Basket Case (1982)

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

Director:

Frank Henenlotter

Writer:

Frank Henenlotter

Stars:

Kevin Van Hentenryck, Terri Susan Smith, Beverly Bonner

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kevin Van Hentenryck	...	Duane Bradley (as Kevin VanHentenryck)
Terri Susan Smith	...	Sharon
Beverly Bonner	...	Casey
Robert Vogel	...	Hotel Manager
Diana Browne	...	Dr. Kutter
Lloyd Pace	...	Dr. Needleman
Bill Freeman	...	Dr. Lifflander
Joe Clarke	...	O'Donovan
Ruth Neuman	...	Duane's Aunt
Richard Pierce	...	Duane's Father
Sean McCabe	...	Young Duane
Dorothy Strongin	...	Josephine
Kerry Ruff	...	Detective
Ilze Balodis	...	Social Worker
Tom Robinson	...	Thief in Theater

Storyline

Charming country bumpkin Duane Bradley takes a motel room in New York with a basket and a backpack. In a flash back-series we learn the basket contains his surgically removed Siamese twin who is not only physically deformed so badly the doctors hesitated to consider him a human, but is also the vindictive drive of their trip, with the purpose to kill off all those he blames. But in the reception of one of those doctors, Duane gets his first ever date, with the receptionist, and wants to start a positive life too - when the freak twin escapes, the scene is set for a grim finale.

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | grindhouse film | cult director | cult film | male objectification | 

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Taglines:

What is the secret Dwayne is hiding in the basket? Open it... if you dare!

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 April 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Basket Case

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Basket Case Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In addition to providing a face cast for the Belial puppet, Kevin Van Hentenryck also performed the mutant twin's voice effects.

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Goofs

After Sharon is killed, you can see her clearly still breathing as she lies nude on the bed.

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Quotes

Casey: [In the Bar] There's something I've been dying to ask you. What's in the basket?
Duane Bradley: My brother.
Casey: Your brother!
Casey: [Duane and Casey both laugh] What is he, a midget?
Duane Bradley: No, we're twins. Siamese twins
Casey: That's funny, you don't look...
Casey, Duane Bradley: oriental!
Casey: [Duane and Casey both laugh] So what happened? Somebody shrink him?
Duane Bradley: No, he's deformed. A freak, he looks like a squashed octopus!
Duane Bradley: Our mother died giving birth to us. He was attached to my right side. They wouldn't let us go to school or anything. They kept us hidden. We ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Since the crew only consisted of three or four people, many of the names in the credits are fictitious.

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Alternate Versions

In the UK the film was originally cut for both cinema and by a further 35 secs for video by the censors who removed the following:

• The scene where Duane watches a kung-fu film is missing shots of 'chain-sticks' from the kung-fu film itself.
• The second doctor's death scene is missing a shot of him spitting blood as well as the climatic shot of blood splashing on his face.
• The death of the female vet shortens shots of Belial clawing her face, the terminating shot of the scene showing the vet with scalpels sticking in her face is deleted.
• Shots of the noisy neighbour being clawed to death by Belial are cut; this sequence was originally intercut with two other scenes making the editing at this point awful due to these cuts.
• The infamous scene where Belial 'romances' Duane's girlfriend is the worst to suffer cuts- after she wakes up the entire scene has been removed bar a brief shot of her being strangled. In addition the shot of Belial on top her dead body and Duane's attempts to pull him off her is missing. Its worth noting that apart from the opening scene every murder in the film was cut to some degree by the UK censors. The 1999 Tartan release finally saw the film passed fully uncut by the BBFC.

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Connections

Referenced in There's Nothing Out There (1991)

User Reviews

Essential 1980s horror. Cheap, nasty and LOTS of fun!

One interesting side effect of the DVD revolution is that I've been watching lots of movies I haven't seen for YEARS, and some aren't as great as I remember them to be, and others are better. 'Basket Case' was one of THE great late 70s/early 80s low (and I mean looooow!) budget horror movies, linked in my mind with such genre classics as 'Phantasm' and 'Evil Dead'. Watching it now I don't think it's QUITE as great as those two, but it's still enjoyable to watch, and along with 'Re-Animator', 'Motel Hell' and 'Dead And Buried' it's one of the essential horror movies of the 1980s. Look, it isn't perfect, the animation sequences in particular are pretty poor, but considering the lack of funds, it's creepy, bizarre and doesn't take itself very seriously, and Kevin VanHentenryck (Duane) actually gives a very good performance. Writer/director Frank Henelotter went on to make the even better 'Brain Damage' and 'Frankenhooker' (as well as two sequels which I haven't seen) but sadly hasn't made a movie in the last ten years. Henelotter mixes horror and comedy as good as, if not better than, vintage Sam Raimi and Stuart Gordon in my opinion. Why isn't he making movies?! Why doesn't SOMEONE give him a million dollars and freedom to make anything he wants?? I really, really hope he makes a comeback soon. Until then check out 'Basket Case', it's cheap, nasty and LOTS of fun!