Customer Reviews

Basket Case [VHS]

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

'The tenant in room 7 is small, twisted, and very mad.' One of my favorite tag lines from a movie. This is a great, low bugdet shlock horror/comedy from the early 80's. It involves two brothers and their plot to get revenge. I hate to give anymore away, but this is a cult classic that has spawned a couple of sequels. I haven't seen them, but I have seen this one, and it's lots of fun. The story is definately interesting with its flashbacks and the actors will never win any Oscars, but they really help to make this movie. And then there's the seedy locations. Basically this type of film making is called "using what you got and making the most of it". And then there's the special effects....not over the top, but effective enough to fit nicely with the story. The stop motion animation was a little cheesy, but then that added to the fun of the movie for me. All in all, I had a great time watching this movie.

Something Weird Video (SWV) did a really great job with this DVD. I was a little disappointed that the movie was only available in full screen format, but the amount of extras included was truly amazing. I really enjoyed the piece where the director goes back and tries to locate certain locations from the movie. Great stuff, and pretty complete.

So, in closing, if you want to see a low budget, gory, horror/comedy schlockfest that was done really well, get this movie, if you've got the guts. And as an added bonus, get a glimpse of what times square used to look like before it got all cleaned up and 'disneyfied'. Not a lot of footage on this, but a chance to see how seedy and raw it used to be, with it's hookers, grindhouses, triple-X theaters, etc., compared to what it is now.

Frank Henenlotter has definently made a bizzare and very cheap horror film, the film contains some blood and gore but some of it looks so unbelievably fake like the scene where one of the doctors gets killed by the monster Bilial looks like they just squirted some ketchup and told the actor to scream alot like he was being killed. But what I really liked about this film was its humor and the filmakers determination despite having an extremley low budget, the freak twin itself looks like a bad lump of plasticine with a face on it and two big arms, the film starts when the two brothers go to the city to have there revenge on the doctors who have separeted them from each other when they were younger using a small operation procedure as you will see in the flashback sequence. They soon rent a realy small rundown appartment where there lives a prostitute and some low life scum. Theres this scene that I thought was an absolute riot where Duane Bradley goes on a date with the secratery who he met at the doctors office which makes his twin freak gets jeuolos and then throws a fit of rage, what bothered me about this scene was the bad stop motion effects were completley outdated but who cares because the scene was just so hilarious especialy when he threw a chair across the room and started lifting the bed and banging it on the floor. I recomend this to horror fans who like low budget early 80's horror films.

Every generation or so, a movie appears that redefines the boundaries of the medium, that turns the status quo on its collective head and brings about a paradigm shift in broader social and academic circles. Basket Case is one such film. Released to lukewarm attention at the Cannes Film Festival in 1982, the movie's overarching theme -- two separated brothers engulfed in a love-hate relationship because of their once conjoined state -- seemed out of place in the height of the Cold War. Yet the Berlin Wall ultimately fell, much as a doctor's scalpel separated the film's mismatched protagonists. Who knew then that the brothers' subsequent search for justice, marred by periodic distrust and misunderstanding, would so aptly serve as a post-glasnost roadmap for diplomats on both sides of the Atlantic? After all, Europe and America were separated, too, if by revolution rather than a surgeon's knife. If the thinkers at the Project for a New American Century and the French parliament had heeded this movie's cautionary tale, we wouldn't be involved in such current frivolities as "freedom fries."

But I digress. While this film was unjustly shut out of Oscar honors in 1982, someday Kevin VanHentenryck may well receive the award his masterwork most richly deserves: The Nobel Peace Prize.

If you're looking for a bit of a change-up for your Friday Night Horror Movie Parties, try this one.

It's gory. It's got really cheesy 80's special effects. The actors ALL have bad hair.

However, it is an interesting idea. The two brothers are clearly deeply connected to each other (or, at least they were...). The emotional conflict between the two (particularly the more "able" brother's desire to date) is intense and understandable.

There were moments in this movie that were so funny (that I don't think were meant to be) that my husband and I just laughed and laughed. Some of the characters are over the top. There were some scenes (particularly the really bad stop-animation scenes) that made me wince in their low quality. I'm sure it was superb film quality at the time; but, now it's really bad.

Overall, it's one of those films that you probably should watch. Get a friend who won't hate you when it's over, come to an agreement that this is intentionally quite trashy, and have fun watching a truly original, truly bizarre flick.

