. As with Basket Case, it’s a fun, freakshow of a movie with a truly batshit ending. Pure entertainment.
