Basket Case (Limited Edition) [Blu-ray]

The early 80s had plenty of slashers high budget films and low budget films. There are plenty of great 80s films and well I love most of the 80s horror films, as you can tell by now I am a huge horror fan and while it's sometimes easy to please new horror films just don't succeed, today's horror films are all about, sex, nudity, drugs, and stupid characters who are played by talentless actors who were only chosen for their looks. Yes true, back in the 80s there was terrible acting and some movies were/are bad but they still succeeded at either giving us good characters that are likeable or plenty of blood and slashing. So with Basket Case, as usual I'll cover the good, the bad, and the ugly, speaking of ugly Belial is no hound dog himself.The Good: Some characters are interesting and fleshed out a little SOME, most of the acting ranges from good to a little bad, for the low budget the puppetry and stop motion looks good, the score is weird but in a good way which goes with the film nicely, the filmography is good, the dialogue is okay, and the gore well...the gore is great and there's plenty of it. Oh and by the way for those who have not read my other reviews it's really hard to gross me out and this one did not gross me out but then again I'm a guy who buried dead pets that were ran over in the road(for my family).The Bad: A little bit of the acting is bad.The Ugly: Nothing was down right terrible.The Story: Duane carries around a whisker basket, and every one is dieing to find out what's inside,literally. Well Duane will only tell you what's in the basket if he's a little drunk. To tell you guys the truth, Belial is in the basket, he and Duane were Siamese twin brothers. Ever since Belial was baby his family treated him like a monster except for Duane and their Aunt. The brothers' father forces them to be separated at the age of 12. Once separated they keep Duane and throw Belial in a trash bag and leave him with the trash outside. Duane rescues poor Belial and the two brothers kill their father while their Aunt covers for them. Now at the age of I guess 19 or 20, the brothers go to New York where they stay at a hotel and butcher the doctors who separated them who actually deserve it. It's explained that Belial and Duane when attached had a telepathic bond, however when separated Duane lost the telepathic bond while Belial still had it.Some facts about the film: Near the end originally Henenlotter wanted to have Belial go down the street and go to Duane's girlfriend's house. However there wasn't enough money so he wanted to instead do something really weird. While Belial goes down the street we get a shot of Duane sweating and having a dream of himself running down the street, which in the dream Duane=Belial and through this we understand that both can feel what each other is doing it was hinted at that Belial could do this but not Duane until this point. When Duane is running in the street he is completely naked something that I was not aware of or even remembered (I saw this on cable a long time ago at the age of 10 while my parents were asleep). Anyway when you watch the film you'll see Duane's junk, now I'm not homosexual but it does not bother me that much since because it's normal it's called the human body suck it up and deal with it.Basket Case had two sequels which I love as well, Basket Case 2, and Basket Case 3: The Progeny. Neither show male nudity but we do see Belial get it on with a female that's like him (that's in part 2), in part 3 we see said female give birth.Frank Henenlotter would not only direct the sequels but direct another two fun awesome favorite flicks of mine, Brain Damage 1988 and Frankenhooker. In the film Brain Damage we get a cameo by Duane with his basket which Belial is in.Now on the DVD case that is Belial he is a twisted lump of flesh with 2 arms, and a face. He has no feet but can move using his hands and arms. Belial also has an anger problem and super strength.There is only one problem that I had with this film and it's that the ending was too short. Don't get me wrong it's a good ending with great tension but the fight SPOILER between the brothers should have lasted a bit longer. To be honest I love Basket Case a lot and the sequels.This is a film I expected to get a bare bones DVD release but it didn't, the DVD is full of great special features.The DVD contents:Main feature2 trailers1 TV spotOuttakes and behind the scenes footageSpecial video short: In search of the hotel BroslinPhoto gallery2 rare Basket Case radio spots2 radio interviews with actress Terri Susan SmithClips from Beverley Bonner's comedy TV showand an Audio commentaryThe DVD comes with a scene selections paper which shows the lovely Belial. On the DVD back cover if you remove the white square sticker it says "SOLD AS A PACKAGE DO NOT SEPARATE" weather that's how Something Weird Video puts on all their DVDs or as a joke it cracks me up.All in all for me Basket Case is a 5/5 stars.Warning: This film is not for children, not for the squeamish, not for non B movie fans, and not for the casual movie goer. There's female and male nudity, and plenty of blood. Keep in mind I'm fine with nudity in films but keep it to a minimum, there is not a whole lot of nudity only two shots one of Duane and one of his girlfriend, neither bother me but may bother some.

