Popular reviews

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  Review by Ian West ★★★★★ 15

  The perfect midnight movie—a cult classic ripe with sleaze, a basket dwelling maniac, and Frank Hennenlotter’s magic touch of low budget cult craft mixed with dark humor draped in a crusty layer of scuzz. Basket Case made its way from the grime crime streets of 1980’s New York City to the box on the video store shelf that I was more curious about than any other, with Belial peeking out at me while I wondered what exactly was in that basket.

  Dunno what else to say other than whenever I’m in a shitty mood and worrying about things like death or bleeding out of my ass as a result of nuclear fallout, I turn on Basket Case. For some reason Belial and Duane’s tale always puts this basket case in a better mood.

  Much like the MoMa restoration of Night of the Living Dead, the work they did here on this Arrow Blu is phenomenal and a must see.

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  Review by nathaxnne [hiatus] ★★★★★

  A tale of love gone both right and wrong within and without a family. How monsters are defined, not born. How good intentions sometimes cannot divert disaster. Why letting your ex-conjoined twin talk you into a campaign of murderous revenge is more than likely a terrible idea, with lasting consequences beyond what may or may not have been intended. A warm and lovingly rendered portrait of early 1980's NYC Times Square Culture, from low-rent hotels with stairwells full of trash to adult theatres that show Kung Fu Triple Features to grimy bars that are a home away from home to seedy doctor's offices with poor lighting. Basket Case is not a film that offers any answers to how we should be with ourselves, our families, our loved ones, our neighbors, but it is one which honors the difficulties in mediating the tensions within all of our relationships, and does so with honesty and compassion.

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  Review by c h r i s🫀 ★★★★★ 5

  The tenant in room 7 is very small, very twisted and very mad!

  The thing I love most about Basket Case is for the first half of the movie we know there’s something in Duane Bradley’s wicker basket, he feeds it burgers, whispers to it, when will we see it? What’s in the basket? And when we finally see it, it’s stop motion madness at full-force and I love it so dearly. What I would give to watch this for the first time all over again. Brotherly love, gritty New York City streets, that Belial claw, sweet tragic revenge and eccentric characters! Basket Case has it all and is pure B-movie magic.

  I can always count on Frank Henenlotter to get me out of an emotional funk, mainly because I forget all my problems exist after hearing Belial screaming and reigning terror on those who fuck with his little mutated self. 

  We ♥️ Belial

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  Review by SilentDawn ★★★★ 9

  74

  Basically the grind-house splatter version of Ted. Loud, exhausting sleaze, even at a mere 90 minutes, yet packed with audacious low-budget effects and a staggering commitment to the material. Our lives would all be better if we collectively decided to chill the fuck out and watch rollercoaster rides like this every once and awhile. So many marbles were lost in the making of Basket Case, and I couldn't be happier.

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  Review by Matthew Christman ★★★

  There's something maniacally impressive about a movie where the only good performance comes from a screaming flesh basketball.

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  Review by josh lewis ★★★★ 4

  an absurdly gross and grimey no-budget splatter movie about conjoined twin brothers (one a normal upstate dork, the other a murderous meatball attached to his abdomen) forcefully separated from each other by (and getting revenge on) their abusive father and a collection of new york's filthiest medical professionals that eventually transitions into a weird, bleak midnight movie melodrama made under the same conditions as some of the best NYC gutter trash guerilla filmmaking of the 70s, and that to my surprise is actually fairly emotionally invested in the humanity of the giant shrieking meatball monster that shreds peoples faces to a bloody pulp. almost as sad as it is seedy.

  full discussion on episode 143 of my podcast SLEAZOIDS.

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  Review by sydney ★★★

  no fucking way i'm ever going to new york

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  Review by belial_carboni ★★★★★ 22

  Damn y'all Arrow Video sure made me hella sexy in 4k! I'm feeling pretehhhh pretehhhh pretehhh good about myself right about now. belial rockin that 4k on fleek... ok for reals though this restoration is one of the best I've seen from Arrow so far.

  This film has always been a favourite horror film of mine. I remember blind buying the Something Weird DVD back in the mid 2000's when I worked at a music/DVD store. I was riding that 50% discount and buying horror DVDs like crazy back then. This film though... This one was different. Ultra bizarre, extra absurd and insanely wacky. This was the film that began my journey into the more unconventional and obscure horror realm.…

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  Review by 1313: Tony the Terror😼🏳️‍🌈 ★★★★★ 9

  This beautifully odd sleazefest is always a fun one to revisit. I don’t know why but I suddenly got the urge to watch it again tonight and, to absolutely no surprise, it’s just as good as it’s always been.

  Siamese twins, one normal and one deformed, seek revenge against the doctors who separated them. I think this is one where the less you know going in the better so that’s all the plot detail I’ll give. This movie sjust gets so many things right. It’s gory, funny, violent, dark, and well-paced. The effects range from good to cheesy but they are all enjoyable as long as you are willing and able to suspend belief for the duration of the running…

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  Review by Rafael Jovine ★★★★ 13

  From the mastermind that brought us the incredible Brain Damage comes a very Tommy Wisseau-esque shlock comedy horror about the fundamentals of brotherhood, starring one of the cast members from Society.

  So yeah, this was a wild ride. A film that's equally bonkers and scary, with jumpscares that never fail to shook me. You'd probably end up deaf by the amount of screams in here. From the get-go, we are treated to a number of memorable scenes, many of them delivering both gore and hilarity in spades. In terms of quality and quantity of laughs, the acting is on par with "The Room". The pacing and direction in this film are highly uneven, with some scenes running too long creating…

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  Review by anna kendrick lamar ★★★★ 3

  Everything I liked about The Tenant (which undoubtedly influenced this) and Malignant (which this undoubtedly influenced) in one gonzo, histrionic package. Hard liquor cinema.

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  Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★ 18

  Basket Case contains what is possibly the most substandard lead performance of the 80s — almost Tommy Wiseau in The Room level shoddy. And the supporting performances aren't exactly a step up. A film filled with inappropriate musical queues, far too much screaming, excessive sleaze and preposterously delivered lines; I had a great time with it, ultimately because, above all else, it’s more tragic than anything & the authorship’s passion truly shines through. And Belial is one of the most memorable creatures in cinema history.