''Dr. Hackenstein'' is a 1988

comedy horror Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary genre, literary, television genre, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three ty ...

film, written and directed by Richard Clark and distributed by Troma Entertainment.

Plot

After the death of his wife, the

widower A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...

Dr. Hackenstein (David Muir) concocts the perfect plan: with the help of a few

graverobber Grave robbery, tomb robbing, or tomb raiding is the act of uncovering a grave, tomb or crypt to steal commodities. It is usually perpetrated to take and profit from valuable artefacts or personal property. A related act is body snatching, a term ...

s and a couple of lost girls, he can use the spare parts to reanimate his dead spouse and build a better woman.

Casting

Comedian Phyllis Diller has a small part in the film, along with Oscar nominee

Anne Ramsey Angelina Anne Ramsey-Mobley (March 27, 1929 – August 11, 1988) was an American actress. She is best known for her film roles as Mama Fratelli in ''The Goonies'' (1985) and as Mrs. Lift in ''Throw Momma from the Train'' (1987), the latter of wh ...

(d. 1988) in her last role.Dr. Hackenstein
". Troma Entertainment. Retrieved February 6, 2010.Dr. Hackenstein (1988)
. ''

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...

'' (TCM). Retrieved February 6, 2010.

Release

It was shown at Cannes Film Festival in May, 1989, having been released on home video in January. Shooting was comparatively swift, principal photography having begun in May the previous year. It was given a commercial re-release fifteen years later (2004), on DVD format.Gibron, Bill.
Reviews – DVD Video Reviews – Dr. Hackenstein
. '' DVD Talk''. Retrieved February 6, 2010.

Sources used

The film's visible contemporary influences include ''

Re-Animator ''Re-Animator'' (also known as ''H. P. Lovecraft's Re-Animator'') is a 1985 American comedy horror film loosely based on the 1922 H. P. Lovecraft serial novelette "Herbert West–Reanimator". Directed by Stuart Gordon and produced by Brian Yuzn ...

'' and ''

Young Frankenstein ''Young Frankenstein'' is a 1974 American comedy horror film directed by Mel Brooks. The screenplay was co-written by Brooks and Gene Wilder. Wilder also starred in the lead role as the title character, a descendant of the infamous Dr. Victor F ...

''. Critic Sandra Brennan characterized it as a parody of the "Frankenstein" films.Brennan, Sandra.
Dr. Hackenstein – Overview
. ''All Movie Guide'', for ''NYTimes.com''. Retrieved February 6, 2010. Identifying it as "among the first films to blend pure gore with slapstick comedy",

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

deemed it a precursor and trendsetter to later films, such as ''

Scary Movie ''Scary Movie'' is a 2000 American slasher parody film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and written by Marlon and Shawn Wayans (who both also star), alongside Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Starring Anna Far ...

'', which draw on those genres.Gibron, Bill.
Dr. Hackenstein Movie Reviews
. ''

''. IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved February 6, 2010.

Reception

''DVD Verdict'' columnist David Johnson, though singling out production values as impressive within its low-budget class, found the gore–comedy outing failed to succeed on either count. Bill Gibron of ''DVD Talk'' wrote similarly unenthusiastically that its flashes of wit and effective segments notwithstanding, the romance and physical humor plot elements were ineffective, ultimately concluding it lay "somewhere in the middle between complete piece of crap and pretty cool comedy".

References

External links

*
Dr. Hackenstein
Troma Entertainment 1988 films 1988 comedy horror films American comedy horror films American independent films Troma Entertainment films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films Resurrection in film Films about widowhood {{comedy-horror-film-stub