Basket Case (1982)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1982
Running Times: 91 mins
Format: colour
Ratio:
Sound:

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Basket Case Productions / Ievins - Henenlotter
Production Executive: Ray Sundlin
Executive Producer: Arnie Bruck, Tom Kaye
Producer: Edgar Ievins
Production Manager: Mort Tashman

SCRIPT
Script: Frank Henenlotter

DIRECTION
Director: Frank Henenlotter
Assistant Director: Jerome Horwitz

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Bruce Torbet
Camera: Bruce Frankel, Jonathan Sinaiko
Gaffer: J.J. Clarke
Key Grip: Buster Muro
Grips: Harry Archer, Watson Pritchard
Best Boy: Warren Webster
Colour: TVC

EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Editor: Frank Henenlotter
Assistant Editor: Linda Schubell
Negative Cutters: Match Cut Film Service
Editing Equipment: Eastern Editing
Post Production Services: Phantasmagoria

MUSIC
Music: Gus Russo
Music In Bar: David Maswick
Music Mixer: Audio Genesis, Sam Pega
Music Recording Rentals: Drone Sound, Rich Young
Percussion: Harold 'Clutch' Reiser
Harmonizer: J. Keith Robinson

SOUND
Sound: Peter Thomas
Assistant Sound: Jimmy Muro, Levest Bulukbasi
Sound Editor: Emily Webster
Sound Mix: Magno Sound

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up / Hair: Ken Clark

SPECIAL MAKE UP EFFECTS
Special Make Up: Kevin Haney, John Caglione Jr
Additional Make Up Effects: Ugis Nigals

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects Animiator: Frank Henenlotter (uncredited)
Opticals: Image Galaxy
Titles: Leo Animation

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Frederick Loren
Set Construction: Charles Bennett

MISCELLANEOUS
Continuity: Nancy Archer
Production Assistants: Arthur Stierbriss, Ramadan Thaqi
Caterer: Penny Marsh
Pilot: John Suffern
Psychologist: Steve Smoller
Financial Services: Burbank Films
Dedicated To: Herschell Gordon Lewis

LOCATIONS
Locations: Glens Falls, New York, USA
Location Co-Ordinator: Peg Cornwell

CASTING
Casting: Ilze Balodis

CAST
Kevin Van Hentenryck (Duane Bradley)
Terri Susan Smith (Sharon)
Beverly Bonner (Casey)
Robert Vogel (hotel manager)
Diana Brown (Dr Judith Kutter)
Bill Freeman (Dr Julius Lifflander)
Joe Clarke (Brian "Mickey" O'Donovan)
Lloyd Pace (Dr Harold Needleman)
Ruth Neuman (Aunt)
Richard Pierce (Duane's father)
Sean McCabe (young Duane)
Dorothy Strongin (Josephine)
Kerry Ruff (Buff?) (detective)
Ilze Balodis (social worker)
Tom Robinson (thief in theatre)
Chris Babson (Casey's date)
Maria T. Newland (patient)
Florence Schultz, Mary Ellen Schultz (nurses)
Constantine Scopas, Charles Stanley, Sydney Best, Johnny Ray Williams, Yousef Abuhamdeh, Lubi Kirsch, Catherine Russell, Mitchell Huval (hotel tenants)
Noel Hall (Drep Drake)
Bruce Frankel (2nd detective)
Pat Ivers, Emily Armstrong (street girls)
Russell Fritz (Casey's John)

In a seedy New York hotel room, young Duane Bradley has something nasty in a wicker basket - his deformed and murderous brother Belial. The former Siamese twins are seeking out the medical team that separated them and left the hideous Belial to die... and Belial is hungry for revenge.

Henenlotter's debut feature is something of a minor miracle of low budget ingenuity. Shot on 16mm and later 'boosted' up to 35mm, the film wears its cheapness and technical ineptitude with pride - appalling acting, minimalist camera technique and home movie special effects combine to almost surreal effect. It may not be any good, but it's shot through with an energy and dark sense of humour that just about keeps it afloat.

