Rating: 
Summary: ...very small, very twisted, and very mad...
Review: The ads for this cult classic proudly displayed Rex Reed's quote ("The sickest movie I've ever seen"). It's a horror-comedy about Duane Bradley (Kevin VanHentenryck), a soft-spoken, mild-mannered young man who takes his little brother Belial to New York City. What's sick about that? Well, Belial is Duane's deformed, telepathically bonded Siamese twin, who lives in a wicker basket and looks like a snaggle-toothed hamburger patty. The brothers hole up in a dingy hotel (Hotel Broslin!) and track down the three doctors who surgically separated them. Laughable stop-motion animation, explicit gore, and an extremely bad-taste sex scene push this $35,000 first feature by Frank Henenlotter off limits to all but the most decadent viewers, which means people like me and YOU, if you've read this far. Vile fun if you're in the right mood and company; this isn't the kind of movie you take home to meet your mom. Followed by two progressively cretinous sequels, also by Henenlotter. Stick with this movie, "Brain Damage," and "Frankenhooker."
Rating:
Summary: What's in the basket...?
Review: Probably one of the most gleefully sick cult films to surface for sometime, Something Weird has packaged together the ultimate special edition of this wonderfully twisted comedy/horror gem. The extras for this disc are a lot of fun, starting with the commentary (by director Frank Henenlotter, co-star (the wonderful) Beverly Bonner and producer Edgar Ievins), behind-the-scenes footage, photos and artwork, a couple odd radio interviews with actress Terri Susan Smith and clips from Beverly Bonner's NYC television comedy show. There is also a video update hosted by Frank Henenlotter visiting some of the various locations they shot at and what they look like today. But the real star of this disc is the film itself which looks wonderful and clear and is still extremely funny and features some great background characters, creepy synth music and of course, in my favorite scene of all, the hilarious fate of the evil veternarian, Dr. Judith Kutter. What ever happened to that actress? Now let's see Something Weird do the same loving treatment for Henenlotter's equally brain-damaged Frankenhooker!
Rating:
Summary: TALK ABOUT A FACE-OFF!
Review: The ultimate revenge film presented the way it deserves to be!
A boy and the twisted lump of flesh that is his brother comb the streets of new york in search of the doctor's who did some very bad things to them long ago. The two, who are brothers, won't stop untill every last one of them pays the price! The lump hides in a basket and is carried around to various locations where he is unleashed on the guilty. But the normal looking brother starts to fall in love and tensions arise...
This film is a classic all the way. The DVD transfer here is amazing. The good folks at 'something wierd video' have cleaned this baby up and its as pristine and crisp as it can be. The sound mix is creepy good fun. And the thing is loaded with special features that any fan of this film will appreciate.
'In search of the hotel broslin' is my favorite.
We get generous helpings of gore in this one. Medical instruments to the face, claws ripping off faces, claws tearing into guts, claws grabbing gonads and on and on. Will satisfy the gorehounds.
T&A: some pretty large chest pillows make an appearance towards the end of the film. The ladies get brother belial nude.
Rating:
Summary: SICK, SICK, SICK, SICK
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: What's in the basket, kid?
Review: '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 it's 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.
Rating:
Summary: Cheese classic
Review: "Basket Case" is yet another early '80's schlock classic that serious horror film fans must watch. I fondly remember lounging on the couch at 3:00 AM during summer vacation, washing down a pepperoni pizza with a six-pack of pop while viewing this dreck. Ahhh, those were the days! As I got older and presumably began taking part in the "adult" world, my memories of these classic yuckfests faded. Fortunately, DVD arrived on the scene a few years ago and resurrected many of these old, pleasant memories. If you're not familiar with the wondrous magic of "Basket Case," think "C.H.U.D.," but cheaper. If you don't know what "C.H.U.D." is, I probably can't help you but I'll try. Think New York City in its grimiest incarnation, a city swarming with women of the night, grindhouse theaters, and slum tenements aplenty. It is against this backdrop that "Basket Case" unfolds. The movie is a warm, heartfelt film about twins who decide to go to the big city so they can relive fond memories of the past with the surgeons who separated them. I'm pretty sure I missed the Academy Awards that year, so I can't remember if this film won the best picture Oscar, but it probably should have. Who doesn't like a film about twins? Directed by low budget hero Frank Henenlotter, "Basket Case" relates the complicated tale of Duane Bradley (Kevin Van Hentenryck). When we first meet up with Duane, he's acquiring lodgings at one of New York City's finer hotels-alright, it's really some rat hole where the dregs of humanity hang out when they aren't collecting unemployment or waiting for the liquor store to open. Duane wants a room so he can be closer to the three doctors who performed a special operation on him some years before. Despite the fact that the kid's got a huge wad of money and a wicker basket he totes around with him wherever he goes, the room he rents is barely big enough to lie down in. Soon after arriving at the Waldorf Astoria...err, I mean the rat hole, Duane heads out for food. He does this quite a bit, buying a huge package of hotdogs or a bag of hamburgers so he can dump them in the basket. Whatever's in there sure is hungry! Not to worry, though, as Duane is on friendly terms with the thing in the wicker bin. Before heading out on his little mission, Duane acquaints