- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English LPCM 2.0 Stereo (48kHz/16-bit)
- Subtitles: English
- Region: ABC (Region-Free)
- Certification: 18
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Studio: Arrow Video
- Run Time: 84 Mins.
- Blu-ray Release Date: January 2, 2012
- RRP: £16.99
[amazon-product region=”uk” tracking_id=”bluraydefinit-21″]B005QW2RMQ[/amazon-product]
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Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3.5/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
Another of the classic cult films from director Frank Henenlotter (Basket Case; Brain Damage), 1990’s Frankenhooker, according to the director himself, as told in the supplements on this very disc, is an outrageous story that was developed on the fly while he was pitching to a producer in hopes to get money for Basket Case 2.
In typical Henenlotter style, Frankenhooker is loaded with cheesy prosthetic special effects, campy comedy, and wry, almost existential commentary on contemporary culture. The story is a wild one that follows one Jeffrey Franken (James Lorinz), an electrician obsessed with medical experiments who loses his fiancé in a freak lawnmower accident that decides to rebuild her. Only being able to save her head from the accident, Jeffrey decides to gather body parts from New York City hookers, developing “super crack” that will kill them instantly when they smoke it.
Exploding hookers, patently fake limbs, copious amounts naked boobs and overacting so ridiculous it’s campy and laughable all make Frankenhooker a memorable B-movie.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Now this is what a cult film restoration from the early-90s should like. Unlike the Image Entertainment Blu-ray release of Basket Case, which looks okay, but not great, this Arrow release of Frankenhooker has great colors, stable blacks, a relatively clean overall image and just a thin layer of grain. Of course, this was filmed on 35mm versus Basket Case‘s 16mm, which could account for a lot of the improvement. The AVC/MPEG-4 1080p encodement doesn’t show any issues with compression or any sort of edge enhancement.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Although it is labeled as English Mono, the soundtrack is actually a LPCM 2.0 Stereo (48kHz/16-bit) mix. It offers clean dialogue, but the stereo panning for the mix has some odd, off-putting choices at times in which sounds are panned hard left or hard right. Music and sound effects are also not very clean.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3.5/5]
Several UK exclusives in 1080p are included on disc plus a booklet with production stills and essay by Callum Waddell. Also includes a double-sided fold-out Frankenhooker poster.
The supplements:
- Exclusive UK audio commentary with director Frank Henenlotter and star James Lorinz
- UK Exclusive introduction to the film by actor James Lorinz and Director Frank Henenlotter (1080p/24)
- UK Exclusive – Your Date’s on a Plate, the Making of Frankenhooker (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:39:22)
- UK Exclusive Tour of the Gabe Bartalos Effects Lab (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:19:12)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (1.33:1; 1080p/24)
- Frank Henenlotter Trailer Reel (1080p/24; 00:04:12) – Trailers for the classic Frank Henenlotter cult films Basket Case, Basket Case 2 and Brain Damage.
- A Salad That Was Once Named Elizabeth: Patty Mullen Remembers Frankenhooker (1.33:1; 480i/60; 00:08:48)
- A Stitch in Time: The Make-Up Effects of Frankenhooker (1.33:1; 480i/60; 00:20:55)
- Turning Tricks: Jennifer Delora Remembers Frankenhooker (1.78:1; 480i/60; 00:19:32)
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3.5/5]
Oscar material this clearly isn’t, but for some laughs at a campy B-grade horror flick that is an obvious cult classic, Frankenhooker on region-free Blu-ray from Arrow offers a fine package.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product region=”uk” tracking_id=”bluraydefinit-21″]B005QW2RMQ[/amazon-product]
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.co.uk
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3.5/5]
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