poster

Basket Case
Director: Frank Henenlotter
Year: 1982
TRT: 1:31

Reviewed: 7/4/2024
VIDEO REVIEW

I think this one can be termed Shakespearian Horror. Unfortunately it is kinda pulled down by some of the best worst acting ever. Or is it worst best acting ever? Fine line, my friends. A fine line.

Opening scene, bad news. Then who can only best be described as The Naive Guy hits seedy downtown New York, carrying a basket. XXX movie theaters. Hookers. Angel Dust. All, right there. But this guy? Just ignores it all, just like the piss and garbage smell. He ain’t exactly normal. The rest of the movie proves this.

This is really low budget horror, no argument there. But it is mostly shot surprisingly well, all things considered. Acting is middling, I’ve seen worse. Except for the doctor lady. See Great Death notes. And the opening character? He wasn’t very good. But main character Duane does “ok” pulling it off. The hotel manager is fuckin awesome. The Skeezy Lobby Dude? On point. Even the promiscuous neighbor does a decent job. But then there’s the basket. It kinda emotes like a basket. Until it doesn’t. Don’t make basket angry.

So the big question is why doesn’t Duane just chuck said basket in the river and be done with it? It gets to that, and actually does a fine job with why he doesn’t. But like I said, the dude is kinda clueless, and things get downright tragic. Symbiotic relationship gone awry. Baskets have feelings too. It’s just, after that much time in a basket, those feelings might just kinda maybe probably be pretty fucked up and demented. Shakespeare never considered that, I bet. Plus, that basket is a tremendous cockblocker. What an asshole! And that’s not even considering the murderous killing spree. But cockblocking? Dude. Nope. Some boundaries should not be crossed. This basket crosses em. Interesting note, MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) did find this to be a cinematic gem, so helped restore this time capsule of horror for future ages. Apparently when asking director Henenlotter’s persmission to restore, he asked, Have you watched the film? Heh.


Great Death: The doctor lady meeting her fate. Helluva thing. Acting, right?

Basket Notes: I can confirm, it looks like a nice basket.


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