Frank Henenlotter
Director · b. 1950 · New York City, New York, USA
Frank Henenlotter, is an American screenwriter, director and film historian. He is known primarily for his horror comedies, though he would prefer to be classified as an "exploitation" filmmaker (rather than horror). "I never felt that I made ‘horror films’, he has said. "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."
Movies16
Movie6.3ComedyHorrorA medical school dropout loses his fiancée in a tragic lawnmower incident and decides to bring her back to life. Unfortunately, he was only able to save her head, so he goes to the red light district in the city and lures prostitutes into a hotel room so he can collect body parts to reassemble her.
Frankenhooker
1990 · 400 votes
Movie6.2HorrorComedyA young man carrying a big basket that contains his extremely deformed, formerly conjoined twin brother seeks vengeance on the doctors who separated them against their will.
Basket Case
1982 · 483 votes
MovieDocumentary“Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders" peels back the layers of controversy surrounding the making of the 1980 thriller, "Cruising." Directed by William Friedkin, the film triggered fierce protests from the LGBTQ+ community for its portrayal of a serial killer targeting gay men in New York's leather bars. Friedkin drew inspiration from the brutal murder of Variety reporter Addison Verrill, blurring the boundaries between cinematic fiction and real-life tragedy.
Movie7.8DocumentaryThe story behind the rise and fall of New York's 42nd Street. The cinemas, the films, the people, the crime and the rebirth of the block as "New 42nd Street" - this is the document of the world's most notorious movie strip.
Movie7.6HorrorDocumentaryDocumentary on the short-lived craze of Italian cannibal films in the '70s and '80s, featuring interviews with Umberto Lenzi, Ruggero Deodato, Sergio Martino, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, and Robert Kerman.
Movie7.9DocumentaryHorrorFilm icons and genre experts share observations, experiences, and analysis to help reframe, deconstruct, and re-contextualize the "lost" decade of horror: the '90s.
In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994
2024 · 7 votes
Movie5.6DocumentarySavage! Sadistic! Thrill hungry! When it came to independent filmmaking in the sunshine state, William Grefé was the wildest of the wild! During the 1960s and '70s, the Miami-based producer/director transformed the darkest corners of the Florida swamps into his own personal backlot. From rampaging crocodiles possessed by an ancient Seminole witch doctor (DEATH CURSE OF TARTU) to a slithering serpent named STANLEY, William Grefé would grind out low-budget exploitation films for drive-ins and hardtops around the world. Now, without the benefit of cages or other protective devices, the untold story of Florida's most daring moviemaker comes to the screen...IN PSYCHEDELIC COLOR!
They Came from the Swamp: The Films of William Grefé
2016 · 8 votes
Movie6.1DocumentaryHorrorTake an outrageous ride through this wild world of exploitation films with this thoroughly entertaining documentary, HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS – THE GODFATHER OF GORE! Featuring cult director John Waters, Drive-In Movie Critic Joe Bob Briggs, Herschell Gordon Lewis himself and a “cast of thousands,” you’ll witness the innocent bare-naked era of Nudie-Cuties before Lewis schocked the world with “Blood Feast,” the first ever gore film!
Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore
2010 · 23 votes
Movie6.9DocumentaryHome video changed the world. The cultural and historical impact of the VHS tape was enormous. This film traces the ripples of that impact by examining the myriad aspects of society that were altered by the creation of videotape.
Rewind This!
2013 · 69 votes
Movie5.9DocumentaryBefore the advent of modern-day pornography, a vast and rapidly-paced world of smut peddling was the norm, complete with its own secret history. This documentary reveals the untold story of American cinema's gloriously sordid cinematic past. Starting in the 1920s, expert exploiteer David F. Friedman and Henenlotter navigate us through more than five salacious decades of skin flicks. It's the true story of dirty movies, traced in elegant detail from the bizarre locations where these nudie shorts were screened to the ongoing legal battles fought by their promoters. And of course there are the stories of the innovators themselves, people who often risked their own security and livelihood to make these films, believing in some way that what they were doing wasn't a 'bad' thing - and that it could rake in some dough.
That's Sexploitation!
2013 · 23 votes
Movie6.8DocumentaryA journey of years through many countries and film festivals; a nostalgic, adrenaline-fueled and rock-spirited immersion into the universe of cinephilia, in search of genre specialists, fans and filmmakers who speak of their shared passion for fantastic cinema; a whole international spiritual community united under the cathartic shadow of horror.
MovieHorrorDocumentaryCheap scares. Extreme Gore. Loads of nudity. These have been the three staples of low budget independent horror films since the 60's. But what's a filmmaker to do when, thanks to technology, ANYONE can make a film these days? Under The Scares offers an inside look into the production and promotion of an independent, ultra low-budget horror film, while combining interviews and insights from some of the genre's biggest legends - Lloyd Kaufman, Robert Kurtzman, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Frank Henenlotter, Gary Jones, and many many more.
Under the Scares
2010
- Movie6.5Documentary
Israeli Go-Go Boys Golan and Globus at the height of their careers - everybody is working for Cannon!
The Last Moguls
1986 · 2 votes
Movie6.3DocumentaryA documentary about the history of exploitation films that focuses on the careers of legendary producers David F. Friedman and Dan Sonney.
Mau Mau Sex Sex
2001 · 7 votes
MovieDocumentaryA documentary on the making of Frank Henenlotter's Basket Case trilogy.
- Movie9.5Documentary
Director Frank Henenlotter, actor James Lorinz and special effects wizard Gabe Bartalos speak about the making of the cult classic Frankenhooker. Released on the Arrow Video Blu Ray edition of Frankenhooker.
Your Date's on a Plate: The Making of Frankenhooker
2012 · 2 votes