Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Basket Case Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 9, 2018

Depending on how peculiar your particular sense of humor may be, it may be a toss up as to what is funnier — Basket Case, or the fact that Basket Case has recently undergone a restoration sponsored by New York City’s tony Museum of Modern Art. This lo-fi extravaganza had a generally well received Blu-ray release courtesy of Image Entertainment several years ago, but now Arrow is bringing back Belial, the vestigial twin of Duane Bradley (Kevin Van Hentenryk), a seemingly mild mannered guy who nonetheless keeps (or at least attempts to keep) Belial caged in the titular basket. There is actually a bit of misdirection going on in the early part of this frequently goofy enterprise, and the ultimate plot dynamics seem to state that conjoined twins may be able to be separated, but they’ll never truly be apart.

As with some other releases I've reviewed that have had a previous Blu-ray release, I'm assuming most coming to this review are more interested in a comparison of the video and audio aspects, as well as a description of what supplements this release offers, rather than another rehashing of the film's plot. For a discussion of the film, I refer you to my colleague Casey Broadwater's entertaining and informative Basket Case Blu-ray review.

Basket Case Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Basket Case is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. Arrow's insert booklet has the following information on the transfer:

Basket Case has been restored by the Museum of Modern Art in cooperation with director Frank Henenlotter.

The film was scanned, graded and restored at Cineric, New York. The original 16mm AB negative was scanned in 4K. A 35mm interpositive element was also scanned for certain shots. The restoration work included full picture stabilisation and the removal of dirt, debris, scratches and other signs of wear. The mono soundtrack was restored from the original 35mm magnetic tracks by Audio Mechanics, Los Angeles.

All materials for this restoration were made available by Frank Henelotter, who has approved this restoration.

There are some noticeable differences in the appearance of this Arrow release and the old Image release, as can be seen pretty clearly by doing side by side comparisons between the two reviews (as I typically try to do, I've attempted to come close to recreating a few of the screenshots from Casey's review, while also providing shots of other moments from the film). Grain is much more apparent throughout the Arrow presentation, and there are a few moments (which may be those aforementioned IP inserts) where an already heavy grainfield becomes even heavier (see screenshot 18 for one example, though this "look" does recur). The Arrow release is also cooler looking, with less vivid saturation than the Image release. I personally found this to be a really authentic looking presentation of an inherently "lo-fi" source, and there's an appealing grittiness to this transfer that almost makes it (perhaps appropriately) more like a grindhouse feature. I'd personally say detail levels are largely similar between the Image and Arrow releases, and so fans should look at both and see if this is an either/or or both/and situation in terms of preferences. There are some occasional variances in detail levels and grain structure, one assumes at least in part due to the differing source elements, and so there's a bit of relatively minor heterogeneity on display.

Basket Case Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Basket Case features an LPCM Mono track that for all intents and purposes sounds largely similar if not absolutely identical to the track Casey detailed in his Basket Case Blu-ray review. There's an undeniable brightness to the track on the high end, but the synth laden score actually sounds rather full bodied, and all dialogue comes through just fine. Unlike the Image release, Arrow has provided optional subtitles.

Basket Case Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Brand New 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 (1080p; 8:30) is a goofy short by Henenlotter.


• Me and the Bradley Boys (1080p; 16:24) is a new interview with Kevin VanHentenryck.


• A Brief Interview with Director Frank Henenlotter (1080p; 3:50) is appropriately advertised as being "strange", and perhaps does not actually feature Henenlotter (on screen, anyway). This has a moment of full frontal male nudity, for those who are concerned by such things. Hey, they warned you it was strange, didn't they?.


• Seeing Double: The Basket Case Twins (1080p; 8:55) features interviews with actresses Florence and Maryellen Schultz.


• Blood, Basket and Beyond (1080p; 6:04) is a new interview with actress Beverly Bonner.


• The Latvian Connection (1080p; 27:33) features interviews with Edgar Ievins, Ilze Balodis, Ugis Nigals and Kika Nigals.


• Belial Goes to the Drive-In (1080p; 6:55) is a new interview with critic Joe Bob Briggs, who helped to establish the Basket Case cult back in the day.


• Basket Case at MoMA (1080p; 37:12) is culled from the 2017 restoration premiere at the Museum of Modern Art, including a Q & A with Henenlotter, VanHentenryck, Beverly Bonner, the Schultz Twins and Ugis Nigals.


• What's in the Basket? (1080p; 1:18:41) is a really well done piece giving an overview of all three Basket Case films.


• In Search of the Hotel Broslin (1080i; 16:08) is an archival featurette from 2001 looking at locations.


• The Frisson of Fission: Basket Case, Conjoined Twins and 'Freaks' in Cinema (1080p; 23:03) is a another really well done visual essay by Travis Crawford putting this film in the context of other movies about outcasts.


• Slash of the Knife (1080p; 30:13) is a rarely seen short by Henenlotter featuring many of the Basket Case actors. This is a mock PSA about "America's uncircumcised". This offers an optional commentary by Frank Henenlotter and playright Mike Bencivenga.


• Slash of the Knife Outtakes (1080p; 5:30)


• Slash of the Knife Image Gallery (1080p)


• Basket Case Outtakes (1080p; 6:13)


• Belial's Dream (1080p; 4:49) is a 2017 animated short by Robert Morgan.


• Making Belial's Dream (1080p; 2:06)


• Image Galleries (1080p) include:

  Promotional Stills

  Behind the Scenes

  Ephemera

  Advertisements

  Home Video Releases



• Promo Gallery includes:

  Trailers (1080p; 4:54)

  TV Spot (1080p; 00:55)

  Radio Spot (1:51)

Basket Case Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Frank Henenlotter is sweetly (if perhaps just slightly ingenuously) shocked that anyone even cares about Basket Case in some of the supplements adorning this release, and that "devil may care" attitude suffuses the film itself. This is just silly stuff, made even sillier by ridiculous elements like not quite ready for prime time stop animation, and the performance styles are similarly uneven. But there are obviously fans for material like this, and Arrow has provided those fans a really nicely done package that boasts solid technical merits and outstanding supplements. Recommended.