Ok movie

A true classic piece of horror cinema!

Having owned the 20the anniversary DVD since it's release, I was a little weary of this on blu-ray. After all, a 16mm 1:33.1 shoestring-budget film shot almost 30 years ago, would be a hard-sell on high-def. But boy, I am glad I caved.A young man and his deformed Siamese twin, separated at birth, check into a seedy 42dn Street hotel. They soon plot their revenge against the doctors who separated them. All the while causing some other mayhem at the hotel. This a fun, trashy and gory flick. Made back in the glory of days of true grindhouse cinema, when old 42nd Street was 42nd Street, sleazy, rundown, porno theaters, etc, before the Disneyification. An accurate representation of that era in NYC's history.Lots of bloodshed in this one, gorehounds take note.(POSSIBLE SPOILERS) A man ripped in half, a woman with scalpels in her bloody face are just a taste of what we get. Again, that wonderful ultra-sleazy atmosphere and feel. Pure guerrilla film-making at it's finest. Lots of good laughs as well,unintentional, well, yes, but that's all the fun of it. It's too bad they don't make them like this anymore.The blu-ray picture is as good as it's ever going to be. Fully restored to it's OAR of 1:33.1(when it was blown to 1.85, a lot of info was missing)and remastered from it's original 16mm negative, natural film grain abounds. Picture looks cleaner and more watchable than ever. Some blue scratches pop up occasionally, but they did on the DVD as well. Audio is the original mono track, so purists will be pleased. Very clear sound.Extra wise, we get a new intro by the director, the man himself, the great Frank Henenlotter. For two minutes, he explains why he did this for blu-ray and the long process of doing so. Very nice. Up next, we get the audio commentary lifted from the DVD. Very fun track as Frank and co. reflect on making this movie, it's reception, legacy and many troubles. They even mention how the great Joe Bob Briggs saved this film from being permanently butchered at the idiotic request of the long-defunct Analysis Releasing. Next of course, is the 15-minute feature In Search of the Hotel Broslin. Frank and a friend go to the locations they filmed, including the club they filmed some scenes in. Very interesting and informative. A very nicegallery of outtakes and behind the scenes footage follows. Brief at 5 minutes, but def worth a look. TV spots, trailers, radio spots and still gallery of art are the other features. Now, the blu-ray is missing two extras from the DVD: a radio interview with Terri Susan Smith and a segment showing clips from Beverly Bonner's old TV show,"Laugh Track". Not a big deal. I will hang onto the DVD as well.This is a must-see/own for horror/cult/grindhouse and of course a must-own for fans and Frank Henenlotter fans. Highly recommended.

Grandissimo cult di Frank Henenlotter degli anni '80, girato a basso costo con tanta passione. Coinvolgente, violento, drammatico, divertente. Buona edizione dvd. Se solo portassero in Italia in dvd anche i sequel, magari anche in un cofanetto blu-ray se non è chiedere troppo, sarebbe fantastico. Consigliatissimo

La comunidad no se siente satisfecha con estas ediciones sin embargo es de agradecer que estén disponibles para los que coleccionamos éste tipo de películas. Llegó rápido y a buen precio.

Película que no debe faltar en tu colección un clásico de culto. Características del Blu-ray solo trae audio en inglés y resolución de la imagen es de 4:3 el cuadro en medio. una de clásicas de Frank henenlotters

Ce premier film de l'auteur reste un film culte. Alors il faut voir au-delà du très petit budget, du "non jeu" des acteurs. Le sujet reste fascinant, cette relation entre ces frères siamois est très profonde. Même si le film a beaucoup de moments comiques, il réserve également des moments de malaise. Basket case/Frères de sang est une œuvre qui garde aujourd'hui toute sa puissance. Comme déjà mentionné, il faut aller au-delà des "petits" duent au budget microscopique.

Film di budget basso ma sorprendente, soprattutto grazie alla creatura Belial e al fratello siamese. Un film dallo spirito Anni '80, di un'epoca e di un modo di fare cinema assolutamente irripetibile...Grandioso Horror anche migliore dei più blasonati.