FRANKENHOOKER (1990)
Label: Synapse Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 84 Minutes 13 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo and Remastered 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Dolby Vision HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Frank Henenlotter
Cast: James Lorinz, Patty Mullen, Louise Lasser, Joseph Gonzalez, Joanne Ritchie, J.J. Clark
Spike (Shirley Stoler, Three O'Clock High) bartender butch Buenos grande
Frankenhooker (1990) is a delightfully absurd re-imagining of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as imagined through the warped mind of director Frank Henelotter (Bad Biology). In New Jersey native Jeffrey Franken (James Lorinz, Street Trash) is a medical school drop-out and aspiring mad scientist who at the start of the film gives life to an aquatic brain with a cyclopean eyeball that he keeps in a fish tank. When his fiancé Elizabeth (Penthouse magazine’s “Pet of the Year” in 1988 Patty Mullen, Doom Asylum), which establishes that this is a guy who like to fool around with the laws of nature, which comes in handy when later the same day his wife massacred by a remote-controlled lawnmower of his own design. Afterward he spirals in depression out with guilt and regret and sets about to resurrect his wife. After the accident he manages to save her head, but he has to build a new body for her from scratch, using only the best body parts from NYC's finest prostitutes, which he sets out to procure while cruising the seedy streets, It seems to him that crack is already killing people on the streets, so in his lab he creates a new, even deadlier form of "super-crack" to kill the prostitute he selects to serve as the body for his soon-to-be resurrected wife.
While talking to some working girls on the street he encounters the musclebound pimp Zorro (Joseph Gonzalez, Brain Damage), after working out a deal with him Jeffrey orders up his finest selection of whores, arranging for them to party with him at a hotel room, none of them aware of his true intentions. Among them hookers we have Honey (Charlotte J Helmcamp, Repossessed), Amber (Kimberly Taylor, Beauty School), Angel (Jennifer Delora, Robot Holocaust), Krystal (Lia Chang, Big Trouble in Little China), Anise (Susan Napoli, New York Nights), Chartreuse (Heather Hunter, He Got Game), Snow (Gittan Godin, 91/2 Weeks), Sugar (Vicky Darnell, Brain Damage) and Monkey (Sandy Colismo, Posed for Murder). As Jeffrey plays "doctor" he sets about choosing the perfect woman with the perfect parts in a fun montage of measuring breasts, arms and legs in an attempt to assess which one of the street walkers has the finest assets, marking the choice body parts with an "X" in permanent marker. However, when the whores grow impatient, they prematurely discover his stash of super-crack and start smoking it, despite his warning that it will kill them, which has the unfortunate side effect of causing the ecstatic drug-addled ladies to literally explode. Not in a super, blood-spattered, gory sort of way, it's way sillier than that, we get glorified mannequins stuffed with M-80 explosives. Making the most of the unfortunate event Jeffery is able to cherry pick the best parts off the floor (each conveniently pre-marked with an "X") and takes them back to his makeshift garage/laboratory, where he puts his dubious medical knowledge to the test, resurrecting his beloved Elizabeth in true Mary Shelly's Frankenstein style during an especially intense lightning storm.
However, once resurrected things don't quite go as Jeffrey had planned, and it becomes clear that Elizabeth has picked up many of the street walking personality traits of the sex workers that now comprise her new, voluptuous body. She starts spouting off stock street walker phrases like "wanna date... got any money, looking for some action?". When Jeffrey tells her he has no money she knocks him out cold and makes her way to, where else, 42nd Street to turn tricks. Her first john is a horny pear-shaped sleaze (David Lipman, The Exterminator) who unexpectedly gets a deadly dose of the Frankenhooker's high-voltage discharge.
What's so great about Henenlotter's campy re-imagining of Frankenstein is how gleefully absurd it is, never taking itself seriously for a moment, it revels in the utter deranged ridiculousness of it. James Lorinz is fantastic as the amateur mad scientist who occasionally performs trephination upon himself with a drill to relieve stress. He looks quite a bit like Andrew McCarthy by way of Jeffrey Combs, and the tone of his line deliveries are spot-on for the sort of campy film this is, with witty dialogue and monologues acting opposite the always great Louise Lasser (Blood Rage), who plays his clueless but unconditionally loving mother. Patty Mullen's adorable performance is also a home run, she's so stinkin' cute, with her purple lips, nips and hair, with a smokin' hot Frankenstein'd body, with that crooked mouth of hers, just lovely.
The film's special effects are pretty great but may not be what you're expecting from the man behind Basket Case and Brain Dead, they're totally campy, nearly bloodless and not played with any sense of realism. In the aforementioned exploding whores on super crack scene the bodies are obviously dressed-up mannequins as per Hennenlotter's vision, and it totally works. Patty Mullens's make-up effects are fantastic; she absolutely looks like the hottest whore comprised of body parts you'll ever see. The film's finale features the unused body parts of Zorro's whore recombining in oddball configurations, whch would noy have been out of place in Henenlotter's Basket Case.
