Basket Case
Director Frank Henenlotter’s tribute to the low-budget grindhouse flicks of the 60s and 70s (dedicated to H.G. Lewis himself) is in and of itself one of the most gruesome and disturbing films of the actual genre it homages. The story of a young man who comes to New York City carrying a basket containing his deformed, telepathic, Siamese twin brother (basically an amorphous blob of flesh) to seek revenge on the doctors who separated them does an outstanding job of capturing the sleazy, grimy atmosphere of Times Square during that time period, right down to the fleabag hotel that they stay in and the extras who play the hotel’s residents. As Duane, the “normal” brother, Kevin Van Hentenryck actually does a good job of projecting the character’s wide-eyed innocence, even if he is aiding and abetting his freak sibling in a series of murders, and one can see why the cute (but sadly desperate) receptionist of one of their intended targets becomes attracted to him. As for Belial, the deformed brother, he is quite a creation brought to life by (very) low-tech puppetry and stop motion animation, and Henenlotter wisely observes the creature not as something to be cheered on and sympathized with (a mistake the inferior sequels would make), but as an evil, bloodthirsty villain that the viewer both fears and despises, as he telepathically torments his brother into doing his bidding. The film builds some mood and suspense early, and doesn’t actually show Belial in the flesh until almost 40 minutes into the film, thus giving him a greater impact. Plus, there is a real effort to give the audience some solid gore and makeup effects, despite its low budget, and while they don’t quite rank up there with the ingenuity of Evil Dead, there’s still enough to keep most gorehounds from feeling cheated. There are problems though: many of the supporting actors give flat performances, and when Belial brutally murders one of the tenants of the hotel, the police are so dense that they question Duane and conclude he had nothing to do with it (despite the fact that his hotel room is torn to shreds and there’s a blood-stained folder in plain sight). Also, about 2/3rds of the way thru the film, the story stops so we can get a 15 minute flashback detailing what Duane and Belial’s backstory is, all at once, instead of just giving us bits and pieces throughout the film to help with the pacing. Then there is the dilemma which ensues when Duane embarks on a romance with the receptionist: Belial is NOT happy to say the least, as he telepathically feels his brother showing feelings for someone other than him, which leads to one of the most disgusting, and horrific endings in the history of cinema, an ending that gave me the feeling that Belial was essentially pure evil all along, and deserved every bit the fate that the doctors gave him way back when they separated him from Duane and then tossed him in a garbage bag. In the end, a must for aficionados of the low-budget horror genre, but not exactly something that children (or sensitive women) would want to sit through…
7/10