Director: Frank Henenlotter
Running Time: 259 mins
Certificate: 18
Release Date: October 22nd 2012
Basket Case is one of those movies that sorts the casual horror fan from the true initiate. A mention of the movie and a nod of recognition from whoever you’re talking to is like a secret code that your interest goes past the horror mainstream and well into the cult. Basket Case is indeed a genuine cult movie, kept alive for 30 years by avid fans, while its unusual pleasures have never hit the mainstream.
It’s a very peculiar story, which starts off with a wide-eyed young man called Duane (Kevin Van Hentenryck) arriving in New York City with a basket under his arm. However Duane isn’t there for a sightseeing trip, as in the basket is his deformed brother Belial, who was once his parasitic twin Siamese brother, but who got chopped off by dodgy doctors. The two brothers are very close, with Belial able to talk directly into Duane’s head, and they have a plan – to let Belial kill the doctors who separated them. However the ‘freak’ may not be content with stopping there!
The movie had two minutes cut out of it for its post-video nasties home ent. release in the 80s, but thankfully we now get the movie uncut, complete with all its blood and guts. It’s a bloody, gory, and altogether peculiar movie, which even the director in the ‘making of…’ documentaries suggests he never thought would be seen by more than a handful of people. It was obviously made very cheaply, so the Belial puppet and occasional use of stop-motion aren’t exactly state of the art, the performances range from the good to the pretty rubbish, and the story is sometimes impressively stupid. And yet it works.
It’s succeeds partly because (while director Frank Henenlotter plays it down in the special features) it’s not just a stupid film about a deformed, psychotic puppet who lives in a basket, it contains some really rather unsettling psychosexual elements. Belial is literally the dark side of Duane that he hides away, and when the movie veers into territory looking at the jealousy that arises when Duane gets a girlfriend and things take a sexual turn, it really does become oddly disturbing and far more complex that you might expect. It may be weird, cheap and bloody, but it’s also surprisingly good and will still get you weirded out.
For such a cheap, three decade old film, the Blu-ray transfer is surprisingly good. Of course this doesn’t look as bright and glossy as a modern movie – it was after all shot on 16mm for about $23 – but the remastered image has been taken back to exactly what how it looked when it was first made, before it was blown up to 35mm. That even means it’s presented here as a 4:3 image, but as that’s how it was shot, that’s how it should be. It’s surprisingly crisp and good looking, while the stereo audio is also nice and clear.
It took eight years to get from Basket Case to its 1990 sequel, Basket Case 2, which had a significantly larger budget (although it’s not like it was rolling in cash) and a more overtly silly and comical tone. After surviving the events at the end of the first movie, Duane and Belial are taken in by a woman called Granny Ruth (Annie Ross), whose home is full of extreme ‘freaks’. However with news having got out about Belial, a journalist is hot on their trail. Now the freaks must band together to get rid of these troublemakers, while problems brew between Duane and his brother when they both find potential new love.
Things then movie directly into Basket Case 3, where Duane has been put in a straightjacket by Granny Ruth (due to what he did in the second movie), while his brother is refusing to communicate with him at all. The whole house full of oddities goes on a road trip to visit Uncle Hal, but their arrival in a new community attracts the attention of the police, which is never a good idea when Belial is around – especially as he’s about to become a father to a whole gaggle of mini freaks!
While still enjoyable, the sequels lack the truly disturbing quality of the first movie. With its tongue firmly stuck in its cheek, they are strange and entertaining though, even if they occasionally tip too far towards the stupid. As with the first film, the picture quality is good, even if it’s early 90s aesthetic makes everything look a little too shiny and as if it belongs on TV rather than film.
You’re unlikely to be disappointed with the special features, which include an amiable and informative audio Commentary With Director Frank Henelotter, Producer Edgar Ievins, and Actress Beverly Bonner, as well as an exceedingly good 80-minute documentary called ‘What’s In The Basket?’ It covers just about everything you might want to know about the first movie, from how they did the special effects for virtually no cash, to the surprise everyone felt when it became a midnight movie sensation. With a few other bits thrown in, it all makes for a very good release for some truly cult horror flicks.
Overall Verdict: A great set for fans of these very peculiar movies, and a good release for those who may never have seen Basket Case but are intrigued about meeting Belial.
Reviewer: Tim Isaac
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