Basket Case *** (1982, Kevin Van Hentenryck, Terri Susan Smith, Beverly Bonner) – Classic Movie Review 10,082

Writer-director Frank Henenlotter provides good grisly cult film fun with his campy 1982 low-budget ($35,000) comedy horror film Basket Case about a young man who checks into a seedy New York Times Square hotel with a large, mysterious basket that shakes with anticipation when hamburgers are proferred.

The contents turn out to be Duane Bradley (Kevin Van Hentenryck)’s deformed, Siamese twin Belial (a mix of puppet and stop-motion animation), who is back in town to avenge himself on the doctors who gratuitously split them apart without realising the strength of brotherly bonds.

The Plasticine monster has inhuman agility and cunning, and everything goes to plan until Duane (Van Hentenryck) falls in love with Sharon (Terri Susan Smith), a receptionist in one of the doctors’ offices, and the stage is ready for a sibling struggle.

Tacky, amateurish and poorly acted, Basket Case is a Pandora’s Box of ghoulish cheesy charm, laughs, scares, shocks and affectionate nods to horror films of the past, including a dedication to goremeister Herschell Gordon Lewis (director, This Stuff’ll Kill Ya! (1971)), aka ‘The Godfather of Gore’.

Graphic gore and some nudity.

Basket Case runs 91 minutes, but nearly all the gore scenes were cut for the British video release by Palace Video (1982) (UK), restored on the DVD releases. The unrated US release was cut by the distributor to eliminate most of the blood and gore, which was put back later when the film played the midnight movie circuit.

Basket Case 2 and Basket Case 3 followed.

Also in the cast are Beverly Bonner, Robert Vogel, Diana Browne, Lloyd Pace, Joe Clarke and Bill Freeman.

There was a crew of only three or four people, so many of the credit names are fictitious.

It is released by Arrow Video (2018) (US) (Blu-ray).

Henenlotter recalled: ‘I never felt that I made horror films. I always felt that I made exploitation films. Exploitation films have an attitude. They’re a little ruder, a little raunchier.’

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,082

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