Arrow Video is releasing a Basket Case Limited Edition 4K UHD Blu-ray of Frank Henenlotter’s wild creature feature.
The film already had a Blu-ray release, but this 4K restoration is from the original 16mm negative by MoMA, presented in 2160p and Dolby Vision.
Basket Case was directed by Frank Henenlotter (behind the grimly hilarious Frankenhooker and Brain Damage) in 1982 and follows a man and his formerly conjoined twin on a grisly adventure.
Duane Bradley seems like a pretty ordinary guy. His formerly conjoined twin Belial, on the other hand, is a deformed creature who lives in a wicker basket. Arriving in the Big Apple and taking up a room at a seedy hotel, the pair set about hunting down and butchering the surgeons responsible for their separation.
Filmed on a shoestring budget against the backdrop of 1980s New York (where it played on the midnight movie circuit for over two-and-a-half years), Basket Case has clawed its way from its humble origins to become one of the most celebrated cult movies of all time.
The 4K release is set for April 30, 2024.
Basket Case Limited Edition 4K UHD Extras
- Audio commentary with writer/director Frank Henenlotter and star Kevin VanHentenryck
- Archival audio commentary with Frank Henenlotter, producer Edgar Ievins, actor Beverly Bonner and filmmaker Scooter McRae
- Basket Case 3-1/2: An Interview with Duane Bradley: Short film by Frank Henenlotter
- Me and the Bradley Boys: Interview with actor Kevin VanHentenryck
- A Brief Interview with Director Frank Henenlotter: A strange 2017 interview with the director
- Seeing Double: The Basket Case Twins: Interview with actors Florence and Maryellen Schultz
- Blood, Basket and Beyond: Interview with actor Beverly Bonner
- The Latvian Connection: Featurette including interviews with producer Edgar Ievins, casting person/actor Ilze Balodis, associate producer/special effects artist Ugis Nigals and Belial performer Kika Nigals
- Belial Goes to the Drive-In: Interview with film critic Joe Bob Briggs
- Basket Case at MoMA: Footage from the 2017 restoration premiere
- What’s in the Basket?: Feature-length documentary covering the three films in the Basket Case series
- In Search of the Hotel Broslin: Archival location featurette
- The Frisson of Fission: Basket Case, Conjoined Twins, and “Freaks” in Cinema: Video essay by Travis Crawford
- Slash of the Knife (1976, 30 mins.): Short made by Frank Henenlotter featuring many of the same actors from Basket Case, including optional audio commentary with Frank Henenlotter and playwright Mike Bencivenga
- Basket Case and Slash of the Knife outtakes
- Belial’s Dream (2017, 5 mins.): Animated short by filmmaker Robert Morgan
- Extensive image galleries
- Trailers, TV and radio spots
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck
- Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck
- Collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by Michael Gingold and a Basket Case comic strip by artist Martin Trafford
