Frankenhooker (1990)

"A Terrifying Tale of Sluts & Bolts"

RATED- R
RUN TIME- 85 MINS
WRITER(S)- FRANK HENENLOTTER AND ROBERT MARTIN
STARRING- JAMES LORINZ, JOANNE RITCHIE AND PATTY MULLEN
DIRECTOR- FRANK HENENLOTTER



Synopsis taken from IMDb
A medical student sets out to recreate his decapitated fiance by building her a new body made of Manhattan street hookers.




I first saw this movie just two nights ago and instantly fell in love with it. I've seen it around before and I've heard of it, but I'd never watched it. Now, I'm very glad I did. "Frankenhooker" had all the ingredients to make me a happy man.

I love how although it's very loosely based on Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein" novel, they still throw out little homages. Like the lead character Jeffrey's last name is Franken, and his fiance's last name is Shelly, it's little touches like that that'll make me appreciate this movie. They knew they weren't making an Oscar winning movie, they were making a good, fun horror comedy.

When Jeffrey's fiance Elizabeth gets chopped to pieces by Jeffrey's remote controlled lawnmower I couldn't help but laugh. I knew from the beginning this was going to be a fun watch. The effects are so corny and cheesy, yet they're endearing. This falls right into the category of "Re-Animator" and "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark" with it's humor and entertainment quality. It's not as good as either of the films mentioned, but it's in the same class and one I'd definitely watch again, and with friends.

There's so many funny parts that're so memorable. One of the things that really had me going was the super crack that Jeffrey concocts in order to get the hookers high and in a catatonic state so he can take the limbs from each hooker he wants. He first tests it on a gerbil, and the crack is so potent that the little guy explodes.  Needless to say when the hookers take it the same thing happens to them, which is hysterical.  And Jeffrey doesn't need to surgically cut the hookers' limbs off because their bodies are all over the floor and in pieces. So he can just take what he wants and go.

After using all the limbs he's gotten off of the prostitute, Jeffrey gets to work on making his fiance whole again. But it never works out like they plan it to, does it? Elizabeth comes back and is a horny, greedy hooker. All the parts used to create her from prostitutes caused her to become one. Elizabeth storms the city looking for a good pay day.

The whole movie is enjoyable, even Jeffrey hunting her down to bring her back home. And yes, it does have an expected ridiculous and funny ending that perfectly fits this film.

Believe it or not, there's not any serious or hardcore sex scenes in this movie. It's actually not that type of movie at all, it's just got some nudity but just about every horror film does. 

I really liked Elizabeth's look. It's cheap, but fitting and she looked cool. She'd be a very cool Halloween costume, if you've got the body for it. She was the perfect female version of Frankenstein's monster and Patty Mullen was on point playing her.

There's not too much to analyze with this movie. It's pretty straight forward and is what it is. The only thing that there is to say is that this is yet another movie that shows how playing God never works out for anyone. If anything it goes ten times worse than you can even imagine when weighing the consequences out. It's about the abuse of power men would have if we had such an ability to create life and it shows how stupidly we'd waste it. "Frankenhooker" is a black comedy that tells this story in an entertaining and lighthearted way.

I'll be buying this one on DVD or Blu-Ray soon. I must own this. I've got a few people I'm going to turn  onto this movie as well. I know they'll enjoy it as much as I have.

THIS FILM GETS 3 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

The Frankenstein Theory attempts to sparks new life

RATED- UNRATED
RUN TIME- 87 MINS
WRITER(S)- VLADY PILDYSH AND ANDREW WEINER 
STARRING- KRIS LEMCHE, JOE EGENDER AND TIMOTHY V. MURPHY
DIRECTOR- ANDREW WEINER



Synopsis taken from IMDb
From the filmmaker's of "The Last Exorcism" comes a boldly original vision of horror. What if the most chilling novel of all time was based on a true account of a horrific experiment awry ?




Frankenstein is my favorite Universal classic monster, he's the best. Pure and simple. I read Mary Shelly's Frankenstein novel shortly after being introduced to the movies and I liked it the same. It's one of my favorite books of all time. The fact that "The Frankenstein Theory" breathes new life into the book and movie(s) caught my attention instantly.

Professor John Venkenheim (Kris Lemche) pays a film crew to follow him in his adventures of seeing if his theory is true. His theory is that Mary Shelly's book was only sold as fiction to cover up the truth, and that it all actually happened. John has the letters that are the starting pages of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein as proof that she didn't make the details up when writing the book. The film crew believe John to be crazy but follow him anyway into the arctic circle, where he believes Frankenstein is living.

The movie has a really plot and the creativity are huge positives for this movie. The idea of this film is truly genius. Unfortunately, it doesn't live up to the potential it had. You could say if it had a bigger budget it would have been a better movie, or you could say that if they had a bigger director with more vision like Guillermo del Toro it would have been better. And it would be true. Kudos for the hard effort though.

As the story unwinds and we get a closer and closer idea of if Frankenstein is real, it would have been nice to have had some more suspense going. This film lacks suspense and that would have been a big helper in improving this movie. There's a few tense scenes, but nothing to scare you or rattle your bones. Even though the story proves well and delivers, it doesn't matter when you're missing so many other key elements, like a cast we care about.

"The Frankenstein theory" is just under 90 minutes and for that, I can't say I don't recommend it. But if you're a big Frankenstein fan, don't get your hopes up. It's a bit of a let down. However, one of the things that I did like about the movie that others didn't was the fact that you don't really get to see Frankenstein. But with me, I enjoy what you don't see as much as what you do see. It would have been nice to get up close and see cool make-up but better to not show details if they're not going to be worth the payoff.

THIS FILM GETS 2 1/2 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5