User reviews

After first glancing at the article of this movie in the book "Cult Movies 2" some 25 years ago, I finally watched Basket Case today having bought the VHS from a used video store about a month ago. It concerns conjoined twins Duane (Keven Van Hentenryck) and Belial (which is a mixture of a puppet and stop-motion animation) and their revenge against the doctors that tore them apart. There's also a romance between Duane and one of the doctors' receptionist, Sharon (Terri Susan Smith). Written and directed by Frank Henenlotter, Basket Case is obviously low-budget and amateurish with cheesy moments to spare especially whenever Belial attacks someone. But it can also provide some genuine scares and shocks especially when Belial encounters Sharon. So on that note, Basket Case comes highly recommended. P.S. One of the players, a Dorothy Strongin who played Josephine here, died in my current hometown of Baton Rouge, LA, on May 25, 2006.

Basket Case was a horro movie that was intentionally funny. And because of how cheesy it is, it's even sillier now. The plot is quite simple and the acting is mediocre, but remember, it's a B movie. But the kills are funny and have just the right amount of gore. The ending was both weird and predictable. Not the best movie and not required viewing for horror fans, but a fun 90 minutes.

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!

Saw this on a rented VHS in the mid 80s. Revisited it recently on a DVD. This movie hasn't aged well. Basket Case is an ultra low budget 80s horror film. It is also a unique movie with a new premise. The effects r shoddy but gore hounds will definitely enjoy this. The movie's set up reminds us of Taxi driver. The sleazy building with societies scum n the shady night life of New York city. Its about a man who wants to exact revenge on the doctors who separated him from his deformed conjoined twin against their will. The deformed legless small freak is twisted, sick n very very angry. The final rape scene is hilarious.

We are back to the grimy New York of the early 1980s. Times Square is sleazy with sex shops, low rent hotels and seedy cinemas. Somewhere running around in the city is The Exterminator, Ms 45 and Charles Bronson with a death wish.

Duane Bradley arrives in New York with plenty of cash and a locked basket. He checks into a cheap hotel and inside the basket is his deformed and horrid Siamese twin brother, Belial separated forcefully by some doctors under their father's order when they were young. Both brothers have a telepathic link and Duane knows that Belial is also insanely jealous which he discovers when he strikes up a friendship with a nurse.

Belial resents being cut off from his normal looking brother and seeks revenge against the doctors responsible by killing them horribly. He even split his own father in two.

Basket Case is regarded as a low budget camp classic horror. It has laughably bad effects with cheap stop motion and the acting is atrocious. I would like to call it wooden but I have no desire to insult forests.

The director adds gore to keep the horror fans happy and also there is plenty of screaming which eventually gets to be irritating. In fact once you realise there is a death coming, you gather that the screaming is just padding to extend the length of the movie.

I liked the comical hotel manager trying to keep order in his dive but having endured this film you kind of wonder why it is held in such a high regard. It fails as a horror film because its not scary.

Frank Hennenlotter's "Basket Case" highlights the problem with horror films of today. Back in the eighties, films would be made with an idea and no budget, and the result would nearly always see the release of an inventive and interesting horror film. Basket Case is no exception to this, as despite hokey effects, a rather silly story and some very suspect acting; Basket Case is a trash classic all the way, and it's a film that's guaranteed to delight fans of horror. The story capitalises on the fact that many people (including yours truly) find the subject of deformity uncomfortable, and the subject of living with it even more so. The plot follows a strange young man that carries a basket around with him. Inside the basket lies his hideously deformed Siamese twin, and the deformity wants it's revenge!

This leads the two brothers to seek out the doctors that separated them and brutally butcher them, and delivering us with a great camp horror movie! The central creature - namely, the deformed brother, is a masterpiece of creature design. The thing itself looks ridiculous, but in spite of this it actually manages to be quite frightening, and once you've gotten over the initial giggles: it takes on a life of it's own, and even manages to become quite believable. The film is sufficiently gory, which will no doubt be good news for everyone that wants to see it. Frank Hennenlotter is one of those directors that obviously has talent and flair for making films, but also hasn't been given a real chance to realise it. It's a massive shame that the endless amounts of remakes continue to get released on huge budgets, while someone that could make a great movie is blessed only with chicken feed to make them with. Just wait until the part where the brothers' story is told – that's inventiveness for you! One thing I do love about the director is the way he casts his lead; the one here is certainly odd enough, in a naive loser sort of a way. On the whole; fans of intricate, deep cinema should stay well clear - while everyone else is preparing themselves for a damn good time!

Some of the best bad acting I've ever seen. I knew I was in for a treat near the beginning when a victim's electricity and telephone cords are snipped ("Oh god,no- No!"). But aside from some of the laughable acting, there actually is a creepy atmosphere to the movie. Plot consists of siamese twins (or am I supposed to call them "conjoined"?) who were separated against their will, and aren't too happy about it. Check it out.

