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Basket Case (1982)
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Movie Review by Chris
December 10th, 2008
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'Basket Case' was a low budget horror film made back in 1982. Director Frank Henenlotter is famously known for this and 2 other sequels he created, the latest being made in 1991. Shoe string budget best describes the movie, as it came before Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street, it never made to big of a name for itself. Earlier this month I watched another so called "classic" horror film called Sleepaway Camp, one that was said to be so campy, it became a classic. I did'nt enjoy it one bit and I still dont have a reason why, but I enjoyed "Basket Case" just because it was so cheesy and cheap, it's laughable. The acting is normal independent acting, it never exceeds good, even at times it's absoulutely terrible. There is gore, it looks cheap and a lot of the deaths make almost no sense. The plot is driven by crazy revenge and the effects are laughable, it was fun, in a bad way.
Charming country bumpkin Duane Bradley takes a motel room in New York with no other luggage then a basket. In a flash back-series we learn it contains his surgically removed Siamese twin who is not only physically deformed so badly the doctors hesitated to consider him a human, but is also the vindictive drive of their trip, with the purpose to kill off all those he blames. But in the reception of one of those doctors, Duane gets his first ever date, with the receptionist, and wants to start a positive life too - when the freak twin escapes, this scene is set for a grim finale.
Kevin Van Hentenryck stars as Duane Bradley, the so called normal brother of the two. Now we must remember that the film is shoe string budget and in one scene where Duane pulls out a roll of money in order to pay for the hotel room, it's said that the roll of money was the movie's entire budget. I would consider Duane more of a freak then anything, carrying around his disfigured, murdering brother around in a little wicker basket is not normal at all. He keeps his brother away from the world, feeding him in the confines of the hotel room. But his brother is a murdering psychopath, he escapes from the basket and kills aimlessly. Kevin puts on a laughable performance, but in this movie everyone does. His hair is absoulutely insane, and he expresses no emotions through any scene. Even in moments when he is with Sharon (Terri Susan Smith), his lover, he never seems to enjoy her company.
Even though Duane is a little freak and completely insane, he ends up meeting a girl named Sharon. Played by Terri Susan Smith, she doesnt play to large of a role in the movie, but as Duane's first lover, it may seem like an important role. Duane meets Sharon after going to Dr. Needleman's office to explore the scar on his side from which his brother was cut off. She is a horrible actress, I have never seen her in any other films but she was so laughable and just hated by me I couldnt really stand her times on screen. Her death scene was considered offensive by the crew, in which she was naked and raped by a little demon. It was violent and I loved to see her dissapear once and for all.
The world of film didnt get it's real big gore hit until Friday the 13th was released, in which we saw slit throats and an amazing decapitation, this started the gore phenomenon. Sure we had Dawn of the Dead, which features some of the best head shots in the world. Then we have A Nightmare on Elm Street, in which the scene where the boy is sucked into his bed and his blood being sprayed all over the room is surely an unforgettable moment. 'Basket Case' is a bloody movie, a very low budget and bloody movie. Most of the deaths revolve around the freak jumping on people and some how killing them, something I dont understand. Blood sprays and soaks it's victims, but it doesnt make sense. In one scene a girl's face is laid in a box of knives, none of the knives are sticking up and somehow she appears with 4 or 5 of them in her face at one time.
'Basket Case' is pure cheesy fun. It's dumb and never really makes any sense. Im not into this kind of horror, but I didnt hate it.
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