UK
Video Distributor: Palace

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Analysis Releasing
Video Distributor: Media Home Entertainment; Something Weird Video
Laserdisc Distributor: Image Entertainment (ID2369BC)
DVD Distributor: Image Entertainment (ID4785BCDVD)

Australia
Rating: R

Finland
Rating: banned

France
Rating: -12

UK
Rating: 18
The following scenes were cut: When Duane watches the kung fu film Bao biao (1969) on TV, a scene featuring nunchakus was removed; during the murder of the second doctor, a close up of him spitting blood was cut as was a shot of blood hitting his face; close ups of Belial clawing at the face of the female vet were shortened and a shot of the same woman with scalpels in her face was removed; a complete botch job was made of the scene where Belial kills the noisy neighbour; most of the cuts were made to the scene where Belial tries to have sex with Duane's girlfriend - after the girl wakes up, the entire scene has been removed except for a brief shot of her being strangled.

USA
Rating: unrated

1983
July
14: UK - theatrical release

August
31: France - theatrical release

September
21: UK - video release

1994
April
20: USA - laserdisc distributor (Image Entertainment (ID2369BC))

1998
December
1: USA - DVD release (DVD Distributor: Image Entertainment (ID4785BCDVD))

2002
February
9: UK - television broadcast (on Film Four)

The tenant in room 7 is very small, very twisted and very mad.

Basket Case - Der unheimliche Zwilling - German title

SEQUELS
Basket Case 2 (1990)
Basket Case 3: The Progeny (1992)

SEE ALSO
Brain Damage (1988)
Frankenhooker (1990)

MAGAZINES

Cinefantastique vol.12 no.5/6 (July 1982) pp.91-92 (USA)
illustrated review (by David Bartholomew)

City Limits no.93 (15 July 1983) p.20 (UK)
review (by Cynthia Rose)

City Limits no.463 (16 August 1990) p.22 (UK)
illustrated review (Suture Self by Farrah Anwar)

Dark Side December / January 1994 p.37 (UK)
review

L'Ecran Fantastique no.25 (July 1982) pp.39, 80 (France)
credits, review

Empire no.129 (March 2000) p.120 (UK)
illustrated video review (by Kim Newman)

Halls of Horror no.27 p.16 (UK)
note

The Hollywood Reporter vol.271 no.21 (13 April 1982) pp.3, 15 (USA)
credits, review (by Tom Gilbert)

Melody Maker 22 October 1983 p.25 (UK)
review

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.50 no.591 (April 1983) pp.92-93 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review (by Kim Newman)

New Musical Express 6 August 1983 p.21 (UK)
review

New Video Viewer November 1983 p.27 (UK)
review

Positif no.274 (December 1983) p.74 (France)
review

Screen International no.404 (23 July 1983) p.9 (UK)
review (by Marjorie Bilbow)

Sight and Sound vol.10 no.2 (February 2000) p.61 (UK)
review (by Geoffrey Macnab)

Sight and Sound vol.11 no.11 (November 2001) p.62 (UK)
DVD review (Home movies: reviews by Danny Leigh)

Starburst no.279 (November 2001) p.66 (UK)
illustrated review (DVD file: Basket Case by Ian Atkins)

Time Out no.673 15 July 1983 p.39 (UK)
illustrated review (by Roger Parsons)

Variety 21 April 1982 p.16 (USA)
credits, review (by Lor)

Video Retailer 29September 1983 pp.2, 6 (UK)
note

Video the Magazine December 1983 p.35 (UK)
review

Video Week 26 September 1983 p.18 (UK)
note

Video World January 1984 p.30 (UK)
review

BOOKS

Creature Features Strikes Again p.34
credits, review

Hoffman's Guide to SF, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991 - 1992 pp.33-34
credits, review

Horror and Science Fiction Films III p.19
credits

OTHER SOURCES

screen
credits

brothers, deformities, gore, monsters, new york, rape, siamese twins

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008