{"id":28512,"date":"2024-05-01T13:54:01","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T20:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=28512"},"modified":"2024-05-01T13:54:01","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T20:54:01","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-basket-case-1982","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=28512","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: BASKET CASE (1982)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD title is currently\navailable from Arrow Video.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When you think of films in desperate need of a 4K Ultra HD\nrestoration, grimy, ultra-low budget titles may not be the first type that come\nto mind. However, a lot of the time these are pictures in the most immediate\nneed of rescuing. Basket Case<\/em> was an eccentric production made on a tiny\nbudget of $35,000 dollars. Writer\/director Frank Henenlotter had made a few\nshorts, but this effort marked his first foray into features. He and other\nparticipants weren\u2019t even sure that the project would get completed. But it was\nfinished and after having a tough time finding distribution, landed a small one\nthat did put it in theaters. And even then, it took the movie a long time to\nfind its audience. But, thanks to a few rave reviews it developed a cult following.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, it isn\u2019t difficult to see how the original 16mm elements\nmight need saving. Recently, the Museum of Modern Art in New York took the\noriginal negative, as well as a 35mm interpositive and 35mm dupe negative and\nrestored them to restore the film with the best image quality possible. A\nlittle project like this is never going to look crystal clear and frankly, it\nshouldn\u2019t as it is a horror\/comedy capturing Manhattan during a very grimy\nperiod in its history. However, the film does appear cleaner than even and\nbetter than it ever looked up on cinema screens. Yes, the presentation is\noccasionally grainy, but not as much as one would expect and the cleaner bits\nare strikingly good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Arrow Video has released a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra\nHD version that will wow horror fans and comes loaded with a ton of insightful\nbonus material. For this reviewer, this is the preferred edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The picture begins with a doctor in Glens Falls, New York\nbeing horribly murdered by an unseen figure. Soon, Duane Bradley (Kevin\nVanHentenryck) arrives in Manhattan and checks into a seedy motel carrying a\nbasket. Very quickly, it becomes clear that something is living in the hamper\nand that the two have a specific purpose for visiting the area. Daune is\ncarrying his once conjoined-twin Belial. Long ago, their father (Richard\nPierce) urged doctors to separate the pair and leave the smaller misshapen one\nto die. However, he is rescued and secretly raised by his brother and a\nsympathetic aunt (Ruth Neuman). Now the adult brothers are seeking vengeance on\nthe doctors who separated them. But along the way, Duane meets Sharon (Terri\nSusan Smith), falls in love and begins to wonder if a life of murder is really\nfor him. But will jealousy tear them apart?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This picture follows many of the tropes of exploitation pictures, but does so in a refreshingly over-the-top and exaggerated way, turning it into a surreal parody. Many of the elements are intended to shock and raise eyebrows. That includes the deliriously creative deaths that befall a few characters (faces and organs are torn apart, and there is a memorable moment featuring an individual\u2019s face being impaled with surgical scalpel blades). The movie is extremely graphic, but intentionally presents its characters in aggrandized ways so that viewers aren\u2019t permanently disturbed by what they\u2019re witnessing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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VanHentenryck manages to keep one engaged in his story to\nfollow it through all of the amusingly strange beats. There doesn\u2019t appear to\nbe a specific viewpoint here as far as the treatment of Belial goes, or what we\ndefine as being human. Viewers see the two lead characters as both vicious and\nloving (at least, with each other). Henenlotter appears to be poking fun and\ntaking shots at everything and everyone he can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movie is also notable for its photography. It presents a\nlong, lost view of Manhattan and Times Square before these spots were revamped\nand turned into clean tourist destinations. Anyone watching the movie can see\nthe real X-rated shops, as well as dirty streets and alleys that populated the\narea. From a historical perspective, it\u2019s amazing to see just how much the city\nhas changed and the film is an amazing document of an era. One fascinating bit\n(that is detailed in one of the extras) features the lead actor running naked\nthrough the public streets of Tribeca. At the time, no one went into the area\nat night and so this was all performed without a permit during a regular\nevening!.