The following review will most certainly contain SPOILERS !!!
Now here's a guy who deserves a decent comeback...Director Frank Hennenlotter ! It's very remarkable what this guy pulled of with almost no budget. He's the living proof that you only need a dose of healthy creativity and a good basic idea to make an important movie. And Basket Case is an important one. It grew out to become one of the most controversial cult movies and it's still fun to watch. The acting is terrible. Even the main character ( I don't know him but his name sounds like he has Dutch roots ) is a very bad actor but they're all trying very hard. The creature effects are amazingly cheap and cheesy but at the same time entertaining and they make you wish Hennenlotter had more money. He spent most of his budget to fake blood so therefore the killing scenes are nasty, gore and even a bit disgusting. Just how a true cult-horror fan likes them, in other words.
But like I said before, it is the story that fascinates you the most. About a boy who takes a basket case with him everywhere he goes. It contains his horrible deformed twin brother. They were Siamese Twins but "it" ( which is called Belial ) only exists of a head, claws and some other flesh. They were separated when they were young and Belial now wants to avenge that. All persons who were involved in the operation have to die. At the same time, Belial is very jealous whenever his brother makes contact with girls and he develops his own "sexual feelings"
Director Frank Hennenlotter made two sequels to this one ( which I haven't seen unfortunately ) and two other very good titles. Brain Damage and Frankenhooker. Basket Case is without a doubt the best one and at the same time an important film for the genre. The idea of a Siamese Twin is just brilliant in my opinion. I would love to see what this director is capable of when he can use a bigger budget. The creativity he used here sure was promising but he seemed to have stopped filmmaking since the early 90's. Highly recommended if you ain't easily disgusted. A must see for fans of cult and milestones as well !
Now here's a guy who deserves a decent comeback...Director Frank Hennenlotter ! It's very remarkable what this guy pulled of with almost no budget. He's the living proof that you only need a dose of healthy creativity and a good basic idea to make an important movie. And Basket Case is an important one. It grew out to become one of the most controversial cult movies and it's still fun to watch. The acting is terrible. Even the main character ( I don't know him but his name sounds like he has Dutch roots ) is a very bad actor but they're all trying very hard. The creature effects are amazingly cheap and cheesy but at the same time entertaining and they make you wish Hennenlotter had more money. He spent most of his budget to fake blood so therefore the killing scenes are nasty, gore and even a bit disgusting. Just how a true cult-horror fan likes them, in other words.
But like I said before, it is the story that fascinates you the most. About a boy who takes a basket case with him everywhere he goes. It contains his horrible deformed twin brother. They were Siamese Twins but "it" ( which is called Belial ) only exists of a head, claws and some other flesh. They were separated when they were young and Belial now wants to avenge that. All persons who were involved in the operation have to die. At the same time, Belial is very jealous whenever his brother makes contact with girls and he develops his own "sexual feelings"
Director Frank Hennenlotter made two sequels to this one ( which I haven't seen unfortunately ) and two other very good titles. Brain Damage and Frankenhooker. Basket Case is without a doubt the best one and at the same time an important film for the genre. The idea of a Siamese Twin is just brilliant in my opinion. I would love to see what this director is capable of when he can use a bigger budget. The creativity he used here sure was promising but he seemed to have stopped filmmaking since the early 90's. Highly recommended if you ain't easily disgusted. A must see for fans of cult and milestones as well !