Basket Case (film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Basket Case is a 1982 American horror film written and directed by Frank Henenlotter in his feature directorial debut. Produced by Edgar Ievins, the film stars Kevin Van Hentenryck as Duane Bradley, a young man who seeks vengeance on the doctors and nurses who performed an unwanted surgery that separated him from his deformed conjoined twin brother Belial, whom Duane hides in a large wicker basket.
Plot
Dr. Julius Lifflander is frightened by something outside his forest home. A shadowed creature then cuts his phone line and power before killing Lifflander by tearing at his face.
Duane Bradley arrives in New York City with a locked wicker basket. He gets a room at a cheap hotel right down the hall from a sex worker named Casey. He takes some hamburgers and feeds them to a creature in his basket which talks to him telepathically. When Duane is out the next day a man named Brian O'Donovan looks through Duane's keyhole in order to steal Duane's wad of money. Casey scares him off and informs Duane about it. Duane takes his basket to see Dr. Harold Needleman and befriends his assistant Sharon. Needleman contacts Dr. Judith Kutter and tells her about Duane's visit and Lifflander's death, but she ignores him. Duane goes back to Needleman's that night and empties the creature, who is revealed to be his twin brother Belial, onto the floor. Belial kills Needleman by gutting him with his claws.
The next day, Duane goes to meet Sharon at the Statue of Liberty and they kiss. Belial senses this and trashes the hotel room in a temper tantrum. He hides when the hotel manager opens the door to see what the commotion is. O'Donovan sneaks back inside to steal Duane's money but is killed by Belial when he opens the basket. Duane senses the attack telepathically and hurries back. Duane tells Belial that he deserves some time for himself. Duane, with the basket, run into Casey at a bar and drunkenly tells her that Belial is his twin brother.
A flashback relates their backstory. They were conjoined at birth and their aunt was the only one who would take care of them. However, the twins were surgically separated at an early age by Dr. Lifflander, Dr. Needleman and Dr. Kutter, which explains their hatred for the doctors. They then murdered their father, which was ruled an accident, and lived with their aunt before she died. They then went to murder the doctors who had separated them. Belial deeply resents being cut off from his normal-looking brother, and Duane equally resents how heartless everyone acts towards his brother.
Back in the present day, Belial sneaks into Casey's bedroom and scares her out before stealing her panties. The next day, Duane and Belial go to Dr. Kutter's office. She tries to dismiss them, but Duane reveals who he is before Belial kills Kutter by shoving her face into a drawer of sharp objects. Sharon goes to Duane's apartment seeking safety after Needleman's death and they start to make love before a jealous Belial starts screaming and Duane is forced to toss Sharon outside.
That night Belial goes out to find Sharon while Duane has a dream that tells him about it. Belial sneaks into Sharon's apartment and tries to rape her. He attacks and kills her when she wakes up and screams. Enraged at his brother for his actions, Duane takes Belial back to the apartment in a scene that attracts several people to his apartment, which exposes the existence of Belial. Belial attacks Duane which results in the two brothers falling from a hotel window. They are knocked out as everyone surrounds their unconscious bodies.
Cast
- Kevin Van Hentenryck as Duane Bradley
- Terri Susan Smith as Sharon
- Beverly Bonner as Casey
- Robert Vogel as Hotel manager
- Joe Clarke as Brian 'Mickey' O'Donovan
- Lloyd Pace as Dr. Harold Needleman
- Bill Freeman as Dr. Julius Lifflander
- Diana Browne as Dr. Judith Kutter
- Tom Tolan as Belial Bradley (uncredited)
- Jerry Butler as Casey Greeter #1 (uncredited)
