Tuesday, January 21, 2014

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Basket case One of the most popular cult films of all time, frank henenlotter's basket case has received a well deserved dvd special edition via that greatest of image entertainment's title lines, something weird video.Lewis aesthetics and aspects of tod browning's freaks(The freaks influence becoming more pronounced in the sequels), has been delighting horror aficionados since 1982.Due to budget limitations, basket case is no visual marvel, nor was it ever intended to be.The selling point the gore was highlighted by a marketing campaign in which people going to see basket case were given surgical masks with the words basket case printed on them. (Just like the ones real doctors wear. )This was an obvious nod to david f.Friedman's brilliant blood feast campaign in which viewers were given vomit bags.Alas you'd have more need for a vomit bag for blood feast than a surgeon's mask for basket louis vuitton mens case, for it's more likely you'd vomit during the former than get cinematic blood sprayed on you in the latter. (Real blood, however, might coat you had you seen the film in its original release in a 42nd street theater in times square. )When all is said and done the marketing campaign is really a case of selling the sizzle and not the steak, for this film is really not that bloody. Basket case tells the tale of one duane bradley and his brother belial, siamese twins separated at birth.This would seem innocent enough, except duane and belial are a bit different.For while duane is a rather charmingly aloof fellow, his brother belial has got some problems cosmetic problems.It seems belial is what one would call a mutant, a horrifically disfigured, tiny version of his brother, with seemingly superhuman strength.To make matters worse, when the pair came out of their mother they did some ripping and gouging that just tore the poor woman apart.This didn't sit well with dad, whose reaction to the loss of his wife was to focus his rage on his sons specifically poor, poor belial. Spared from infanticide by the intervention of a kindly aunt, who took the children under her wing and made them feel wanted, the boys developed a seriously warped codependant relationship that was to be partially severed by their father some years later.Sneaking into the house while the aunt was away, good old dad gathered together some surgeons for a little impromptu operation and split the boys up.This might have been forgivable if dad hadn't left belial for dead in a trash bag out in the front yard.As it stands, however, people will have to pay.With their lives. Years later duane and belial come up to new york to pay a little visit to the doctors who separated them.Duane, the"Nice"Guy, conceals his homicidal sibling in a wicker basket until the time is right for a little killing. While in new york, duane starts a relationship with a young woman, opening up a whole pandora's box of resentful emotions from belial and creating a major rift in the young men's relationship. Like it or lump it, basket case does have its charm.The shoddy sets actually look like a real new york dive.So much so that for years henenlotter told people that the"Hotel broslin,"The hotel where duane and belial stay, was real, causing many tourists much confusion.Star kevin van hentenryck plays duane with a naive aloofness that masks the heart of a killer;It's a good performance.The icing on the cake is henenlotter's script which plays with the twins' relationship, getting deliciously twisted towards the end.Very unnerving.Oh, and last but not least, let's not forget the plethora of red karo syrup used when belial goes to work. Basket case is a cheap louis vuitton shining example of what happens when a filmmaker makes the most with a limited budget.Film schools should show this to their students rather then those horrid ingmar bergman movies(Wild strawberries my ass).For this is a good blueprint of how to make a movie on no budget.Lewis and/or produced by david f.Friedman, for the same reasons. ) Fans of low budget fun should kneel before the temple of mike vraney.The former manager of the dead kennedys has single handedly saved hundreds of films of this type from the waste bin.Basket case, however, would have been around even without him for it is one of the more recognized films of its kind.Still, when image got vraney to do a something weird special edition of this film, fans around the world cried out with joy. This disc has remastered the full frame(1.33:1) film from its original16millimeter negative, making this the best looking version of BASKET CASE available to date.Of course the film was never that great looking to begin with(Cheap stock, on the fly shooting)But now it doesn't look as murky.For fans of dolby digital 5.1 get lost!The audio here is dolby digital mono and proud of it.While the sound on basket case has never been spectacular, here it's been cleaned up and sounds pretty darned good. There is a commentary track with frank henenlotter, producer edgar ievins, and actress beverly bonner that is just a delight.As with most something weird commentary tracks, the participants are entertaining and informative.Also included are outtakes and behindthescenes footage, but they're all compiled together in one 3minute segment.The original theatrical trailer is included along with tv and radio spots, as is a short called in search of the hotel broslin in which henenlotter guides us through a tour of key basket case locations.Other features include a gallery of basket case exploitation art and another gallery of neverbeforescene photos, two radio interviews with leading lady, terri susan smith, and excerpts from bonner's cable access show, beverly bonner's laugh track. The only complaint about this assortment of goodies is that there's not much with kevin van hentenryck, which is a shame for his excellent performance is one of the many reasons basket case has such a fervent following today. Basket casemovie grade:B disc grade:Areviewed format:Dvd Rated:Not home rated Stars:Kevin van hentenryck, terri susan smith, beverly bonneroriginal year of release:1982 Suggested retail price:$19.99 Extras:Audio commentary;Outtakes/behindthescenes footage;Trailers;Tv spots;Radio spots;In search of the hotel broslin short;Excerpts from beverly bonner's laugh track;Radio interviews with actress terri susan smith;Gallery of basket case exploitation art;Stills gallery;Dolby digital mono

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