Frank Henenlotter | |
---|---|
![]() Henenlotter at the Extrême Cinéma film festival in France, 2016 | |
Born | |
Occupations |
|
Frank Henenlotter (born August 29, 1950) is an American film director, screenwriter and film historian. He is known primarily for directing horror comedies, especially Basket Case (1982), Brain Damage (1988), and Frankenhooker (1990).
Despite being known as a horror filmmaker, Henenlotter has expressed a preference for being classified as an "exploitation" filmmaker, stating in 2010: "I never felt that I made 'horror films'. I always felt that I made exploitation films. Exploitation films have an attitude more than anything – an attitude that you don't find with mainstream Hollywood productions. They're a little ruder, a little raunchier, they deal with material people don't usually touch on, whether it's sex or drugs or rock and roll." [1]
Henenlotter was born in New York City in 1950. In a 1982 interview with Fangoria , Henenlotter recalled 1946's Valley of the Zombies as being the first film he remembers seeing, which he watched on television around 1958. [2] He also remembered seeing The Wolf Man (1941) on TV at an early age, as well as The Tingler (1959) in a theater at age nine. [2] Around age 14, Henenlotter began making films on 8 mm. [3]
Henenlotter's films were inspired by the exploitation and sexploitation films he loved, such as those that played on 42nd Street in New York City in the 1960s and 1970s. His first 16 mm short film, The Slash of the Knife, was completed in 1972. [3] It was at one point intended to be screened alongside a midnight showing of Pink Flamingos in New York, but this plan was abandoned due to the former reportedly being deemed too offensive (later speaking to Fangoria, Henenlotter stated, "Can you imagine a film too offensive to play with Pink Flamingos?"). [3]
During the production of Slash of the Knife, Henenlotter met producer Edgar Ievins, [3] and the two eventually collaborated on an unrealized film project titled Ooze. [4] Henenlotter recalled, "We tried to get the money for Ooze and couldn't, so I just wrote a film that could be made for far less money. Right out in front, I wrote a film that was designed to be made for a low, low budget." [4] The resulting screenplay of Henenlotter's first feature film, Basket Case , was written by Henenlotter as he walked around Times Square, which he called a "seedy, wonderful atmosphere." [5] Although shot on 16 mm film on a budget of about $35,000, [6] it was blown up to 35 mm for its original theatrical release in 1982, [7] and despite receiving mixed reviews upon release, Basket Case has since become considered a cult film. [8] [9]
Following Basket Case 3: The Progeny , Henenlotter became deeply involved in the release slate of the specialty video releasing outfit Something Weird Video; he has also been instrumental in rescuing many low-budget sexploitation and exploitation films from being destroyed, including the camp classic The Curious Dr. Humpp (1971). Many of these works have been released under Something Weird's specialty logo "Frank Henenlotter's Sexy Shockers." [10]
During the 16 years following Basket Case 3, a number of Henenlotter feature projects came close to production, including "Sick in the Head," Henenlotter's first script collaboration with R.A. the Rugged Man, at one point scheduled to be produced under the aegis of Fangoria magazine; but, coincident with the general economic downturn, financing evaporated.[ citation needed ] Henenlotter has also noted the conflicts he had with producers over the film, who caused Henenlotter to exit the project after urging him to re-edit his script to be "more like Saw ." [11] R.A. subsequently was able to find a new deal and very modest financing through his music industry contacts, so Bad Biology was conceived to be shot for an extremely low budget, for extremely limited, unrated theatrical play, and subsequent video release. Right before production was to begin, Henenlotter was notified of a cancer diagnosis. He elected to persist with the production while receiving radiation treatment. [12] Though only attendees at film festivals and special film events have had the opportunity to see the film (shot on traditional 35mm at Henenlotter's insistence) projected in a theater, Henenlotter claims the low budget, independent financing and the decision to forgo the ratings process allowed him a level of freedom he has been missing since his earliest films. Bad Biology was scheduled for video release in January 2010 by Media Blasters. [13] Henenlotter appeared as himself in the documentary film Herschell Gordon Lewis – The Godfather of Gore and narrated the film on the 2010 FanTasia. [14] In issue #304 Frank and comic artist Joshua Emerick started the Basket Case comic strip for Fangoria. The three panel strip runs in each issue.
Henenlotter appeared in the 2013 documentary film Rewind This! , about the impact of VHS on the film industry and home video. He also appeared with the film's director, Josh Johnson, when it screened at film festivals such as the Telluride Horror Show. [15] In 2014, he directed Chasing Banksy , which was screened with a visit of Henenlotter at New York City Forbidden Planet. [16]
Feature films
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Editor | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1972 | The Slash of the Knife | Yes | Yes | No | Short film |
1982 | Basket Case | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
1988 | Brain Damage | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
1990 | Basket Case 2 | Yes | Yes | No | |
1990 | Frankenhooker | Yes | Yes | No | Also additional photography |
1991 | Basket Case 3: The Progeny | Yes | Yes | No | |
2008 | Bad Biology | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2015 | Chasing Banksy | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Documentaries
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Editor | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore | Yes | No | Yes | Co-directed with Jimmy Maslon |
2013 | That's Sexploitation! | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-directed and co-wrote with Donald A. Davis and David F. Friedman |
2018 | Boiled Angels: The Trial of Mike Diana | Yes | No | No | Documentary film |
A B movie, or B film, is a type of low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second half of a double feature, somewhat similar to B-sides in recorded music. However, the production of such films as "second features" in the United States largely declined by the end of the 1950s. This shift was due to the rise of commercial television, which prompted film studio B movie production departments to transition into television film production divisions. These divisions continued to create content similar to B movies, albeit in the form of low-budget films and series.
