Dick Decapitation: Frankenstein for Sex Workers and Queer Love

Content Warning: Violence, limited graphic descriptions, discussion about potentially sensitive topics.

SPOILERS: Frankenhooker (1990) and Lisa Frankenstein (2024).

The revival of the dead to serve the living — Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein introduced the dangers of obtaining powers beyond one’s capabilities and taking control of others’ bodies. As an influential gothic work, Frankenstein remains prevalent in popular culture as a Universal Classic Monster

Throughout film history, the horror and sci-fi genre has opened its arms to queer and feminist representation, as the grim and strange reflect the experiences of women and queer folks. Frankenstein takes on modern themes of bodily autonomy and alienation, topics familiar to feminist and queer issues in the world. Commonly in Frankenstein-inspired media, the creations of Frankenstein take revenge against their creator because of their unethical corpse-farmed existence or their unconventional existence, occasionally both.

Feminist and queer horror’s questionable uncle is B-horror films. Iconically being a genre composed of low-budgets, extravagant storylines, lots of boobs and murdered women, and exploitation, B-horror flicks earn their part in horror history with its creative takes on gore and special effects.

Born out of the 60s-80s B-horror movie peak is Frankenhooker, a 1990 black comedy horror created by Frank Henelotter. Following Jeffery Franken, a grieving man whose uncontrolled lawnmower-creation accidentally kills his fiance, Frankenhooker tells of Franken’s attempt to rebuild his wife. With only his wife Elizabeth’s head salvaged from the killer gardening accident, Franken seeks prostitutes of New York City to build the perfect body for Elizabeth’s head. Franken books sessions with different prostitutes where he examines their bodies to determine which part of which woman he wants to take, and he eventually hauls all his desired parts back to his home. Franken seems to have some guilt about his actions and may even have a humanizing perspective towards prostitutes, but he pushes those thoughts away by drilling his brain to go forth with his plan.

With his obsession and knowledge of resurrection, Franken combines his fiancé’s head with his ideal feet, calves, thighs, torso, and arms, all from different prostitutes. Franken is approached with a new situation as the new Elizabeth, or the Frankenhooker, consciously acts as all the women combined, the apparent cost of killing and using women like doll parts. Angered by Franken’s treatment, the Frankenhooker seeks out to kill the pimp and other men who abused the prostitutes. She eventually comes back home to a beaten-up Franken, who was attacked by the remaining body parts of the prostitutes that were left floating in his estrogen-based fluid. The film finalizes with a scene where the Frankenhooker revives Franken through his technology: he is left a man with a woman’s body.

Though appearing as a typical B-horror movie that objectifies women, the film takes a turn at the ending with a strong lead woman who avenges all the women abused by prostitution systems and men like Franken who take advantage of them. The Frankenhooker expresses anger towards Franken and similar men who seemingly value their partners according to beauty and sex appeal, especially at the cost of other women. The film also raises conversation about how prostitutes are valued in a patriarchal society, with their work prioritized over their lives. All that they are reduced to is the beauty of their body parts when their safety and wellbeing should be a prioritized concern. The film also explores themes of men objectifying and controlling women’s bodies, a looming future in the United States. Bodies are the vessels for people’s lives as experience is absorbed through people’s physical bodies and perceived sensation, and Frankenhooker warns of taking advantage and control over others’ bodies.

The change of Franken into a woman in Frankenhooker calls against patriarchal harm against sex workers through changing his physical body; similarly, another Frankenstein-inspired film, Lisa Frankenstein, takes on the change in physical body as a form of gender affirmation and love.

Angsty Lisa Frankenstein is enchanted by and falls in love with a grave. He ends up coming to life, and the Creature lives with Lisa. He originally is a good-doing man who smells a bit dead and believes he is in love with Lisa; after all, she spent hours telling him how much she wanted to be with him. In the beginning of the two’s relationship, the Creature listens to everything Lisa says because he doesn't have a tongue, an ear, a hand, nor a penis. Now realizing that Lisa can help the Creature by using the parts from people who treat her badly, in combination with her electric-shocked tanning bed, Lisa helps reconstruct the Creature. He eventually is able to hear and play his passion, the piano. Yet even with all this, Lisa still does not love the Creature as much as she likes the most popular guy in school, Michael. Upon figuring out that Michael and stepsister were sleeping together, she cuts off the boy’s penis with an axe out of rage and resows it back on for the Creature.

Lisa always wanted to die following the death of her mother, but she didn’t want to die a virgin either. With the Creature being the most caring person she knew, she helped the Creature get his johnson back before she finally passed in her tanning bed. The movie ends with both Lisa and the Creature dead but both brought back to life like Frankenstein, where they lived happily ever after forever.

Though Lisa Frankenstein and the Creature are a straight couple, there still are queer aspects to the film; Lisa’s unique style and interests isolate her from others, and the Creature's lack of a dick makes him feel like he’s not human enough for Lisa. The act of amputating and reconstructing the Creature’s penis is a queer form of love that brings the pair together and makes the Creature feel more comfortable with himself.

The themes from the tale of Frankenstein warn about putting together body parts but also present a form of charming queer love.