Basket Case is WAY out there and so sick that the mouths of those watching it fall open in disbelief. This movie was made outside of Hollywood; the sets consists of a seedy flophouse (not a Hollywood soundstage designed to look like a flophouse), a 42nd street grindhouse movie theater, and what looks like an abandoned building that is supposed to be a doctor's office. The actors and extras look like they were not saleried but worked for a chance to be on film and/or a bottle of wine. There was not much money to be spent on this movie. Instead, this horror masterpiece relied on imagination and a twisted sense of humor to make it work. The story concerns a pair of separated Simease twins. Duane, the normal (normal as in being able to walk on his own and not scare people with his looks) carries his brother around in a wicker basket. The bother looks like a big glob of putty with claws and teeth. Their goal is to exact revenge on the doctor's who separated them. There is lots of blood shed, horrendous acting by non pros, and a femme fatale with the most ridiculous hairstyle ever put on celluloid.

"Basket Case," directed by Frank Henenlotter, is one of my favorite horror films of all time. It tells the story of Duane, an ordinary young man with a bizarre secret: he carries his deformed, undersized former conjoined twin around in a basket (hence the film's title).

"Basket Case" has an appealing low-budget feel to it, and Kevin Van Hentenryck is very likeable as Duane. Belial, the deformed twin, is an oddly sympathetic character. Yes, the film contains some scenes that many will find sick and depraved, but it also contains some truly haunting images. Disturbing, sometimes funny, and curiously moving, "Basket Case" is a truly unique piece of cinematic art.

I'm giving the movie itself 5-stars (how could someone grow up in the 80s/90s and not rent it is beyond me!) but it's a great one. Henenlotter started strong and kept it going.

But the info I want to make known is that the transfer for BC is a brand new one coming from the previously-thought lost negative. Henenlotter himself has stated online at places like Facebook that he thought he'd lost it but came across it a couple years back buried in his storage. He is excited about this as BC has never truly been seen the way he intended it to look -- transfer always came from beat up prints instead of the negative and never got the true attention he'd hoped for. This blu-ray will be a milestone for fans of Henenlotter, BASKET CASE, Belial and Something Weird Video. Here's hoping the BLOOD TRILOGY turns out as well!

Although its a brilliant, humorous, gory and entertaining horror movie, "Basket Case" is a movie that's probably not for everybody. For those seeking a big-budget, two-and-a-half-hour psychological affair with more twists and turns than your brain has room for, this is NOT for you.

HOWEVER!!!

If you want a low-budget, high-quality cheap-thrill of a comedy-horror crossover, "Basket Case" will become your new beloved Friday night splatter-fest. The plot has been retold in other reviews, so I won't get to that. However, I WILL pinpoint the highlights of this movie in hopes that they will inspire you to go check it out:

- Lots of blood and gore. You can tell how cheap the special effects are, but that's part of what makes them so great!

- Lots of cheap laughs/jokes, etc.. At one point, Duane and the nice lady across the hall from him, forget her name, go to a bar and have a little too much booze. Drunken hilarity ensured!

- Colorful and imaginative characters. There's a budding romance between Duane and the girl that works at a doctor's office he visits at one point. This adds a nice touch throughout the movie.

- Brotherly relations. Throughout the movie, we also see some develeopment between Duane and his severed brother, Belial. This actually adds depth to the movie and makes it even more interesting.

- Shocking ending. I won't give away what happens, but after you watch this movie, just know that there's a sequel so anything that may happen to Duane or Belial isn't permanent. (THANK GOD!)

In conclusion, "Basket Case" is a low-budget comedy-horror crossover full of cheap laughs, heavy gore, some brilliant character development and an ending that ensures a dynamic sequel! Pick this up for your rainy Friday night, kick back and enjoy the madness! Thanks for the time, and peace.

In my opinion, this is the most unique, entertaining, unforgettable B movie of all time! A must-have for any movie collection. This is so funny, creepy, and original! Basket Case 2 and 3 I'm not too sure about. The movie was complete enough so that sequels were unnecessary. Every single person I've ever showed this movie to has said unanimously that it was a one-of-a-kind, and were all very entertained! This is money well spent. Now all we need is for movie makers to release Saturday The 14th on DVD (or even VHS!) and we'll be set for life!!

Duane Bradley (Kevin Van Hentenryck) checks into the hotel Broslin in NYC w/ his incredibly deformed, psychic, and psychotic brother, Belial. Together, they plan on hunting down and killing the quacks who surgically separated them years earlier. This is done in gorey detail, with splashes of hysterical humor tossed in! I especially enjoyed the demise of Dr. Kutter (check out her identical twin nurses). Actually, this movie is about the love between two brothers and the jealousy / anger that develops when one of them falls in love. There is a certain warmth beneath all that goo! Along the way, we are treated to many scenes of mutilation and depravity, as only Frank Henenlotter can deliver (The last 15 minutes or so are downright disturbing)! I think BASKET CASE is a classic, and recommend it to anyone w/ a taste for the outrageous and bizarre...