Iyaz's notes on "Rock & Roll Frankenstein" for @PWPShow 150

Behind the scenes featurette
Camcorder footage. Audio and video (audio from camcorder, not mic'd)
behind the scenes footage of when Frank cuts the stomach of a woman. I'd forgotten that happened. 8:45 in and the footage is somewhat unbearble. No narrative or cohesiveness.
It's like someon took a camcorder and kept recording on the same tape.

BTS of the penis fight with frank. Director giving good clear directions

MOVIE ITSELF:

- I'm embarassed having this movie on in my apartment after watching the BTS feature.
- Establishing the premise
    - The beginning of the movie still has promise - Bernie suggesting to put together dead stars to make a new one.
    - Frank - with his creepy dictation into a microphone. That's right, he's a necropheliac, right? He sits in his bed witha  picture of a body with exposed organ and touches himself.
- Getting the body parts
    - STAR #1 to be dug up: Jimi Hendrix (the tombstone looks like someone spray painted the name and dates w/ a stencil). The stooges take some drugs to handle the weirdness.
        - Cut to Frank's lab, he has a severed hand which apparently has some kind of heartbeat. Iggy is impressed w/ the rejuvination process. Frank explains he came up w/ it b/c he wanted to do things to the bodies
    - Rok n' Roll hall of fame cemetery/body part montage.
        - The practical effects aren't half bad (a bit gross, though)
    - Not shown: the trip to Graceland and obtaining Elvis's skull. Iggy just shows up w/ the King's skull.
- Getting a penis:
    - Bernie is concerned about the rock star's penis. "The Shlong is the piece de resistance" He guns for Jim Morrison
        - Bernie is sending Iggy to Paris
        - Frank explains that Jim Morrison's penis is not in Paris, but is in a collection
    - Now the stooges go to the collection. it's a big bank safe style vault. Good thing the vault is not locked.
        - The collection of penises are shown in jars
        - the idiots dropped morrison's penis jar on the ground and put it back into another jar. It turns out the jar is acid. A smoke alarm is set off, so the stooges steal Liberace's penis and run.
- It's alive: The actor playing the King looks nothing like Elvis.
    - Iggy and Frank are feeding King who is wearing a diaper and t-shirt.
    - Frank warns Bernie that King might need some time. Later int he night, King wakes up and grabs the guitar Bernie brought over. He tries to play it left handed (which is fine since Hendrix is a lefty). He starts swiveling his hip. Like Elvis, I guess.
    - The guy playing Elvi looks more like Adam Richman from Man v. Food than Elvis.
    - King gets his jumpsuit. So far this movie is dumb, but not awful.
    - King sees a pet shop and gerbils in the window. He buys a couple.
    - Back at Frank's lab, King doesn't want to give Frank his gerbils. Frank asks questions about King's memory. King says he remembers Las Vegas and Fried Chicken.
    - Gerbil time -- King attempts to smash the geribil into his butt several times. Then decides to bite its head off.. b/c reasons.
- King to be a star: photoshoot time.
    - Bernie Stein tries to get King a deal. It doesn't go well -- so here comes the "Fuck" montage
    - King is in the studio with a guitar, but he won't play music. Also, now he's right handed? Bernie gets tired and asks King to play the drums instead. Then asks King to sing. King doesn't know the lyrics to "He's got the whole world in his hands."
    - Brain surgery time on King. Frank tries to figure out how to fix King -- he explains the body parts are causing conflict. King sort of does sound like Elvis, though.
    - King dos acid w/ Iggy. And he's a righty again while playing guitar. King heads to the piano -- plays it well (sounds like a harpischord).
    - Annd back to Frank touching himself reading a coroner's magazine.
    - Time for King to play music w/ Iggy's friends
    - Time for King to get some dance lessons. He's eyeing the dance instructor. And King gets a hard on watching the instructor warm up.
    - Back to Frank's place: King's concerned about his "unnatural urges." King fails to finish while on a sex phone line. King pulls out his gerbils and some condoms. He then places a gerbil in a condom -- then puts it under his pillow next to another gerbil in a condom. So here 40:50 in -- it's making its way to irredeemable.
