
We have entered the camp corner of the blog with this week’s entry. Shout out to the people of the internet for introducing me to this one.
I saw references to this movie after Poor Things came out, stating that the two movies were very similar, and with a name like Frankenhooker, I knew it had to go on the list. So here we are! Your unhelpful review of a most magical story. Away we go!
Briefly, and Without Spoilers
After the tragic death of his wife Elizabeth (Patty Mullen), Jeffrey Franken (James Lorinz) obsessively looks for a way to bring her back. Using his unorthodox research into “bioelectricity,” Jeffrey finds a solution–but he’s forced to choose between his love and his morals.
Does it sound serious? It’s not. Let me explain.
“Hello, Jersey Boy” (Spoilers Ahead!!!)
I thought this movie was fantastic. Let’s just get that out of the way. Did I learn anything about myself? Did I learn anything about the world around me? Do I have a better understanding of the human condition? No to all of the above. But not all movies have to be that way. Sometimes you can just sit down for a good time.
Poor Things does in some ways feel like if you took Frankenhooker and turned it into a three-hour, high-brow film. And if you scaled back the camp significantly. So I definitely get the comparison.

I also think Frankenhooker is a great example of a movie that not everyone is going to like. Without a doubt. There’s the obvious explicitness of the movie that might put off some but it’s also dumb and outrageous and not trying to win any awards. If you didn’t get the vibe from the moment Elizabeth was killed by a remote-controlled lawnmower, then you’ve set the bar too high for a movie like this.
Death by remote-controlled lawnmower. And not like it cuts just the right artery. It seemed to eat her? And that scene of the old cop counting body parts and being visibly confused while that news lady is describing the scene in the most unnecessarily detailed way is its own aesthetic.
Now I have to admit, the parts with just Jeffrey were not my favorite. I did appreciate the “Italian dinner” scene and the whole drilling into his brain to relieve pressure without spilling any blood was fun, but I would argue Jeffrey was probably the least interesting part about this movie. Which I feel like isn’t uncommon in high-camp or -comedy movies when someone has to be moving the plot along. But he also ends up being a terrible POS so like, I don’t mind that he’s mildly blah.
God Bless Honey
Okay, I’m fairly certain that the prostitute portion of the movie is probably the most controversial and potentially problematic, but I liked those women. One-dimensional? Sure. Clearly just a punchline? Definitely. Not the best portrayal of sex workers? Obviously. But there are a lot of good things to say about them, too.
Honey (Charlotte J. Helmkamp), for example, is a woman who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to go get it. Her character’s attitude is everything many women aspire to be: assertive, career-driven, and fashionable. We like Honey and we like the other sex workers.
The fact that they blew up because they ingested the Super Crack™ that Jeffrey made is not only one of the most insane ways to kill off a bunch of characters, it’s also strangely ingenious. I love that there are all these women screeching and exploding and everyone else in that building is just…business as usual? Nobody hears them, not even Zorro (Joseph Gonzalez) when he’s literally standing right outside the door. Ridiculousness at its finest.
Who is Zorro?
I kind of can’t explain this, but the character of Zorro fascinates me. It’s literally like they went to a Gold’s Gym in Jersey, found a guy pumping iron, and gave him a job. He was outrageously jacked and clearly wasn’t an actor.

And thanks to Big Gay Horror Fan, we have confirmation that that is EXACTLY what happened. Turns out they pulled Gonzalez, literally from a gym, for a previous movie the director (Frank Henenlotter) made called Brain Damage and thought he’d make a great Zorro as well.
Zorro ends up being a scumbag and it is absolutely a good time when the sex workers kill him in the end, but I couldn’t get over how obvious it was how he became part of the project. Joseph, if you’re out there and reading this, we’d like to know how you’re doing. We hope you’re doing well.
Anyway…
Yes, this movie is not perfect by any means. But it’s everything you want a campy movie from the early ‘90s to be. Outrageous deaths, stupid storylines, low-budget effects, it’s all incredible. But, as I mentioned before, this is not the kind of movie that everyone is going to like. If you’re turned off by the phrase “sex workers exploding after ingesting Super Crack™” then maybe you should skip this one. But if you are all in on the calamity, then this one is worth setting aside time for.
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