Renowned Independent New York moviemaker and film historian, Frank Henenlotter is back with his most outrageous offering to date, BAD BIOLOGY. Known for his bizarre mixes of twisted horror and demented humor, Henenlotter’s films have a huge fan following and continue to sell domestically and overseas. Eschewing large budgets that would necessitate mainstream homogeny, Henenlotter has preferred to work with smaller budgets which has given him the creative freedom to make the kinds of horror films few would dare. More importantly, all five of his films have achieved lasting fame and continue to net significant profits. His first film was the surprise hit BASKET CASE (1982), which he wrote and directed. An instant cult classic, BASKET CASE played theatrically on the midnight-move circuit for almost two years before getting a more mainstream re-release in 1984. Upon its release, U.S. film critic Rex Reed labeled it “The Sickest Movie I’ve Ever Seen” which, of course, added to the kind of hype that made the film so successful. Not only popular with horror-film fans, BASKET CASE has a celebrity fan base ranging from Johnny Ramone to The Rolling Stones who used clips from BASKET CASE in their music video “Too Much Blood.”
Henenlotter then wrote and directed the highly celebrated anti-drug horror film BRAIN DAMAGE. Also known internationally as ELMER, BRAIN DAMAGE was such an underground sensation that it was picked up by Paramount for U.S. video and MGM for international distribution. In association with James Glickenhaus and Leonard Shapiro, Henenlotter hit legendary status after directing the 1990 horror comedy FRANKENHOOKER that he co-wrote with then-editor of Fangoria Magazine, Robert Martin. Another international cult hit, Bill Murray lent his name to the advertising with the quote: “If you only see one film this year, it should be FRANKENHOOKER!” Shot back-to-back with FRANKENHOOKER was BASKET CASE 2. Written and directed by Henenlotter, BASKET CASE 2 was such an enormous moneymaker for Shapiro Glickenhaus Entertainment, that they rushed a second sequel into production almost immediately: BASKET CASE 3: THE PROGENY. Released in 1991, it was directed by Henenlotter and co-written with his FRANKENHOOKER partner Robert Martin.
In the early 90s, Henenlotter turned his attention to the home video market and became one of the founders of Something Weird Video. Specializing in lost, crazy, and obscure exploitation films from the past ˆ from filmmakers as diverse as Brian DePalma and Herschell Gordon Lewis, Something Weird Video began as a small mail-order company that has grown into the largest distributor of American exploitation and pop art cinema. Something Weird DVDs are released through Image Entertainment in the U.S., and numerous other labels internationally. In addition, Something Weird on Demand has become a popular destination for Comcast cable viewers. While building the Something Weird library, Henenlotter has directed a number of underground music videos under a variety of pseudonyms.