Audio/Video: Frankenhooker gets the 4k UHD upgrade from Synapse Films presented in 1.78:1 widescreen in 2160p HD, sourced from original 35mm vault elements, with HDR10 Dolby Vision color-grade. I thought the previous Blu-ray looked pretty good for its time, but this is an excellent upgrade in 4K. Grain is nicely resolved throughout, texture and fine detail in the close-ups look fantastic, everything feels quite filmic as far as texture and detail, with pleasing depth and clarity to the image. The Dolby Vision color-grade is really quiet something, the neon and candy-colored highlights are perfectly dialed in, wonderfully suffuse but not over-pumped. The neon glow and bright lights of 42nd Street look wonderful, and the 3-tone skin tones of Frankenhooker herself, purple nips and all, looks amazing.
Audio options include both DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo and newly remastered 5.1 surround mixes with optional English subtitles. The tracks are clean and well-balanced, Dialogue is always crisp and clear and the score and effects are well balanced. I don't remember caring much for the surround track when I last watched the previous Blu-ray release but this time around it's been remastered, and I thought it was nicely improved, it's still front heavy but depth, clarity and sound stage are nicely enhanced, and the Joe Renzetti (Dead and Buried) benefits from the more immersive sound design.
Sadly, there are no new extras for this 4K release, I was sort of hoping Synapse would be able to license the extras from the Arrow Video 2011 UK Blu-ray, seeing as how they've collaborated on a couple of Dario Argento releases these past few years, but nope, didn't happen. That said, they do carry over the archival extras from the previous 2011 Blu-ray. We start off with an Audio Commentary with director Frank Henelotter and make-up effects creator Gabe Bartalos, it's a good technical track with some fun insights into the making of the film. Not the most riveting track but if you're a fan of the film it's a keeper. We also get the 9-min A Salad That Was Once Named Elizabeth with actress and former Penthouse Pet Patty Mullen who reflects on her favorite and least favorite scenes, driving home in the full Frankenhooker make-up, memories of working with Lorinz and her crush on special effects advisor Gabe Bartalos. Next, the 21-min A Stitch in Time: The Make-Up Effects of Frankenhooker with Gabe Bartalos introducing some cool behind-the-scenes footage of not just Frankenhooker but also Brain Damage and offering heaps the praise on Patty Mullen. The 20-min Turning Tricks: Jennifer Delora Remembers Frankenhooker features red-headed wild woman Delora, the type of dame that just has crazy in her eyes and it makes for a fun interview as she speaks to going from an '87 beauty queen to working on Bad Girls Dormitory and then dishing some dirt from the set of Frankenhooker. Definitely a fun woman but not one you'd want to piss of, know what I mean? Disc extras are buttoned-up with Jennifer Delora's Frankenhooker Scrapbook featuring behind-the-scenes pics and the 2-min Theatrical Trailer.
The single disc release arrives in a black keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the original movie poster artwork. The Synapse webstore advertises this as having a Reversible Wrap, it does not, the reversible wrap looks to be limited to their limited edition 2-disc 4K/Blu-ray set, but not the standard edition.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Director Frank Henenlotter and Make-Up Effects Designer Gabe Bartalos
- A Salad That Was Once Named Elizabeth – Patty Mullen Featurette (8:49)
- Stitch in Time: The Make-Up Effects of Frankenhooker 20:56)
- Turning Tricks: Jennifer Delora Remembers Frankenhooker (19:32)
- Jennifer Delora’s Frankenhooker Photo Scrapbook (11:21)
- Theatrical Trailer (1:32)
- 4K Dolby Vision 2160p Ultra High-definition (1.78:1) presentation created by Synapse Films
- Newly remastered 5.1 surround sound mix (original English 2.0 sound mix also included).
Frankenhooker continues to be a wonderfully absurd cult-comedy riff on Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, one that reeks of the 80's with its irreverent humor and candy-colored neon-glow, as only someone like Frank Henenlotter could conjure. Whenever I throw this I am instantly transported back to late-night viewings of cult comedies like The Man with Two Brains, Doctor Detroit and Weird Science, it's just a fun time all around, chock full of naked ladies, campy humor and lighthearted sleaze. The new Synapse Films 4K UHD release offers a terrific 4K upgrade with a spiffy new HDR color-grade that I found quite dazzling. I wish we had some new or expanded extras, sure, but still a terrific upgrade. The film is also available as a standalone Blu-ray, or a Two-Disc 4K Ultra HD+ Remastered Blu-ray Limited Edition with a Chipboard Slipcase, which is still available on the Synapse webstore HERE at the time of this review.
