Dedicated to Herschell Gordon Lewis, Frank Henenlotters $35,000 debut is as cheap and tasteless as its pedigree would suggest, but less ineptly made. Disarmingly inventive, and shot on the sleaziest locations possible, Basket Case brings to mind the early films of John Waters, whose 70s Baltimore was as scuzzy-looking as Henenlotters New York City. Described by Duane Bradley (Kevin Van Hentenryck) as looking like a squashed octopus, Belial is in fact his Siamese twin, who he carries around in a wicker basket to the understandable puzzlement of strangers. Separated against their wishes, Belial survives being unceremoniously disposed of in a trash bag to convince Duane to take revenge against the doctors responsible as well as their father, who Belial personally despatches with a circular saw. When the movie played 42nd Street, Henenlotter was thrilled to see stills from his picture adorning a garish plywood archway, full of spattered blood, even though the caption (His brother is a deformed twin!) gave the plot away. By Henenlotters own (somewhat harsh) admission, nobody enjoys Basket Case because its great filmmaking but because its a fun time. Considering its pedigree, how could it not be?
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
