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April 2018




  

Basket Case
Arrow Films/MVD
Blu-ray Review By: Jaime Pina



At a time when there were some very interesting and some very uninteresting genre films hitting theatres, Basket Case stood a bloody head and shoulders above the rest. For fans of inventive and thoughtful low budget horror/art, director Frank Henenlotter’s 1982 film delivered a homerun. Shot in the long lost seedy areas of New York that look so effective on camera, the film ends with a dedication to gore pioneer Herschell Gordon Lewis.

Kevin Van Hentenryck stars as Duane Bradley, a young man checking into a seedy NYC hotel carrying a large wicker basket. Duane’s odd behavior and personality draw the interest of the colorful hotel patrons and then things start to get very weird. Every role in the film is played to quirky perfection by the offbeat cast including standout performances by Van Hentenryk, Beverly Bonner and Terri Susan Smith (of punk band The Tattooed Vegetables).

I’m sure most readers have already seen the film and if some of you haven’t then spoilers would be a shame before seeing this very special little film. Like some of the best horror films, Basket Case strikes an emotional chord perfectly captured in other special films like the original Frankenstein, Freaks and Spider Baby. The fact that MoMA has done a 4k restoration goes to show what a remarkable little film this is. Out of his hands during post-production, the film’s blow-up from 16mm to 35mm was blundered rendering it darker than originally shot. Henenlotter has approved the restoration and provided original negatives that were thought to be lost. The film looks incredible and it breathes a new life into the twisted story of the Bradley family.

Arrow has put together a brilliant release of the 4k restoration collecting all the extras from the previous DVD releases plus a handful of new bonus features provided by Henenlotter himself. The set is a treasure trove of goodies for fans of the film and one of the best Blu-ray upgrades anyone could ever ask for.




















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