A young man travels to New York City with his deformed Siamese brother in a basket. Their plan is to seek revenge on the doctors that separated them. But things don't go according to plan.

This is an odd film, the premise alone will have one scratching their heads. In order to like this film, you'll need to like trash/crap/horrible/lower then B horror movies. This is all that plus more. One only has to look at the directors other films to understand what they went for with this flick.

I can see how this film has a cult following, it has that appeal, but it just didn't work for me. It went from being a good film at being bad, to a bad film at being bad. Was the scene of the main character running around New York naked really necessary? Don't get me started on the fact that the deformed brother has sex with a dead female.

The clay-mation is funny to look at in by todays terms. Some old school lovers will get a kick out of it. The film had a budget, and you can tell. The audio is off in places and the acting is horrid. The ending was bizarre, but actually worked. Which has me scratching my head why there is not one, but two...count them two sequels. You know you're in trouble when the director says "Basketcase 3 what were we thinking?"

I can't recommend this film to anyone, even horror fans. It is geared towards a specific audience. If you can sit through trashy crap horror movies and love the idea of a deformed brother in a basket, then be my guest. OTHERWISE, avoid at all costs. I have yet to see the sequels, and most likely will not ever see them. Don't worry I'm not losing any sleep over it.

Basket Case (1982) happens to be one of the greatest shoe string budget horror films ever made. A true cult classic and a tragic tale of brotherly love and jealousy. The sleazy surroundings and characters that the movie was shot in and around adds to it's charm. Duane and Belial are a pair of brothers you don't want to cross paths with. This film was such a success that it spawned two sequels and a funny cameo in another. Highly recommended.

A

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Basket Case; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 1.25 Direction: 1.25 Pace: 1.00 Acting: 1.25 Enjoyment: 1.00

TOTAL: 5.75 out of 10.00.

I have watched Basket Case four times to date, and I'm still unsure about it. It's one of those films that should be right in my ballpark. But for some unknown reason, I still find myself irresolute.

The story writer and director Frank Henenlotter presents the audience is a sound idea. A boy and his once-conjoined twin seek revenge against those who literally tore them apart. After splitting their father in half with a circular saw, their doting mother looked after the kids: She never wanted the pair separated. After she passes away, the deadly duo set about pursuing their revenge and head towards the city, where they take up residence at one of the city's seedier hotels. Henenlotter creates his microcosm well and populates it with sturdy characters. But it's here that it falls apart for me. One reason is the comedic element. It feels forced and a tad feeble. Take the doctors who carried out the operation. One is now a general practitioner in a clinic that appears worse than the brother's hotel, and the female doc who did the cutting is a vet. These reveals should tickle your funny bone. However, mine remained untitillated. And then you have the whole size issue with Duane's bro, which I'll get to later. I still wish Henenlotter had stuck to making a horror movie because he excels at this more than comedy.

Even Henenlotter's cinematographic eye is well-honed. There's very little wrong in his direction. He has a good sense of composition and utilises light, shade, and colour splendidly, empowering the movie with an air of creepiness. Sadly, due to the low budget, the downfall of the picture is the deformed brother. Most of the time, it's acceptable. The too-soft rubber hands lose definition when they are used to grip anything. But, we horror fans can let that slide, especially if it happens when the scene is gripping. What I couldn't let slip was the stop-frame animation. One sequence of a mediocre Harryhausen making the head with arms go on a rampage in the hotel room would've been okay. But there are two more such scenes. And they did nothing but annoy. The worst of which is the glowing eyes. You can clearly see the head's different from the previous model they'd been using. The reason is to allow the FX guys to stick two bulbs behind its eyes. When the lights flick on, it's dreadful. Even though the shot only lasts a couple of seconds, you'll remember it for the wrong reasons. And this is an absolute shame because, like Henenlotter, the FX Crew deliver some brilliant gore for the lack of cash. The face scratches look realistic, as does the body torn in half, and the head full of scalpels - though the performer's timing could've been faster in that scene. Back to the comedy, Henenlotter also attempts to throw in some sight gags, the most memorable being the toilet. After the handy head wrecks their room, the neighbours and manager rush in to see. Luckily, he heard them and hid - in the crapper. When brother Duane returns, he looks everywhere. Unable to find him, he collapses to the floor, weary and worried, at which point a hand comes up from the toilet bowl. Everybody laughs. And if you think about it, if he had a tan, he'd look like the emoticon poo brought to life. Unfortunately, in the following clip, you see him sitting on the rim of the toilet, and you realise he could never fit in; it's too shallow and small. Laughs stop. It's these little things that mess the film up for me.

The cast is well above average in their portrayals. They come across strongly and help make their characters credible. Whatsmore, nobody outshines the other. I love this in movies. Every actor and actress is as skilled as the others. It makes for greater immersion into the film for the viewer.

