Rock 'n' Roll Frankenstein (1999) User Reviews

Rock 'n' Roll can't be this dead!

[michaelRokeefe · 3/10 · 5 July 2018]

Intended to be a comedy, horror flick...you may have to be the judge yourself to see if this movie rocks or sinks like a rock. The plot sounds like it has the promise of being funny; an overly ambitious record producer Bernie Stein (Barry Feterman) hoodwinks a nephew scientist Frankie (Jayson Spense) into constructing the world's greatest entertainer. We say constructing...stitching a superstar out of stolen body parts from late and great rock 'n' rollers like Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Elvis Presley. We're talking, head to feet and all in between like brains, hands and even...penis. Drug addled roadie Iggy (Hiram Jacob Segarra) does a good job stealing bits and pieces of body part, but by accident grabs a vital organ from Liberace. This stitched monstrosity named "King" (Graig Guggenheim) is going to be hard to train and control.

Brian O'Hara directs and shares in the writing of this rated R feature and I would not recommend viewing by small children. Lots of vulgar language and situations. A very small budget that allows way too many low class and gay jokes. If you happen to really love Rock 'n' Roll, you may find this too irreverent. Have you ever tried to stop looking at a train wreck?

You are the sum of your parts

[nogodnomasters · 3/10 · 11 August 2017]

Frankie Stein (Jayson Spence) constructs "The King" (Graig Guggenheim) from various rock star body parts for his agent/producer uncle Bernie (Barry Feterman). From what I gather, he has the head of Elvis, the legs of Keith Moon, the hands of Jimi Hendrix, the butt of Sid Vicious, and something from Buddy Holly. However due to a mix up, he gets the organ of Liberace. This leads us to a film which concentrates too much sexual confusion. He leads a band called "Unnatural Urges." There was so much they could have done with this film had they not wanted it to be overly gay. The dialogue was poorly constructed as were the characters. It was a let down from all the potential the film had.

Guide: F-word, sex, nudity (Kate Fallon, Joan Gerardi)

Clever concept bogs down in endless gay jokes.

[insightstraight · 19 February 2004]

The first half of this film works pretty well for me, though I thought there was waaaay too much of Barry Feterman as the foul-mouthed Bernie Stein. Not that he didn't act the role capably, but there was so much more of him than the plot required that one started to wonder if he had been an investor in the film, and demanded extra screen time...

The musical numbers are fun, and Guggenheim tries hard as the "King". But once the monster's sexual confusion "comes up", the film devolves into an endless string of gerbil and "hershey highway" jokes. I'm not sure if these are intended as gay camp or gay bashing, but either way the film devotes far too much time to them, and not enough to the potential of an "assembled" rock star.

Many elements of this film work, and it looks pretty good for a low-budget production. But somewhere along the way the concept loses steam and chugs along slowly, relying on a very low grade of humor.

Tries for instant cult status, with disappointing results ................

[merklekranz · 2/10 · 21 May 2012]

A lot about "Rock n Roll Frankenstein" is annoying, starting with the simple fact that if you only have a one joke movie, the joke better not be beaten to death, and must be developed beyond the original idea. Unfortunately neither of the above apply to "Rock n Roll Frankenstein". The acting is amateurish, and the Elvis looks and sounds nothing like even the worst Elvis impersonator. Endless drug references quickly become tiresome, the homosexuality angle becomes extremely redundant, and the word f--k outrageously overused as supposed dialog. Even if you are into weird films, this is one to avoid. Everything seems forced, and comes off as though they realized that beyond the one joke, this was going nowhere. - MERK

A spectacularly awful horror spoof.

[MikoSquiz · 1/10 · 3 May 2005]

This is quite possibly the worst movie I've ever seen. Shoddy production values could be forgiven, even poor editing and lousy pacing could be excused by the occasional good scene or a belly laugh, but these are nowhere to be found. The lone standout scene is the musical number, which manages to be vaguely acceptable, and the most amusing thing in the entire duration of the movie is a constantly stoned hippie character.

Let me repeat that.

The funniest thing in the film is a stoned hippie character who ends every line with "dude" or "man". He doesn't do or say anything particularly funny, either, but just by being a stoned hippie and saying "dude" and "man" he still manages to be funnier than everything else.

I'd try to summarize briefly just how dire this failed horror spoof is, but words fail me. You'll just have to see it yourself - it's prime material for a Mystery Science Theater-style evening at home with friends and a drink or seven, and not just because you need alcohol to dull the pain of witnessing the black hole where comedy dies in terrible pain.

