Basket Case was made in 1982-ish, back when New York City was less... savory. Like The Burning, there's some outdoor footage of Times Square (and other parts of the city) packed with XXX Stores and Porno theaters, which serve as the backdrop for the story of Duane Bradley (Kevin Van Hentenryck) and his deformed Siamese twin Belial (puppet), who lives in a basket. That's not really a spoiler since whether you've heard of Basket Case or not, if you're looking at the poster to your right, then you're looking at Belial.The film is equal parts revenge story and black comedy, alternating between Duane's quest to kill the doctors responsible for separating Belial from him (they share a psychic link) and the comedic adventures of a boy and his basket living in the Big City. And no, I'm not kidding. Since it's a while before Belial is revealed - other than the occasional "arm" shot - most of the first 20-30 minutes is Duane talking to a basket and dropping hamburgers into the open lid. Then the basket shakes in exactly the way you'd expect it to for a low budget film. Director Frank Henenlotter seemed aware of this, so there's a subplot involving Belial getting into all sorts of shenanigans and upsetting Duane's neighbors while he's gone.
And where is Duane? Not plotting his revenge; oh no, Duane meets Sharon (Terri Susan Smith), the receptionist for Doctor Needleman (Lloyd Pace) and falls in love, much to Belial's chagrin, which brings us to the ending. As much as a movie named Basket Case can have a spoiler warning, I suppose you should be warned: Duane has a dream that he's running naked from his apartment to Sharon's, and then in a POV shot, he has sex with Sharon... only to wake up in his own bed to find Belial is gone! Guessing it wasn't a dream? You'll have to find out for yourself, and it ain't pretty...
The film has a sleazy, low rent charm that anchors the unbelievable story in a city where something that strange could happen. It doesn't hurt that Henenlotter introduces Duane's neighbors in ways that make them as weird (if not weirder) than he is, which lends a curious verisimilitude to a film that features a puppet that periodically becomes stop-motion and brutally murders people. When everything is surreal but grounded in a place where it seems plausible, a movie as demented as Basket Case makes sense. Set the same movie in New York City today and it would be totally illogical. How times change...
Oh crap, they're back. Time to make them watch a movie none of us have seen so that the Cap'n can reward them with ThanksKilling! Until then!
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