    - A groupie visits King backstage and takes off her top. Groupie starts touching King's penis, but King excuses himself to go to the bathroom. Where he looks at pictures of men. He puts the magazine on her back before he tries to use the backdoor. Groupie gets mad and leaves
- Bernie tries to own King
    - Bernie threatens Frank to make sure King is under contract to Bernie.
- King vs. Liberace -- this is the first time when Liberace the Penis actually gains a voice.
    - Frank thinks the rejuvenation stuff didn't work on his penis since King's problem is impotency.
    - And we're stuck w/ the same song again
    - Bernie finds a porn mag with a nude guy in it. He starts freaking out. He finds all the dead gerbil/condom combos.
    - Now a new groupie heads back to King's place. He dresses her up in men's clothes and she has a mustache. She goes down on him. He loses his erection when she mentions her lady parts. Liberace tells King to kill the woman after she pulls a knife on him. King kills the groupie and has sex with her. Inserting himself in the open part of her gut.
    - Frank explains to King that King might have to come to terms with being gay. King explains his head wants one thing and his penis wants another thing
    - Photos of King leaving a gay bar are flashed on screen. King brings a guy to his home where has a convo with his penis. First instance of the penis asking for "dingleberries." Turns out the guy is a hoooker. Liberace says "I smell dingleberries."
    - King starts having sex with the guy, guy complains "not so hard, you're hurtng me." Liberace chokes out the guy and says "Mother I love you" when he ejaculates.
    - And for the second time in my life, I had to look up the word "feltch."
    - Bernie goes to Frank to explain that King can't be known as a homosexual. Frank wants to publish his research. Bernie is against it since King is a giant illegal thing.
    - King gets therapy and now here comes the church scene. King runs into a priest and says he needs to confess. In confession, King explains he's having unnatural urges -- and he had sex with another man. The priest asks for King's hand. He pulls King's hand to his own penis. King gets upset and starts beating him up -- the priest likes it. King gets priest to bend over and drop his pants. King rams a 6-foot crucifix into the priest's ass, killing him (presumably)
- King vs. Liberace again
    - Bernie learns that Iggy messed up on the penis mission. King and Bernie decide to get a new penis.
    - In the lab, Frank is astonished at the penis.
    - Okay - now the penis has been seen.
    - Turns out the penis has intertwined into King's spinal column, so removal would kill King.
    - Frank gets killed by King (King was going to amputate his own penis, but Frank tried to stop him).
    - FUCK. THIS MOVIE WON'T END. ANOTHER 15 MINS TO GO
    - Some party -- Bernie is telling King to accept being gay. Bernie throws King into a bathroom where a bunch of guys are ofrering sex. King leaves the bathroom w/o killing anyone. Wait. spoke too soon -- he comes after Bernie and starts squeezing Bernie's head until it collapses. Iggy explains that King has to split since King just killed a guy in front of a room full of people.
    - Iggy takes Frank to a place to hide. It's gerbils r us. Liberace is very excited about the gerbils. Frank pulls out the green penis and punches it a bit. He grabs a hook, attaches it to his penis. The penis resists -- then is removed by the hoook. Blood spurts out of King's groin. He collapses to the ground while the green penis hangs above him.
    - Iggy is sad.
    - Taps plays, the penis drops to the ground, liberace laughs and the penis leaves the picture.
    - The End? is shown on screen.
- i feel sick.
- Commentary track to follow

Commentary track

- JS is right, hard to hear the commentary track because the movie audio is very audible.
- When Frank touches himself, the director says "This always gets a laugh"
- There is an explanation as to the origin of Jim Morrison's penis -- it's from a neanderthal exhibit
- The director sounds like a cross betw. a brooklyn guy and Chris Walken
- The writer/director admits to being the voice of Liberace. Interesting.
- 20 minutes left in the movie -- you know that feeling you get in the back of a cab when you smell that vinyl and whatever else was in that backseat? That's how my stomach felt watching this movie for the 2nd time in the same day

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