Basket Case (film)
| Basket Case | |
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| Directed by | Frank Henenlotter |
| Produced by | Edgar Levins |
| Written by | Frank Henenlotter |
| Starring | Kevin Van Hentenryck Terri Susan Smith Beverly Bonner |
| Music by | Gus Russo |
| Distributed by | Analysis Film Releasing Corporation |
| Release date(s) | April, 1982[1] |
| Running time | 91 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $35,000 |
Basket Case is an American horror film, written and directed by Frank Henenlotter, that was released in 1982. It has two sequels, Basket Case 2 (1990) and Basket Case 3: The Progeny (1991) by the same director. It is notable for its low budget and over-the-top violence. The film gained an audience in the 1980s due to the advent of home video.
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[edit] Plot
Dr Julius Liflander (Bill Freeman) tries to leave his home/laboratory, but he gets scared by the movement of the surrounding trees. Back home, he locks himself up and tries to call the police. A huge hand attacks him and kills him viciously.
Duane Bradley (Kevin Van Hentenryck) arrives to New York from the northern small town of Glen Falls, to the ugly Hotel Broslin. Anthony (Robert Vogel), the hotel manager, mocks him and asks for twenty bucks a night. Duane is loaded, pays in cash and is given room 7. On her way up, Josephine (Dorothy Storngin) chit-chats about the old guest in his room. Once inside his room, Duane unlocks his basket and feeds it a huge quantity of hamburgers. Duane reads a thick volume of medical papers, where he appears as a patient. At night, Belial, the body in the basket, tries to talk to him, but Duane only wants to sleep. We know that Belial can leave the basket on his own. Josephine warns Duane that Bryan "Mickey" O'Donovan (Joe Clarke) was peeping through the keyhole because he saw the wad of bills which Duane had.
Duane takes the basket to see Dr Harold Needleman MD (Lloyd Pace). Sharon (Terri Susan Smith) is the receptionist. She tries to make small conversation with Duane, who sees Dr Needleman under the name of Duane Smith. Duane rejects Sharon at first, but then he asks for her number and sets on a date. Needleman looks at the huge scars on the right side of Duane's body. When Needleman gets rid of Duane, he tries to contact Lifflander and when he can't, he phones Dr Judith Kutter (Diane Browne), who falsely denies of knowledge of Glen Falls. Meanwhile, Duane goes to the cinema to see a boring film, and he dozes off. A thief (Tom Robinson) steals the basket, and is attacked by Belial when he opens the basket. After Sharon has left, Duane leaves and opens the box. Belial is free to terrorize and kill Needleman, and also takes Needleman's address book.
Duane buys a television set for Belial, so that he can go out with Sharon. They kiss, but as Belial has a telepathic link with Duane, he gets frantic and messes up room 7. All the guests and the receptionist run to see what happens and they enter the room. O'Donovan realises where the cash money is. Apart from the mess, nothing strange appears on the room. They all leave, but O'Donoval comes back to take the money. He is attacked and killed by Belial on room 8. Duane feels sick because of Belial's terror, so he comes back running to the Broslin Hotel. The police is already there. A detective (Kerry Buff) registers room 7, asking Duane about a dog, but finds nothing. Belial had hidden on the toilet.
Duane takes the basket to a bar, where he gets drunk. Josephine keeps him company. Duane says all the truth to her, but she doesn't believe him. Duane talks about their mother, who died giving birth to them. Belial and him were brought up by their aunt (Ruth Neuman), as their father (Richard Pierce) would like to kill them both, especially Belial. A social worker (Ilze Balodis) visits them, as Aunt has asked for custody. She is terrified when he sees a younger Duane (Sean McCabe) with Belial at his right side of the body. Father thinks that Belial is not even a person. No doctor dares to try to separate both twin brothers, as it would mean the death of Belial, but finally, three doctors perform the surgery. At night, Duane is woken up. He picks Belial up from a rubbish bag put out with the rest of the rubbish. That night, when Belial recovers, kills Father by cutting him in half. Aunt will keep on taking care of the brothers. After this story, back at the Broslin Hotel, Josephine puts Duane to bed and leaves. Back on her room, Josephine realises that Belial is there, caressing her. She screams and wakes all the guests up. Belial is gone fast. He has stolen Josephine's sexy underwear, and takes it with him to his basket.
Dr Kutter is a vet. A dog barks to the basket. With plenty of noise and blood, Belial kills her.
Sharon visits Duane after she comes to know that Dr Needleman is dead. They try to make love but Belial doesn't want Duane to have or sex, or be in love, or be independent. Duane gets angry with Belial for the first time. Belial hesitates in killing Duane.
Duane dreams of himself runnin naked through the city. Sharon is sleeping naked. Duane touches her on her dream and then he starts making love to her. Suddenly, he wakes up. He realises that it was not a dream: Belial is making love to her. By that, Belial is killing her with lots of blood spilled all over the place. Duane is so anry with him that he tries to kill him. Duane takes Belial back to the hotel. He and Belial die because they fall through the window because of the fight.
[edit] Cast
- Kevin Van Hentenryck as Duane Bradley
- Terri Susan Smith as Sharon
- Beverly Bonner as Casey
- Robert Vogel as Hotel manager
- Diana Browne as Dr. Judith Kutter
- Lloyd Pace as Dr. Harold Needleman
- Bill Freeman as Dr. Julius Lifflander
- Joe Clarke as Brian 'Mickey' O'Donovan
- Ruth Neuman as Aunt
- Richard Pierce as Duane's Father
- Sean McCabe as Young Duane
- Dorothy Strongin as Josephine
- Ilze Balodis as Social Worker
- Kerry Buff as Detective
- Tom Robinson as Thief in Theater[2]
[edit] Special effects
The special effects for Belial consist largely of a puppet in some scenes and stop motion in others. When Belial's hand is seen attacking his victims, it is really a glove worn by Henenlotter. The full size Belial puppet is also seen in the scenes where Belial is seen with an actor or where his eyes glow red. The Belial rampage sequence used stop motion animation.[3]
[edit] X-files
The X-Files copied this film's story for a season 2 episode.
[edit] Release
Basket Case was released theatrically in the United States by Analysis Film Releasing Corporation beginning in April 1982.[4] It played as a midnight movie for several years after this.
The film was first released on DVD in the United States by Image Entertainment in 1998.[5] This version is currently out of print. The film was re-released on special edition DVD by Something Weird Video in 2001.[6]
It was released on Blu-ray September 27, 2011.
It is currently available for instant streaming on Netflix.
[edit] Reception
Basket Case received fair ratings, earning 79% at Rotten Tomatoes out of 22 reviews.[7]
[edit] External links
- Basket Case at the Internet Movie Database
- Basket Case at AllRovi
- Basket Case @ www.hotelbroslin.com
[edit] References
- ^ Basket Case (1982) - Release dates
- ^ Basket Case (1982) - Full cast and crew
- ^ This info is provided in the segment "In Search of Hotel Broslin" in the special features of the Basket Case DVD
- ^ "Company Credits for Basket Case". imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083624/companycredits. Retrieved 2011-04-01.
- ^ "Basket Case". dvdempire.com. http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?item_id=3254. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
- ^ "Basket Case". somethingweird.com. http://www.somethingweird.com/cart.php?target=product&product_id=19108&substring=basket+case. Retrieved 2011-04-01.
- ^ Rotten Tomatoes
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