I would happily recommend Basket Case to every horror fan out there. It's worthy of one watch. Hopefully, you'll enjoy it more than I do: Maybe this style of humour is your bag. I will probably watch the flick for a fifth time because, though they filmed on a budget, it remains one of the better shot low-cost flicks I've had the pleasure to watch - and I do like the cinematography and story.

Get Out Of The Toilet - NOW! After you wipe yourself dry, you can read my IMDb lists - Absolute Horror and Just For Laughs to see where I ranked Basket Case.

Take Care & Stay Well.

A lot of people give glowing reviews for this movies, in what I can only assume is an elaborate troll conspiracy to get people to watch it. Don't fall for this. This might be quite literally the worst movie I've ever seen, and believe me, the competition is fierce. I expected to see a good campy fun movie like Re-Animator, but it's really not. It's bad, not so bad it's good, not even so bad it's horrible, it's Star Wars Holiday Special bad.

The story, if you haven't read the summary, is that Duane Bradley and his Siamese twin were separated by evil doctors against their will, and have now come to New York to take revenge. And that's pretty much it. Sure there is a pointless romantic subplot, but apart from that, there is really no conflict or twists of any kind. It pretty much plays out exactly as you would expect.

It really fails in every respect imaginable. The plot is bad, the dialog is worse, and the acting is just painful to watch. You shouldn't think it possible to fail in acting a simple thing such as screaming or running across a lawn, but these people show you different. The deformed brother doll is just hideously tacky, and he moves with stop motion animations that I have seen better done in silent movies. There is a bit of nudity at one point towards the end of the movie that is kind of okay, but most likely you'll be long dead from aneurysms by then. There isn't even a lot of gore in the death scenes, just the camera panning away for a gory discretion shot and a lot of screaming before, during, and after.

How Frank Hennenlotter got to make not only this movie, but others as well, and two sequels to this no less, is completely beyond me. He should have spent the money he bamboozled out of his producers for crack and hookers and the world would have been better off for it. In fact, I now regard this as the definite proof there is no god, because if there was, how could he let this film happen?

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!

As someone who went to college in early 1980's NYC and lived in Manhattan through 1990, Basket Case gives you a real feel for the grittiness of the Big Apple back in those bad olde day.

Dwayne (Kevin Van Hentenryck) arrives in NYC from Upstate NY to take up residence in a sleazy SRO hotel in the heart of Time Square - and this is back in the day when Time Square was NOT family friendly. I mean X-rated theaters, peep shows, adult bookstores, flop hotels and greasy spoons frequented by hookers, johns, pimps, drug dealer and the flotsam of humanity that drifted through the Deuce back in those days. Dwayne show up with a basket of 'laundry'. Only it ain't laundry - its the monstrous remnants of his detached, yet still living, Siamese twin. And this deformed twin is on a rampage of vengeance for which Dwayne is a mere pawn to its needs. The movie is over the top, even if somewhat derivitate of 1972's Sisters by Brian DePalma. If you love low budget horror flicks, Basket Case had few equals.

I first saw this horribly grainy movie back when I was around 12 years old. It was such a traumatizing experience, I thought I would wet my pants in the Dr. Needleman death scene! Then I discovered the Something Weird digitally remastered version this year and I absolutely love it now! I now realize it was meant to be funny in many places; it gets more campy with every viewing (that's not bad) and the over-the-top gore effects help it hold that position. Like the title of this review says, you seriously might think of steering clear of New York City after watching this movie. The only two movies I can think of that make New York look like a filthy, dirty abyss would be the ones mentioned in the other reviews, TAXI DRIVER and HARDCORE. To rebutt a fellow reviewer's point: Casey the prostitute is not hairy, but is on the chunky side! This movie is highly recommended as campy viewing at best. If anyone actually watches this movie while taking it seriously (it obviously doesn't want to be), of course they won't like it! But this is required for fans of cult movies, horror movies, and any of those who love the offbeat. Me included!

Basket Case is one of the silliest and most ridiculous horror films ever made, but it is absolutely awesome in so many ways. The movie defies the laws of reality with its ludicrous story, direction, and acting.

The humorous over the top concept that the movie is based around is enough to make you roll your eyes, shake your head, and laugh all at the same time. I know it sounds like I'm bashing the film, but I'm not because I love this movie

For what it lacks in budget, it more than makes up for with its creativity. If you're a fan of old school horror and have never seen these movies, because (yes) there are three. Check them out, because they don't disappoint.

Now - you know how they say you can't plan on how things will be perceived and what can be succesful? It applies here ... for all intents and purposes the movie itself is quite bad ... and mostly not the good kind of bad. So I reckon timing was on its side - because you have to have luck with these things! And in this particular case it really was lucky ... and was quite succesful and got infamous.

Having said all that, it is clear there was not much budget here - the actors really ... well some would call. Their acting below any standards ... others may recognize a concept here or just cherish the madness in all of it. It's over hyped and overplayed to say the least. And it has an ending, which one may think would not spark any sequels ... but you know how money rules everything? Exactly ... so bring on the next ones.