Basket Case (1982)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Frank Henenlotter

Writer:

Frank Henenlotter (writer)

Release Date:

April 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

The tenant in room 7 is very small, very twisted and very mad.

Plot:

A young man carrying a big basket that contains his deformed Siamese-twin brother seeks vengeance on the doctors who separated them against their will.

Plot Keywords:

Deformed | Siamese Twins | First Of Trilogy | Crotch Grab | Scalpel

Cast

Kevin Van Hentenryck	...	Duane Bradley
Terri Susan Smith	...	Sharon
Beverly Bonner	...	Casey
Robert Vogel	...	Hotel manager
Diana Browne	...	Dr. Judith Kutter
Lloyd Pace	...	Dr. Harold Needleman
Bill Freeman	...	Dr. Julius Lifflander
Joe Clarke	...	Brian 'Mickey' O'Donovan
Ruth Neuman	...	Aunt
Richard Pierce	...	Duane's Father
Sean McCabe	...	Young Duane
Dorothy Strongin	...	Josephine
Ilze Balodis	...	Social Worker
Kerry Buff	...	Detective
Tom Robinson	...	Thief in Theater

Runtime:

91 min | Sweden:86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R | West Germany:18 (video re-rating) (cut) | West Germany:Not Rated (uncut) | New Zealand:R16 | Italy:VM18 (TV rating) | Australia:R | France:-12 | Norway:(Banned) (video rating) | UK:18 | Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Franklin Street, Tribeca, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Basket Case Productions

Trivia:

The Bar scenes were shot in a S&M club in Manhattan which is now know as "The Hellfire Club". The bar was so big that they also used it as the Bradley's basement and the crew had to hide all the sex toys including a large swing (which is still in the club to this day). The original buzz saw used to kill Duane and Belial's father used to hang above the door of the club until it was eventually stolen.

Goofs:

Continuity: When O'Donovan is rummaging through Duane's room he finds Duane's money in a stack. Belial then kills him. Afterwards Duane returns and a cop searches his room and finds his money but now it's rolled up with a rubber band around it.

Quotes:

Sharon: What's in the basket? Easter eggs?

Movie Connections:

Edited into Extra Weird (2003) (V)

Possibly the ultimate grindhouse exploitation movie

BASKET CASE is, for what it is, superb.

That's not to say it is technically proficient or boasts particularly good performances from its actors. But it's intelligent, creepy and viciously horrific.

A young man, Duane, enters a seedy Times Square motel carrying a large wicker basket. Inside the basket, as we soon discover, is his monstrously deformed Siamese twin brother, Belial. Belial looks like a twisted lump of fat and gristle, with two clawed arms and an eerily human-like face. He was, not so long ago, attached to his brother's side, until his father and some crooked surgeons decided to seperate the brothers against their will. Now the pair is in Manhattan, to do away with the doctors who performed the operation.

The very premise is as bizarre and sordid as one can imagine. And the movie doesn't disappoint. Everything is washed out with red and blue neon, every location is dirty and grungy, every character is twisted or crazed. The movie jerks the viewer's emotions around brutally, going from silly to grim to nightmarish to funny to horrifying to tragic. It may take the movie a little while to sink in. If you allow it to, it will leave you speechless.

BASKET CASE is a classic of exploitation cinema. It's as gruesome as any splatter movie and sleazy as any grindhouse porno, but it's far better written and crafted than most of its type. It's a nightmare not unlike David Lynch's ERASERHEAD, but with a more EC-comics feel. If a mixture of sleaze, extreme gore, expressionism and poetic justice are your cup of tea, don't pass up BASKET CASE!