leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (06/09/85)
BASKET CASE
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Internationally there seems to be a big market now for horror films on
videotape. (I was just reading that horror videotape rentals have surpassed
pornography videotape rentals in Canada. The same may have happened in the
U.S.--the article didn't say.) With all this demand, the number of horror
titles on the rental shelves is increasing. A general rule of thumb is, if
you haven't seen it playing in theaters, it is not worth seeing. That is
not an infallible rule, however, and a friend's recommendation that I see
BASKET CASE turned out to lead to an enjoyable evening.
No, BASKET CASE is not about a war amputee. It is about Duane, a young
man born a Siamese twin. Duane looked relatively normal, but his brother
Belial growing out of his side looked like a cross between Phiz-gig from THE
DARK CRYSTAL and a fleshy deformation from ALTERED STATES. Three doctors
separated the boys and left Belial for dead. Ah, but Belial's deformity
gives him great strength and telepathic control over his brother. Duane
carries Belial around in a basket. We see him drop hamburgers into the
basket in the early parts of the film and the buns tossed back out. Belial
is using Duane to get revenge on the doctors who left him for dead. At
times he is played by a man in a suit in some scenes and by less-than-
convincing stop-motion photography in others. The script has a natural wit
and more than a little good-natured fun. While it never takes itself too
seriously, it never turns hammy or silly. There are several well-drawn
characters which we would only see in passing in most horror films made for
this budget. This isn't immortal material but if it shows up at your
videostore, give it a try. Rate it +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper