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Basket Case is a 1982 American horror film, written and directed by Frank Henenlotter, and produced by Edgar Ievins, which was released in 1982. It has two sequels, Basket Case 2 and Basket Case 3: The Progeny by the same director.

It is notable for its low budget and strong violence. The film gained an audience in the 1980s due to the advent of home video.

Plot[]

Dr. Julius Lifflander is frightened by something outside his forest home. A shadowed creature then cuts his phone line and power before killing Lifflander by tearing at his face.

Duane Bradley arrives in New York City with a locked wicker basket. He gets a room at a cheap hotel right down the hall from a sex worker named Casey. He takes some hamburgers and feeds them to a creature in his basket which talks to him telepathically. When Duane is out the next day, a man named Brian O'Donovan looks through Duane's keyhole in order to steal Duane's wad of money. Casey scares him off and informs Duane about it. Duane takes his basket to see Dr. Harold Needleman and befriends his assistant Sharon. Needleman contacts Dr. Judith Kutter and tells her about Duane's visit and Lifflander's death, but she ignores him. Duane goes back to Needleman's that night and empties the creature, who is revealed to be his twin brother Belial, onto the floor. Belial kills Needleman by gutting him with his claws.

The next day, Duane goes to meet Sharon at the Statue of Liberty and they kiss. Belial senses this and trashes the hotel room in a temper tantrum. He hides when the hotel manager opens the door to see what the commotion is. O'Donovan sneaks back inside to steal Duane's money but is killed by Belial when he opens the basket. Duane senses the attack telepathically and hurries back. Duane tells Belial that he deserves some time for himself. Duane, with the basket, runs into Casey at a bar and drunkenly tells her that Belial is his twin brother.

A flashback relates their backstory. They were conjoined at birth and their aunt was the only one who would take care of them. However, the twins were surgically separated at an early age by Dr. Lifflander, Dr. Needleman and Dr. Kutter, which explains their hatred for the doctors. They then murdered their father, which was ruled an accident, and lived with their aunt before she died. They then went to murder the doctors who had separated them. Belial deeply resents being cut off from his normal-looking brother, and Duane equally resents how heartless everyone acts towards his brother.

Back in the present day, Belial sneaks into Casey's bedroom and scares her out before stealing her panties. The next day, Duane and Belial go to Dr. Kutter's office. She tries to dismiss them, but Duane reveals who he is before Belial kills Kutter by shoving her face into a drawer of sharp objects. Sharon goes to Duane's apartment seeking safety after Needleman's death and they start to make love before a jealous Belial starts screaming and Duane is forced to toss Sharon outside.

That night Belial goes out to find Sharon while Duane has a dream that tells him about it. Belial sneaks into Sharon's apartment and tries to rape her. He attacks and kills her when she wakes up and screams. Enraged at his brother for his actions, Duane takes Belial back to the apartment in a scene that attracts several people to his apartment, which exposes the existence of Belial. Belial attacks Duane which results in the two brothers falling from a hotel window. They are knocked out as everyone surrounds their unconscious bodies.

List of Deaths[]

Name Cause of Death Killer On Screen Notes
Dr. Julius Lifflander Face torn at Belial No
Dr. Needleman Face torn at, gutted with claws Belial Yes
O’Donovan Face torn at Belial Yes
Belial’s Dad Accidentally cut in half by wagon A wagon Yes Flashback
Belial’s Aunt Passed away in bed N/A Yes
Dr. Kutter Face filled with scalpels in attempt to defend herself Belial No
Sharon Sleep-raped, found dead on bed Belial No

Cast[]

Cast in alphabetical order.

  • Beverly Bonner as Casey
  • Diana Browne as Dr. Judith Kutter
  • Joe Clarke as Brian 'Mickey' O'Donovan
  • Bill Freeman as Dr. Julius Lifflander
  • Rick Hearst as Brian
  • Kevin Van Hentenryck as Duane Bradley
  • Sean McCabe as Young Duane
  • Ruth Neuman as Aunt
  • Lloyd Pace as Dr. Harold Needleman
  • Richard Pierce as Duane's Father
  • Annie Ross as Granny Ruth
  • Terri Susan Smith as Sharon
  • Robert Vogel as the Hotel Manager
  • John Zacherle as Aylmer

Special effects[]

The special effects for Belial consist largely on 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.

Reception & Production[]

In a scene near the end when Duane gets into a subway train with Belial, a man with his supposed ex-girlfriend is seen. The man right in front of Duane looks drugged and that scares Duane off. The man is supposed to be Brian from Frank Henenlotter's later film "Brain Damage" which was a cameo. 

Basket Case received fair ratings, earning 79% at Rotten Tomatoes out of 22 reviews. 

Film mistakes[]

  • During the bar sequence, Duane refers to his brother, calling him Duane, instead of Belial.
  • As Dr. Cutter's date pours wine, the wine bottle swaps from her right to her left hand.
  • When O'Donovan is rummaging through Duane's room he finds Duane's money in a stack. Belial then kills him. Afterwards Duane returns and a cop searches his room and finds his money but now it's rolled up with a rubber band around it.
  • When Duane is sleeping Belial opens his basket and looks at him, the basket lock latch disappears/reappears.
  • When the guy steals Duane's basket at the movies he kicks the lock off, including the latch, but in the next shot, when Duane runs into the bathroom, part of the latch is still connected to the basket.
  • After Duane's father was killed, the fake legs fell on a rubber mat, which was clearly visible.
  • When Casey enters Duane's room to drop him off after he drinks a lot she proceeds over to the basket. By the basket is the file Duane and Belial retrieved after the first kill. On it is blood that is still red. With the amount of time that has passed it should have dried up and been maroon.
  • When Dr. Cutter is being strangled and bitten by Belial in her office, the crew member's arm can clearly be scene operating the puppet in multiple shots.

Trivia[]

  • Most of the credits that appear on the end of the film are fake. The crew was very small and rather than repeat the same names over and over again they decided to just make up names.
  • When Duane checks into the Hotel Broslin he takes out a wad of cash. According to Frank Henenlotter, the film's director, this was the film's entire budget.
  • To try to make the film appeal to a comedy crowd, the original distributor cut all the gore scenes out of the film. They were eventually put back in and re-released in theaters with the subtitle "The Full Uncut Version!".
  • In addition to providing a face cast for the Belial puppet, Kevin Van Hentenryck also performed the mutant twin's voice effects.
  • According to Frank Henenlotter, the hallways and most interior settings of the Hotel Broslin featured in the film were constructed from paper mache and cardboard.

Home media[]

The film was released on January 5, 1995 on VHS by Anchor Bay Entertainment. This was released on April 28, 1998 on DVD by Image Entertainment. This was released on Blu-ray on September 29, 2011 by Image Entertainment.

Videos[]

External links[]

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