Product Details

• Actors: Chris Babson, Ilze Balodis, Beverly Bonner, Diana Browne, Kerry Buff
• Format: Color, DVD, Special Edition, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: July 17, 2001
• Run Time: 91 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005KH30
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #26,273 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Cult Movies > Horror

• For more information about "Basket Case (20th Anniversary Special Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Here's a sick little movie for you--a creepy-funny shocker that's become a semi-cult classic since its release in 1982. It's a cheesy, low-budget horror flick about a small-town geek who arrives in New York City's Times Square carrying his mutant, telepathic twin brother in a big basket (hence the movie's title, get it?). They were once Siamese twins, and now they're seeking gory revenge against the doctors who surgically separated them against their will! Talk about brotherly love! The "normal" sibling has to keep his brother well- fed, and the basket-dweller's appetite runs the gamut from hamburgers to hookers. There's plenty of lowlife "meat" to be found in the seedy motel where the brothers live. Not exactly mainstream fare, as you might already have guessed, but director Frank Henenlotter handles the gruesomeness with resourceful ingenuity. The movie even gathered enough horror-buff momentum to spawn two lesser sequels in 1990 and 1992, which is all the proof you need to add this dubious trilogy to the gross-out hall of fame. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

CARRYING A MYSTERIOUS WICKER BASKET AROUND WITH HIM, DUANE BRADLEY ARRIVES IN MANHATTEN. WHAT'S IN THE BASKET? WHY, DUANE'S HIDEOUSLY MISSHAPEN SIAMESE TWIN BROTHER, BELIAL, OF COURSE! DUANE HAS HIT THE BIG APPLE TO WREAK HAVOC ON THE SURGEONS WHO SEPARATED THEM.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What's in the basket, kid?, July 6, 2003

By	cookieman108 "cookieman108®" (Inside the jar...) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

'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.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cult horror trash classic, August 20, 2004

By	S. D Haynie "girlranger" (carlsbad, nm United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What's in the basket!!?, April 16, 2005

By	Puzzle box "smockey_421" (Kuwait) - See all my reviews

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.