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Review by
Rod Barnett
Film:7
BD:10
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| The films
of Frank Henenlotter are not for everyone. I wouldn't call them
an acquired taste because I think most people have a visceral
reaction to them that defines how they feel about movies like
Basket Case without any deep thought
getting in the way. I think this reaction is mainly because, as
much as they appear on the surface to be horror films, Henenlotter's
movies are actually comedies. Anyone who has ever tried to recommend
a funny film to someone can tell you that the hardest genre to
get two people to agree about is comedy. If you don't find something
or someone funny there is nothing anyone else can do to get you
to appreciate the humor of, say, The Three Stooges. You either
laugh at the eye-poke or you don't. In the same way, if the sight
of a talking parasite that feeds its host a narcotic for carrying
out its homicidal requests doesn't strike you as amusing then
Henenlotter's second film Brain Damage
is not for you. And, by extension, I can say that this means your
reaction to any one of his movies will tell you if you'll like
all of them. None of them are going to ever be called the best
filmmaking the world has to offer but his energy, inventiveness,
humor and warped sense of the way the world works marks Henelotter
as one of the best kinds of American auteur — the truly independent
kind. |
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Frankenhooker
was the writer/director's fourth film and appears to have had
a higher budget than the first three combined. This extra cash
is clearly onscreen from the beginning with a very professional
look to the production that, to 21st century eyes, seems to simultaneously
improve and date the movie a bit more than earlier efforts. This
movie is an unashamed product of the late 1980s and only a story
as over-the-top as this could make that a good thing. The fashions
alone make Frankenhooker
an embarrassing time capsule of hideousness... and then the sewed-together
hooker beast shows up and the madness goes into the stratosphere! |
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Obviously based (very)
loosely on the classic Mary Shelley novel, the film tells the
sad story of misunderstood inventor and part-time medical student
Jeffrey Franken (James Lorinz). After his modified lawn mower
accidentally reduces his fiancée to a pile of veal cutlets Jeffrey's
grief is so great that he vows to bring his beloved back to life.
As he has only been able to salvage her head he will need to find
her a fresh or semi-fresh body for attachment. Now, where would
you look for a female that wouldn't be missed by too many people?
That's right — Time's Square in the '80s was packed to the gutters
with prostitutes of every description, so its there our mad doctor
goes with a stethoscope, a tape measure and a plan. That his plan
involves his rather dangerous new invention Super-Crack might
not seem too bad an idea... What Time's Square prostitute is going
to turn down free drugs? But the fact that this drug has the terrible
side effect of making the user literally explode doesn't factor
into Jeffrey's thinking until he's standing in a room filled with
random hooker parts wondering which pieces he should salvage.
Needless to say, our hero eventually fashions a serviceable woman
out of the bits but things don't go quite the way he would have
wished. |
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If you can get on this
movie's wavelength it is an extremely funny tale. As already mentioned,
Henelotter's movies are cockeyed horror comedies and that makes
them harder to appreciate than the average low budget horror film
or low budget comedy. I suspect that only horror fans with a taste
for low brow humor will be able to get past the first 20 minutes
and discover the real cleverness at the heart of this mad scientist
love story. The story is filled with real wit, amusing observations
and a cast of colorful characters that make predicting what will
happen next almost impossible. The film is over the top and completely
insane in ways that defy easy categorization. What other movie
features a stitched together woman turning tricks in an hysterically
robotic manner like some fantasy blow-up doll in the middle of
a story punctuated by touching scenes of its main character reciting
love poetry to his dead girlfriend? The film is strange — maybe
stranger than it needs to be — but I really enjoyed it and if
the idea of a man filing a bunion off a foot he's about to attach
to his beloved's new body causes a grin for you, so be it. I'm
tempted to chant "One of Us!" repeatedly. |
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Synapse Films has issued Frankenhooker
on Blu-ray with all the love you could hope for. The film print
was taken from original vault materials and is presented in gorgeous
widescreen with both 5.1 and 2.0 audio options. I had never seen
the movie before this disc arrived but I can't imagine it looked
this good in earlier incarnations. The picture is bright with
colors that really pop, especially in the neon lit scenes shot
on location in New York. The Blu comes with lots of great extras
as well, starting with a commentary track featuring Henenlotter
and his make-up effects designer Gabe Bartalos. The writer/director
does most of the talking, as he should, and proves to be just
as entertaining in this venue as he is as a filmmaker. His tales
of the madness involved in shooting around crack houses and only
semi-legally are a hoot. (I would hope he's given the chance to
do similar tracks for all of his work.) The other extras include
a short interview with the mighty Frankenhooker herself, Patty
Mullen, called A Salad That Was Once Named Elizabeth; the
featurette A Stitch in Time: The Make-up Effects of Frankenhooker
and Turning Tricks, an interview with actress Jennifer
Delora and her time spent as a cinema 'hooker'. Ms. Delora is
very funny relating her attitude toward doing onscreen nudity
at the time and I was glad that she was given another short piece
to show off her photo scrapbook from the production. This unexpected
peek behind the scenes is a blast. The film's theatrical trailer
rounds thing out and the case comes with a reversible cover sporting
alternate promotional art. What more could a horror hound wish
for? 1/26/12 |
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