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are so many remarkable elements to this picture that\nit\u2019s easy to understand how it became a phenomenon and turned into a low-budget\ncult classic. The film is equal parts icky, disturbing and funny, leaving a\nlasting impression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides the picture upgrade, the disc comes with so many\nbonuses that it\u2019s hard to go through them all here. There is an excellent,\nnewly recorded commentary with Henenlotter and VanHentenryck in which they\ndetail how many of the scenes were shot. You\u2019ll get specific stories about the\nlow-tech way in which the movie was made as well as information on the\npractical effect. When a victim\u2019s torso is ripped open, the director notes that\nthe innards were leftover crew pizza covered in fake blood. Henelotter talks\nabout how tough it was making the movie, noting that it was shot over an\nextended period of time. If he didn\u2019t have enough money to pay for lunch, he\u2019d\nhave to stop shooting for the day. The crew was also almost attacked by an\nunstable person while shooting in Times Square. These and other tales are\nincredible to listen to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, there is an archived commentary with\nHenelotter, a producer and cast member Beverly Bonner that goes over their\nexperiences on the film. Basket Case 3 1\/2: An Interview<\/em> with Duane\nBradley is an amusing short film by Henelotter in which he interviews the\ncharacter of Duane and finds out what he and his brother Belial are doing now.\nThere\u2019s also a new interview with VanHentenryck in which he discusses how he\ngot involved with Henenlotter and his memories of the production. He notes that\nwhile he loves the movies, he does wish that he had also played the part of his\ntwin brother Belial in the picture. Additionally, there is an eccentric\ninterview with the director that aims to shock with its imagery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s not all. The disc contains interviews with\nFlorence and Maryellen Schultz, who both appeared in the film as nurses. There\nis also a recent interview with co-star Beverly Bonner who plays a memorable\ncharacter and has appeared in all of Henelotter\u2019s films. There are also\ninterviews with producer Edgar Ievins, actress Ilze Balodis, make-up artist\nUgis Nigals and Kika Nigals who warmly describe their experiences working on\nthe production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of my favorite bits is an interview with Joe Bob Briggs,\nwho was the first to champion the film and started drawing attention to it\nafter watching it at Cannes in a nearly empty screening room (he recalls that\neveryone else there was disgusted by what they saw). Briggs was an instant fan\nand even set up a US premiere screening at a Texas drive-in. There is also a\nQ&A with Henelotter from the 2017 restoration premiered at the Museum of\nModern Art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another highlight is the 78-minute documentary Who\u2019s in\nthe Basket?<\/em> which goes over the history of the franchise and its two\nsequels. Henenlotter tells fantastic tales of trying to get other independent\nfeatures made (the filmmaker was often told that he needed to make a sequel,\nbut resisted for years). Eventually, he found a compatriot in executive\nproducer James Glickenhaus. After meeting with the studio head and getting\nnowhere with his first couple of ideas, Henenlotter made up the plotlines for Frankenhooker<\/em>\nand Basket Case 2<\/em> on the spot and immediately got financing. The\ndirector was very pleased with the first sequel, its ideas and somewhat lighter\ntone, but goes on to express his issues with the second sequel. He admits he\nwas tired and there were major problems behind-the-scenes with other\nexecutives. Script pages and effects were suddenly cut from the production and\nhe had to improvise many added elements to meet the same running time. The\ndocumentary is phenomenal and a must watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There\u2019s also a good video essay on the movie that makes\narguments about what the Basket Case<\/em> series is saying and how it\nempowers outcasts. As if that wasn\u2019t enough, Henenlotter\u2019s notable short film\nSlash of the Knife is included, along with outtakes and an image gallery. There\nare also outtakes from Basket Case<\/em>, a 2017 animated short inspired by\nthe movie, a making-of for that bit and a ton of promotional materials for the\nfilm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, it comes with a booklet with more essays on the movie, as well as a mini-poster. And you can get a special version from the Arrow Video website if you\u2019re interested in more exclusives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re a fan of classic, low-budget horror, then you owe\nit to yourself to pick up Basket Case<\/em>. The 4K Ultra HD edition is full\nof great material and offers a surprisingly strong picture with an impressive\nrestoration.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD title is currently available from Arrow Video. When you think of films in desperate need of a 4K Ultra HD restoration, grimy, ultra-low budget titles may not be the first type that come to mind. However, a lot of the time these are pictures in the most immediate need […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[114,1836,2332,2333,2337,2338,2493,2933,2939,3073,4660,4877,4983,5992,7837,9319,11643,14186,23406],"class_list":["post-28512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-114","tag-arrow-video","tag-basket","tag-basket-case","tag-basket-case-blu-ray-review","tag-basket-case-review","tag-belial","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-2","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-comedy","tag-creature","tag-cult","tag-doctors","tag-frank-henenlotter","tag-horror","tag-kevin-vanhentenryck","tag-monster","tag-twins"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28512\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}