Frankenhooker (1990)

Synopsis

The movie Frankenhooker (1990) is a dark horror comedy directed by Frank Henenlotter. It follows Jeffrey Franken, played by James Lorinz, a medical school dropout who accidentally kills his fiancée Elizabeth in a freak lawnmower accident. The movie Frankenhooker (1990) shows Jeffrey descending into madness as he becomes obsessed with bringing Elizabeth back to life.

After preserving Elizabeth’s head, Jeffrey sets up a makeshift lab in his garage and tries using electricity to revive her. When this fails, he decides he needs to reconstruct her entire body. Jeffrey ventures into New York’s red light district and devises a plan to kill sex workers and harvest their body parts to build a new body for Elizabeth. Using an experimental new street drug he concocted called “Supercrack,” Jeffrey blows up a motel room full of prostitutes, collects their remains, and assembles a hodgepodge corpse made up of various parts.

The movie Frankenhooker (1990) reaches its climax when Jeffrey finally reanimates his creation, now dubbed “Frankenhooker.” However, his plan quickly goes awry. The monster goes on a chaotic rampage through the city streets driven by electrical surges and supernatural side effects from the Supercrack. As she terrorizes New York, the Frankenhooker is pursued by Jeffrey, detectives, and the pimps of the murdered prostitutes. The movie Frankenhooker (1990) ends with a classic horror movie mob scene as Jeffrey finally tracks down and confronts Frankenhooker in Times Square. After a dramatic electrical explosion, Frankenhooker is killed and Jeffrey is arrested, his mad plan ultimately a complete disaster.

With its absurd premise, over-the-top execution, dark humor, and excessive gore, The movie Frankenhooker (1990) is considered a cult classic exemplar of B-movie horror and grindhouse exploitation films. Jeffrey’s morally questionable methods and complete unraveling tap into familiar tropes of mad scientists meddling with forces beyond their control. The chaotic Frankenhooker rampage provides plenty of campy, schlocky thrills. And the movie’s ridiculous but unique take on the Frankenstein story stands out even among the most outrageous horror movies of the era.

Cast

James Lorinz as Jeffrey Franken
Patty Mullen as Frankenhooker
Louise Lasser as Elizabeth Shelley
John Zacherle as TV Weatherman

Trivia

– The movie Frankenhooker (1990) was written and directed by Frank Henenlotter on a budget of just $1 million.
– It took over 2 years to finally secure financing and start production.
– Most of the prostitutes were played by real NYC streetwalkers.
– One scene shows a collection of tools used by serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer who was active at the time.
– It was rated R in the US for violence, gore, drugs and nudity.