For some odd reason whenever a character gets popular especially in the world of horror the only thing that alot of these low budget filmmakers seem to think is the funny thing to do with them is to turn them female. Which granted worked well enough for The Invisible Man but it is something that really is oddly also done with Frankenstein as that's the very thing that the makers of the film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today did and so then join me as I review the film that oddly enough has a quote on the poster from an actual Ghostbuster with film in question being called simply just "Frankenhooker" enjoy.
The plot of this film is sometime after he accidentally kills his fiancée Elizabeth an amateur scientist called Jeffrey Franken tries to bring her back to life by using parts of other peoples bodies. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually feature / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad with the films plot basically being a cult hit film version of the plot from Frankenstein only now it's set in modern day 1990 and that's really it and to be fair that's all this film really needed as you can tell right from the plot of the movie that this films plot was never going to be that good as the film does spend a shockingly high amount of time just in setting up the plot of the film then it does in actually telling us the plot of the film which is something that does make huge portions of this film plot feel unneeded and nothing more then filler but at the same time tho it's those scenes that do add to the films camp factor as this is a film that by the title alone you just know is going to be campy and have elements of camp in it and while the films plot isn't as good as it really could have been it's also not as bad is it perhaps should have been either as you really can tell that the makers of this film really are paying a loving homage to certain aspects of the Frankenstein story which really is fair enough but at the same time tho it really does rob this film of the chance to be it's own unique thing with the few unique ideas that this film does have feeling very rushed and thrown in at the last second with the plot of this film also not really bein really rather entertaining and nor is it really rather engaging either in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this film is James Lorinz as Jeffrey Franken and Patty Mullen as Elizabeth Shelley / Frankenhooker. Also starring in this film is Charlotte Kemp as Honey , Lia Chang as Crystal , Jennifer DeLora as Angel , Heather Hunter as Chartreuse , Kimberly Taylor as Amber , Shirley Stoler as Spike , Louise Lasser as Mrs. Franken , Joanne Ritchie as Mrs. Shelley , J. J. Clark as Mr. Shelley , Carissa Channing as Dolores , Helmar Cooper as Detective Anderson , Joseph Gonzalez as Zorro and Paul-Felix Montez as Goldie.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually feature / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. As while this film was never ever going to win any kind of awards for it's acting or it's plot you can still tell that this films actors were at the very least trying to turn in a good performance as they all do a passable job of portraying there respective characters with even untrained actors like Patty Mullen who had done a few other films before retiring from acting after being in this film and Charlotte Kemp being really good in there respective roles with the best actor in the whole entire film being James Lorinz as Jeffrey Franken as he does get alot of the films more darkly funny lines all of which he does manage to pull off really well with him really carrying this whole film on his back as alot of this films actors are models with no acting expirence and yet you still can tell that he's having a blast in this film with the only thing that really lets down this films acting is the fact that all of this films actors do feel lost with it feeling like that that this films director and co-writer Frank Henenlotter really had no idea of how to direct his actors with the thing that really does let down the overall the quality of the acting that's in this very film being he fact that this films script is just so bad as it gives none of this fi9lms actors absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does lower the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.
Character wise this film does about as well as you'd think that a film like this one would do as none of the films characters are really memorable but there also not forgettable either. As characters like Jeffery and the titular character are indeed very memorable characters with both character displaying traits that do help to make them stand out alot like for example Jeffery inorder to calm himself down alot of the time will drill a hole into his own head which is a uniquely funny and quirky idea with the character even frequently questioning on if what he's doing is the right thing or not which was something that we don't really see in a horror films and yet here even tho it was mostly played for laughs is still something that this character does still process a basic understanding of right and wrong and with the films titular character when she eventually brought back to life by Jeffery the only things that she can say are the things that the girls that Jeffery killed to get the parts that he needed last said to him which again is a unique idea and yet it's one that doesn't get fully explored in this film as it's one that's mainly played for laughs with the films characters being let down by it's side characters as all of them come across as being very dimensional characters at best as none of them have anything interesting about them that makes them stand out from one another even Zorro who it could be argued is the films main villain doesn't have anything interesting about his personality outside of the fact that he has clear anger issues and that's really it with it being made clear as day that the makers of this film were just banking on people watching the film because of it's title and not because of the fact that it has memorable characters or a decent plot in it in the first place.
As you all can no doubt work out or the films title this film is a more modern retelling of the Frankenstein story. However unlike Young Frankenstein which took it's inspiration from the 1931 movie this film seems to take it's inspiration from both the book and the film only it does nothing new and funny with them when it really could have done plenty of funny things just with the 1931 movie alone and yet it instead chose to tell the most basic and uninspired story that it could have done and yet if you look at Young Frankenstein as even tho that film is pretty much just that original film but told in a more comedic tone they chose to keep on playing it straight and do things lie they most likely would have done in the original film to make the comedy all the more funnier which had the adverse effect of making the films plot seem new and original as well and yet here in this film despite the fact that it's set in the nineties everything about this film just doesn't feel right as they could have gone to new and interesting places with the original material and yet outside of the last names of both Jeffery and Elizabeth there's nothing that really makes this film feel like a Frankenstein parody which is where the film shines it's best as does give a chance for us to see these truly iconic scenes but done in a nineties fashion and yet the film only does that once in the whole film and yet if the film adapted scenes from the original novel which they would have had every right to do but instead of playing them straight they instead played it up for laughs then it would have made this film feel like an original take on the story as it would have been lovingly poking fun at what made the original novel work so well in the place and yet for one reason or another the makers of this film instead chose not to go that route with this film which does leave us with a film that doesn't feel as good as it perhaps could have been.