himself with several of his neighbors and the patrician mannered desk clerk of his motel. He meets Casey (Beverly Bonner), a working gal with a ready smile and an endless stream of boyfriends. Duane also meets the loudmouth working the front desk, an obnoxious New Yawk type who bellows at the top of his lungs about the rules of the building. Forming relationships doesn't deter our hero from his special task, so very soon after arriving he strolls off to meet one of his former doctors. Only then, when Duane meets one of his old enemies face to face, do we truly learn about the contents of the basket. Meet Belial, Duane's worse half. When the doctors separated these Siamese twins, they tried to kill the lump of living flesh attached to our hero. A sympathetic associate of the family kept Belial alive, unfortunately, and now Duane and his bro are on a mission of destruction. His twin is nothing more than a cheesy looking lump of flesh with very sharp teeth, teeth he's willing to sink deeply into the necks of the three physicians who maimed him. There's an extended flashback sequence filling us in on the origins of Belial, and a subplot about a pretty receptionist who takes an interest in Duane, but the real meat of the movie is watching this weird looking puppet thingy rip and tear its way through an assortment of people. Henenlotter's film is now largely considered a cult classic. The movie did so well that two sequels emerged in the 1990s. I haven't seen the successors, but rewatching the original was a lot of fun. Everything about this movie screams ultra low budget, from the atrocious acting skills of all the principal characters to the cheesy operation room where the medicos remove Belial. Actor Kevin Van Hentenryck couldn't act his way out of a wet paper bag, and his physical appearance is just downright weird. He's got this huge hair that reminds me a lot of an early Daniel Stern without any of the charm that that actor brought to the silver screen. Beverly Bonner isn't much better as the world wise Casey. I got the feeling she's supposed to be this super hot babe, and she really isn't. All of these people move against a backdrop that's so filthy I felt like taking a shower after the credits rolled. At least the gore works well enough, and it ought to considering most of the budget went towards buying buckets of fake blood. Still, "Basket Case" is amusing because it fails on so many levels. The central idea is a good one even if the execution falters. I watched the Special Edition DVD of "Basket Case" from Image Entertainment. The disc sports a ton of extras, very few of which are worth watching. There's a commentary track with Frank Henenlotter, outtakes, galleries, a video short shot for the DVD release that shows the movie locations as they are today, a clip of Beverly Bonner's cable television show (?), and a few other goodies. The picture and audio transfer looks and sounds good for such a low budget movie. You'll need to add "Basket Case" to your "to see" list soon. I can't wait to see the two sequels on DVD in the future.
Rating:
Summary: A stunningly prescient rumination on Euro-American relations
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Great premise, bad look
Review: This movie is just way too ugly looking to be good. I know special effects shouldn't matter, but sometimes you need just a little bit to help push a picture along. I like the whole premise about the two brothers. I think they should remake it into modern day.
Rating:
Summary: Ludicrous Fun!
Review: Basket Case delights me to no end. Its cheesy special effects, terrible acting, and absurd plot keep my friends and I laughing almost non-stop. The fact that I am almost certain that the director and cast knew it was terrible pleases me even more. It has an almost Troma-esque feel to it (and if you're considering buying this movie, you know who Troma is). If the movie weren't enough, Something Weird Video, in their usual fashion, heaps on a slew of extra features. The documentary with the director and some random guy revisiting locations from the movie is thoroughly enjoyable. Although, the scenes from the cable access show that Beverly Bonner (an actress in the film) did has to be one of the most unfunny and revolting things I've ever scene. Despite that (or possibly because of it), this DVD is definitely worth purchasing if you are a fan of schlock horror (and you know who you are).
Rating:
Summary: "All Alone In This Cold, Cruel World!"
Review: Aside from featuring my favorite film line EVER (See above), Basket Case does have a few other redeeming qualities. Well, maybe not redeeming, but entertaining. The film follows a young man named Duane as he arrives in Times Square, wicker basket in tow. He checks into the seedy Hotel Broslin, and promptly sets about his task: Hunting down the Doctors who forcibly seoerated him from his siamese twin Belial years ago. (Yup, that's his Bro in the basket...) The plan hits a snag, though, when Duane meets a girl; He wants to settle down, Belial wants his revenge. There's gore aplenty, as well as some great laughs. The effects are pretty good; Director Frank Henenlotter made the most of his low budget, and the inventiveness of the effects and camera setups set the film a cut above the rest of the blood-drenched-pack. Unfortunately, the film is presented full-frame. Otherwise, the disc is a real treat for long-time Basket-heads. There's a commentary track with Director Henenlotter and a few cast members, trailers, TV spots, radio spots, outtakes and rare behind-the-scenes footage, a featurette, two radio interviews with Terri Susan Smith, and footage from "Beverly Bonner's Laugh Track"-It's a good thing the word "Laugh" is in the title, otherwise I'd have no clue it's supposed to be funny.... All in all, Basket Case is a must-own for horror fans, and (Aside from the full-screen presentation) Something Weird Video deserves a ton of kudos for delivering a great disc.
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