25 Seriously Cult Movies You Need To See Before You Die
15. Frankenhooker (1990)
Desperate to finance a picture to shoot alongside Basket Case 2, Frank Henenlotter improvised Frankenhookers plot in a pitch meeting, riffing on The Brain That Wouldnt Die (1963) and bringing it into the 90s with the protagonist now an employee of New Jersey Electric who loses his beloved to a souped-up, out-of-control lawnmower. Thank goodness Jeffrey Franken (James Lorinz) is Sort of a surgeon in his spare time because he can stash his fiancees severed head in his lab and read it poetry in between attempting to procure a new body. This he does by window-shopping Times Squares working girls, searching for the one he can make a new woman out of, which allows Henenlotter to depict New Yorks scuzzier elements in much the same way as he did in Basket Case (1982). Lighter in tone and more cartoonish than Henenlotters Brain Damage, Frankenhooker stood out on release by virtue of not being a slasher sequel, but the blending of horror, comedy and gross-out setpieces works better here than in Basket Case 2 and besides, how can you hate a film with the tagline, A terrifying tale of sluts and bolts!
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
