I remember reading about Basket Case (1982) in Danny Peary’s Cult Movies 2, a copy of which was in my high school library. The synopsis and the accompanying photographs repulsed me at the time, and I was never keen to seek it out. Currently undergoing a mission to see the movies listed in Cult Movies 2 that I haven’t seen has led me to finally experiencing Basket Case. It is a gross out horror movie (an assault near the end is particularly sick) but it was a more entertaining movie than I anticipated. Much like Abel Ferrara’s The Driller Killer, it is a low budget snapshot of sleazy old New York, one of its primary settings being a fleabag hotel that the main character Duane (Kevin Van Hentenryck) stays in with his large padlocked wicker basket. What’s in the basket? Well it could remain a surprise, but let me say it’s a low budget answer to the face hugger in Alien that uses old school special effects like puppetry and stop motion for grotesque results. Director Frank Henelotter was inspired by exploitation movies from the 1950s onwards, and there’s a cartoonish sense of fun in Basket Case, whether it be the entertaining amateur actors and supporting players, or the overall weirdness of tone that alternates between comedy beats and fervent blood splatter. Yet there’s also an empathetic melancholy to the story, much like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or Todd Browning’s Freaks, in regards to the main relationship depicted between a boy and his basket. The MOMA produced restoration (or Arrow Video remaster) is available to stream on Tubi in Australia. More enjoyable than I thought it might be (though I doubt I’d ever seek out the sequels), but you are warned: recommended if you dare.
VHS Tracking 