Not good

[BandSAboutMovies · 1/10 · 13 January 2022]

A roadie named Iggy has dug up the bodies of the long-dead rock and roll stars, using the hands of Hendrix, the guts of Buddy Holly, the legs of Keith Moon, the penis of Jim Morrison and the head of Elvis. Where are the Plaster Casters when you need them?

Speaking of Elvis, we covered this back in our list of Elvis Fantasy Flicks.

I wanted to love this movie, but it just feels forced. The fact that Jim Morrison's penis gets substituted for Liberace's, which is shortly in conflict with the brain of Elvis, taking over his body and then murdering the men he makes love to sounds like a movie I should love, but this has the stench of a Troma film about it, one that is so proud of being so bad it's good when it should aim for its cult status on its own strengths.

UK adult actor and director Ben Dover is in this and yes, I'm kind of ashamed - no, I'm not - that I immediately recognized him.

Garbage

[jacobjohntaylor1 · 2/10 · 14 April 2015]

A great story ruined by vulgar sex jokes and homophobia. I thought this would be a funny movie. The Frankenstein monster being like Elvis Presley. But instead it was just sick and stupid. It was like people who wrote The Hangover wrote a Frankenstein movie. And The Hangover is not funny it is just garbage. And this is just garbage. There are a lot films basest on Frankenstein That are the greatest horror movies ever Frankenstein (1931) The cures of Frankenstein Lady Frankenstein thous are some of the best horror movies ever. The book Frankenstein is one of the best horror books ever. But not this. This is just Pooh pooh. Horror comedy is o.k when it is funny. But this not fun it is just gross and stupid.

Entertaining Guilty Pleasure

[CoolHandMook · 7/10 · 11 February 2008]

"Rock 'n' Roll Frankenstein" is a bizarre and stimulating mix between "Rocky Horror" and "Young Frankenstein". Taking camp and political incorrectness to the next level it is a very entertaining tale. It takes the Frankenstein mythos, modernizes it, and brings life to a once-tired franchise. It incorporates comedy, gory body parts and a far-out premise to spectacular effect. Writer/director Brian O'Hara has put together a classic piece of B-movie entertainment. Set in present day New York, an unscrupulous music producer puts together the ultimate rock superstar, King, a combination of the best body parts taken from deceased rock n' roll's legends. Despite the whacked out nature of the film's plot, it is very well done. Jay Hillman's camera work is above par and the acting is always entertaining. Particular nods go to Barry Feterman as the raunchy, shark like Bernie. As the King, Guggenheim offers a sympathetic and troubled superstar--albeit his troubles are far different than most can relate to. As played by Graig Guggenheim, King is a lot of things but NEVER a jumbled, obvious or senseless parody. Graig created a real, sometimes touching character; a man with the Christian mentality of Elvis conflicted with the "unnatural urges" fueled by Liberace's genitalia.

With stabs at the music industry & homosexuality, this movie may be offensive to some, but it's important to note that these elements are never construed as mean or cruel intentioned. Well executed, with excellent performances and adept film-making, Rock N' Roll Frankenstein delivers an entertaining guilty pleasure worth a viewing or two.

In a word? Awesome.

[VerhoHo · 9/10 · 9 August 1999]

This is the coolest, nastiest movie I have seen in a long time. I saw it at the Millennium here in New York and it kicks butt. It is so disgusting, but well shot. This is definitely the greatest b-movie of the 90's. It is about a record producer who (with the help of his nephew) makes the greatest rock and roll star of all time, by using parts from dead legends: Elvis' head, Jimi's hands...and Liberace's penis. The last one is an accident, and that's where all the fun starts. the monster is very sexually confused. I was told at the screening that one of the ways the film is being advertised is that they paid homeless people to put the poster for the film on their shopping carts. If that's true, they've got one-up on the Blair Witch people for creative advertising. See this movie!

Like Frankenhooker, But Then Again, Not So Much...

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 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.

This movie really kicks ass!

[coffin1 · 10/10 · 12 May 2002]

This has to be seen to be believed.

A nutbag mixture of all good things in exploitation films.

There's this guy named Frankie Stein who has made a perfect rockstar minus one part... his schlong belongs to liberace! (it was supposed to be Jim Morrison's love tool but junkie roadie made a mistake)

That makes the monster a DIFFERENT kind of monster!

There are really good songs (I'm a Monster, Electro-shock) and it's never boring (a rarity in this kind of movies i think)

And where else could you hear Elvis singing... i got a boner blues ?

Thank you and good night.. the King has left the building.

Terrible

[Gore-Hound · 20 February 2004]

This movie was really horrible. I can't believe I wasted my time/money on this piece of garbage. I generally would not post a negative review on here, but I feel people must be warned. At least it sounded decent on paper, but on screen, it just wasn't all there. Mary Shelley is probably rolling around in her grave.