Plot Synopsis:
The feature debut of director Frank Henenlotter (Brain Damage, Frankenhooker), 1982’s Basket Case is a riotous and blood-spattered “midnight movie” experience, now immortalized in a lavish 4K restoration by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
Duane Bradley seems like a pretty ordinary guy. His formerly conjoined twin Belial, on the other hand, is a deformed creature who lives in a wicker basket. Arriving in the Big Apple and taking up a room at a seedy hotel, the pair set about hunting down and butchering the surgeons responsible for their separation.
Filmed on a shoestring budget against the backdrop of 1980s New York (where it played on the midnight movie circuit for over two-and-a-half years), Basket Case has clawed its way from its humble origins to become one of the most celebrated cult movies of all time.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
- 4K restoration from the original 16mm negative by MoMA
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
- Original uncompressed PCM mono audio restored from the original 35mm magnetic tracks
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary with writer/director Frank Henenlotter and star Kevin VanHentenryck
- Archival audio commentary with Frank Henenlotter, producer Edgar Ievins, actress Beverly Bonner and filmmaker Scooter McRae
- Basket Case 3-1/2: An Interview with Duane Bradley – short film by Frank Henenlotter
- Me and the Bradley Boys – an interview with actor Kevin VanHentenryck
- A Brief Interview with Director Frank Henenlotter – a strange 2017 interview with the director
- Seeing Double: The Basket Case Twins – an interview with actresses Florence and Maryellen Schultz
- Blood, Basket and Beyond – an interview with actress Beverly Bonner
- The Latvian Connection – featurette including interviews with producer Edgar Ievins, casting person/actress Ilze Balodis, associate producer/special effects artist Ugis Nigals and Belial performer Kika Nigals
- Belial Goes to the Drive-In – an interview with film critic Joe Bob Briggs
- Basket Case at MoMA – footage from the 2017 restoration premiere
- What’s in the Basket? – feature-length documentary covering the three films in the Basket Case series
- In Search of the Hotel Broslin – archival location featurette
- The Frisson of Fission: Basket Case, Conjoined Twins, and ‘Freaks’ in Cinema – a video essay by Travis Crawford
- Slash of the Knife (1976, 30 mins) – rarely seen short made by Frank Henenlotter featuring many of the same actors from Basket Case, including optional audio commentary with Frank Henenlotter and playwright Mike Bencivenga
- Basket Case and Slash of the Knife outtakes
- Belial’s Dream (2017, 5 mins) – animated short by filmmaker Robert Morgan
- Extensive Image Galleries
- Trailers, TV & Radio Spots
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck
