31 days of horror Year 3 day 19

Frankenhooker

1990
Unearthed Films Special Uncut edition DVD

Where I grew up we didn't have access to cable until the end of 1990. But once we got cable I would look through the Showtime guide each month and make it a point to record every horror movie that came on. Well in 91 or 92 late one night they showed Frankenhooker. And with a title like that I knew I had to see it. I was so excited for the movie I stayed up to 3am to watch it. And since I didn't get any sleep that night I faked being sick the next day and didn't go to school. This is another classic film from Frank Henenlotter.One thing that was neat was the VHS release. The box had a sound chip in it and when you pressed a button on it you heard the Frankenhooker say "WANNA DATE!". I would love to get one of them that still works but the prices are way more than I am willing to pay.

We start off at the lead actor's birthday party. He is wanting to show his chubby girlfriend his remote control lawnmower. But something isn't working right and she gets killed by the lawnmower. Well he saves her head and decides to rebuild her body. But he only wants to use the perfect parts.

So he goes around NYC picking up hookers,killing them and taking whatever body part they have that he finds perfect. One great scene has him taking a group of about 10 hookers up to a ratty motel room. The hookers are dancing around and he is checking out their bodies. But see he has created what he calls "SUPER CRACK". And has brought a duffel bag full of it with him. Well the hookers find it and start to smoke the super crack. This causes them to blow up in a matter of minutes. But finally he has all the parts he needs to bring his girlfriend back to life.

He brings her back to life in a scene very similar to the scene in the original Frankenstein when the doctor brings the creature to life. But there is a problem. It seems somehow the various body parts of the hookers have taken over her mind. So she wanders off to the 42nd street area of NYC and starts picking up johns. Which she kills quickly.

The DVD is full of extras. We get a commentary with Frank and Gabe Bartalos. A long interview with Patty "Frankenhooker" Mullen. A featurette showing how they did lots of the FX work.A couple of trailers and some production photos. I know that this has either just come out on Blu Ray or is coming out soon. I think Synapse is the company releasing it. I hope they port over all the extras from this release. FrankenHooker gets a B.