This film was never destined to be a hit film as just by the title and plot of the film alone it was always going to be a cult film. With it eventually becoming exactly that and that's exactly where this type of film does thrive as it then allows the film to go to those weird and out there places that more mainstream films just would never do and yet because of the fact that this film does indeed go to those places be with Frankenhooker only being able to say the last thing that the owners of the parts she's now wearing said or the fact that her insides are quite literally just made up of electricity everything about this film just screams cult film and while yes there might be other better cult films out there this one does deserve it's credit as well as this film did indeed do some wacky and out there stuff all of which are things that do work in the film and even the fact that the makers of this film managed to get a quote for the poster by Ghostbusters icon and star Bill Murray is more then enough to make this film feel like a cult film and heck this film even could have had a sequel as there places to go with the story that would have been just as wacky and out there with the rest of the film and while this film does indeed put more of a focus on it's horror then it's comedy the films comedy is still pretty decent in it's own right the film having plenty of dark jokes that will manage to get a smile out of people with perhaps the ending of the movie being the best joke of the lot which i'm not going to spoil as its a joke that you really do need to see in order to believe as it is a joke that does fit the movies more wacky and campy tone with the only thing that does let the films comedy down quite a bit being the fact that the films really doesn't go all the way with alot of it's jokes.
To put it frankly Jeffery's plan was never going to work in the first place as his plan revolves around him finding fresh parts to rebuild his girlfriend. Which he does find by killing hookers but due to the fact that he promised to rebuild them as well it means that he was always going to be killing and rebuilding the same people so he would have found himself in a never ending circle that would have seen him being driven mad due to the fact that he would killed alot of people whereas if he just said that he wasn't going to rebuild the hookers then he could have ended the circle when he rebuilt his girlfriend as that was his original goal but due to the fact that he also promised to rebuild these girls who he barely knows as well it means that eventually he'll either get arrested by the police due to the fact that he would have killed alot of people or he would been driven insane either way it was a plan that was never going to work in the place but you could argue that that was the point of the film as well as the fact that that's also a problem with the original source material as both Jeffery and the original Dr. Frankenstein have this weird obsession with death and due to the fact that this film is meant to be a comedy and therefor giving him this rather outlandish plan is something that does work for a comedy but interms of the context of the film it's not something that works all that well and is something that should been worked on a bit more longer in the films script then what it was but as the makers of the film were far more interested in setting up the plot of the film rather then giving the character a good plan it is something that does make the characters plan feel more like an afterthought.
Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and twenty four minuets and sixteen seconds. Which to be fair to this film is pretty much the exact running time that you'd expect a film like this one to have and again to be fair to this film this film does have the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time in the first place however tho as was to be expected from a film like this one this film really doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as the film doesn't take the time to fully develop it's plot with the film being a slow burner when it really doesn't have the time to be that as the film spends around an hour just on Jeffery trying to get the right parts which would be fine if this film was nearer two hours but it's not and therefor that's something that should have been done by the thirty to forty minuet mark as that would have allowed the film to fully develop it's plot with this even effecting the films character development as well as the film doesn't take the time that it really should have done to fully develop it's characters and yet if the film did take the time to fully develop all of it's characters then the film would have round up being all the more better because of it and yet because of the fact that the film is clearly alot more focused on being a slow burner when it really doesn't have the time to be one it does mean that we are stuck with both a plot and characters that aren't as well developed as they really could have been with both of these issues being something that very easily could have been fixed if the film was ten or even twenty minuets longer but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a horror film that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual kills that are actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual kills that are actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. With the film having kills that are alot more better then what they really should have been given the fact that this film had a very small production budget but given the fact that Frankenhooker basically kills people with electricity it does mean that the films kills do end up being alot more better and more comical then what they really had any right to be and yet even with all of that mind in mind it's not Frankenhooker that has the best kill in the film rather it's Jeffery as when he's trying out the girls for the parts that he needs they all get into bag and find a drug that he's been preparing to give one of them due to the fact that it kills the user within minuets of taking it and yet because they all take it they all end up blowing up really creative ways all of which do yes look cheap but that's something that does add the humor of the scene as you can tell right away where the film replaces the actor getting blown up with dummy with that being something that makes the film more funny to watch and while the film does indeed put alot more focus on it's horror aspect then it does it's comedy aspect it's the fact that all of the films kills are ever the top and corny that helps to make them more funny then it does outright scary and that is something that does make the films kills stand out all the more in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall whilst this film isn't anywhere close to being good given the films title that is always something that was always going to be the case and to be fair this film is alot of fun to watch this is despite the fact that the film does have alot of flaws in it that prevent this film from being great in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used inn this very review well then boys and girls and well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally sued in this very review from Tenor , Amazon . Co . Uk , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images from this film being Google Images simply because Google Images actually has images from this film really are up and on Google Images and plus pretty much much all of the images that I personally found on Google Images were all really very fairly high quality and as well as being as really very fairly high definition as well and so then horror fans we end this review as we always do with really our one and true goddess Elvira wishing us all some really very unpleasant dreams.
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