Basket Case (DVD)

In the 1980s, an odd man appeared who would carve his name into cult-horror history with his quirky,funny and OTT gore-filled movies. Im not talking about Sam Raimi, nor Peter Jackson. The man I refer to is a Mr.Frank Henenlotter. While the aforementioned pair have since went on to the big time, making blockbusters like Spiderman and Lord of the Rings, Henenlotter disappeared after 1992's Basket Case 3, ten years after he earned his notoriety with the original Basket Case. I have no idea what drew me to Basket Case initially, I think I picked up the sequels cheap on DVD and despite not particularly enjoying them, enough research into them informed me that the ...  Read the complete review

A review of just the film. The UK-release DVD will set you back a ridiculous £15 on amazon, but a Region 1 edition from Something Weird Video crammed with extras can be imported for about a fiver. This is a very low-budget, entertaining horror comedy from 1982. The director, Frank Henenlotter, wanted to make the kind of film that would play well in the sleazy grindhouse joints of 42nd Street, and he succeeded pretty well, while still making something funny enough to amuse people unfamiliar with grindhouse. (This is presumably what Tarantino was trying to achieve with Death Proof, but as always he tried just that bit too hard.) A seemingly naïve ...  Read the complete review

This is director Frank Henenlotter's baby about a guy and his deformed brother. When Duane was born his twin, deformed brother Belial was attached to his side. For years, they coexisted quite happily. Belial couldn't talk but they could communicate through thoughts. They were happy together until the decision was made to have the monster on his side removed surgically. Years later, Duane is on his own and everywhere he goes he carries a large basket. Guess who's in the basket? Anyone who accidently makes the mistake of checking out whats in the basket gets Belial's wrath and suffers a bloody death. Now, Duane and Belial are hunting down ...  Read the complete review

Why, it's the the mis-shaped evil siamese twin of the dude carrying the basket, obviously. And there we have the essential story of this film, a gentle tale of scary gory revenge by siamese twins on the doctors who separated them set in scummy 1970's New York. The film was made on a very low budget and this shows in some of the effects, especialy the claymation 'twin', but there's plenty of blood and some genuine frights. Well worth watching for all fans of horror movies, especially those who aren't after ultra-slick production and effects. ...  Read the complete review