7/10
Like Frankenhooker, But Then Again, Not So Much...
4 February 2007
A music industry man loses one of his best clients, but devises a plan to make the best musician ever -- out of the body parts of other dead musicians. With the help of his nephew Frankie (a former morgue attendant and amateur scientist) and some stoner roadies, the musician is built. But things go sour when "King" starts developing unnatural urges.

I have to compare this film to Henenlotter's "Frankenhooker". I mean, it's a horror-comedy about an amateur scientist building a new person out of old parts. And the comedy styles are similar, so if you like one, you'll like the other. The humor in this film, however, is not as clever and revolves mostly around gay jokes and the nephew's sexual attraction to dissected abdomens.

The gay jokes are the worst part of the film. While they are funny and clever at times, as the film goes on they become more and more repetitive and overbearing on the script. How many times can we hear about "unnatural urges" or "dingleberries"? I would rather the film were five minutes shorter with a few lines cut out than be full-length and redundant.

Some things I could be critical of, I won't. For example, the Elvis head looks nothing at all like Elvis, nor does it talk like Elvis. But things like this that are so obviously poorly done can be overlooked in the name of humor. This is a Shock-o-Rama film, not the work of some perfectionist or someone with more than 20 dollars to their name.

The acting is questionable. The manager is decent and the stoner is alright. "King" is okay if you overlook the bad Elvis impression. The nephew is the part I'm not sure about: either he's clever or awful. All his lines are done monotone and I'm not sure if this is intentional for humor value or if he really is just that bad. It didn't bother me until it was pointed out, but then it gets a bit over the top.

I would recommend this film to those who liked "Frankenhooker" as long as you keep in mind this isn't really of the same quality. It's not scary, it's not gory and it's not even really that great of a story. But it's got a dumb humor about it that I think appeals to many horror fans, and maybe this is for you. Also, despite being from 1999, it has a very 1980s or early 1990s feel to it, which for me is a definite bonus.
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