A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic term for any horror film involving murder, film analysts cite an established set of characteristics which set slasher films apart from other horror subgenres, such as monster movies, splatter films, supernatural and psychological horror films.
An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become historically important, and even gain a cult following.
A grindhouse or action house is an American term for a theatre that mainly shows low-budget horror, splatter, and exploitation films for adults. According to historian David Church, this theater type was named after the "grind policy", a film-programming strategy dating back to the early 1920s which continuously showed films at cut-rate ticket prices that typically rose over the course of each day. This exhibition practice was markedly different from the era's more common practice of fewer shows per day and graduated pricing for different seating sections in large urban theatres, which were typically studio-owned.
Doris Wishman was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. She is credited with having directed and produced at least 30 feature films during a career spanning over four decades, most notably in the sexploitation film genre.
Brain Damage is a 1988 American comedy horror film written and directed by Frank Henenlotter. It stars Rick Hearst in his debut acting role as Brian, a young man who becomes acquainted with a talking parasite known as Aylmer that injects him with an addictive fluid that causes euphoric hallucinations; in return, Aylmer demands that Brian allow him to feed on the brains of other humans.
A sexploitation film is a class of independently produced, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit sexual situations and gratuitous nudity. The genre is a subgenre of exploitation films. The term "sexploitation" has been used since the 1940s.
Frankenhooker is a 1990 American black comedy horror film directed by Frank Henenlotter. Very loosely inspired by Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, the film stars James Lorinz as medical school dropout Jeffrey Franken and former Penthouse Pet Patty Mullen as the title character.
Basket Case is a 1982 American horror film written and directed by Frank Henenlotter in his feature directorial debut. Produced by Edgar Ievins, the film stars Kevin Van Hentenryck as Duane Bradley, a young man who seeks vengeance on the doctors and nurses who performed an unwanted surgery that separated him from his deformed conjoined twin brother Belial, whom Duane hides in a large wicker basket.
Something Weird Video is an American film distributor company based in Seattle, Washington. They specialize in exploitation B to Z films, particularly the works of Harry Novak, Doris Wishman, David F. Friedman and Herschell Gordon Lewis.
Xtro is a 1983 British science fiction horror film written and directed by Harry Bromley Davenport. The film stars Bernice Stegers, Philip Sayer, Simon Nash, and Maryam d'Abo. The film focuses on a man who was abducted by aliens and returns back to his wife and son three years later.
Fred Olen Ray is an American Emmy winning film producer, director, and screenwriter of more than 200 low-to-medium-quality feature films in many genres, including horror, science fiction, action/adventure, erotic thrillers, crime dramas, and holiday films.
Robert "Bob" Martin was the original editor of Fangoria, an American horror film fan magazine. Martin steered the publication from 1979 to 1986, during which slasher films were popular.
Full Moon Features is an American independent motion picture production and distribution company headed by B-movie veteran Charles Band. It is known for the direct-to-video series Puppet Master, Trancers, and Subspecies, as well as the film Castle Freak and the VideoZone featurette through 1989 to 2013.
The 1960s and 1970s marked the rise of exploitation-style independent B movies; films which were mostly made without the support of Hollywood's major film studios. As censorship pressures lifted in the early 1960s, the low-budget end of the American motion picture industry increasingly incorporated the sort of sexual and violent elements long associated with so-called ‘exploitation’ films. The demise of the Motion Picture Production Code in 1968, coupled with the success of the exploitation film Easy Rider the following year fueled the trend throughout the subsequent decade. The success of the B-studio exploitation movement had a significant effect on the strategies of the major studios during the 1970s.
Bad Biology is a 2008 American black comedy horror film directed by Frank Henenlotter. Produced by rapper R.A. the Rugged Man, it stars Charlee Danielson and Anthony Sneed as sexually unfulfilled people who are drawn together because of their mutated genitalia. The film received generally positive reviews, and was released on DVD in the United Kingdom in 2009, and in the United States in 2010.
Fangoria Films is a film production and distribution company based out of New York City, New York. It is a subsidiary of Fangoria Entertainment, which encompasses various branches of Starlog's Fangoria brand.
Scooter McCrae is an American director known for Shatter Dead and Sixteen Tongues.
Terrifier is a 2016 American independent slasher film written and directed by Damien Leone. The film stars Jenna Kanell, Samantha Scaffidi, David Howard Thornton, and Catherine Corcoran. The plot centers on partygoer Tara Heyes (Kanell) and her sister Victoria (Scaffidi), who become targets of the enigmatic serial killer known only as Art the Clown (Thornton) on Halloween night.
Simon Nuchtern is a Belgian-born American filmmaker who is based in New York. He has directed, written, and produced a number of low-budget and independent films since the 1960s.
Oh yeah—I literally walked around Times Square while I was writing [Basket Case]. There was a big Nathan's where ABC Television is now. I had part of the story then—I thought about a guy walking around with a monster in his basket. It worked up to a certain point, but then I wondered, why would anybody walk around with a monster in a basket? So then I thought—who's in the basket? I thought of it being his brother, which I knew was a great idea, and then the dialog starting coming. I wrote it down in Nathan's, in that seedy, wonderful atmosphere.