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Basket Case (1982)


Commentaries on this disc:

Commentary 1: Director Frank Henenlotter, actor Beverly Bonner, producer Edgar Ievins, and Scooter McCrae Rating:7.7/10 (6 votes) [graph]Login to vote or review
Reviewed by Brian Thibodeau on May 17th, 2004:Find all reviews by Brian Thibodeau
For fans of this film, and this kind of cinema in general, this jovial, animated commentary is a blast. Director Henenlotter and his cronies are likably self-deprecating about the quality of their work (seen on Something Weird's transfer with a revelatory digital cleanup), and keep the production stories coming fast and furious. Fans of Henenlotter's work know the man spent much of his life hallowed, piss-stained cinema emporiums of New York's famed 42nd Street, and he provides many fun anecdotes about his time there, both before his filmmaking career and during Basket Cases lengthy run on The Deuce. He also points out a plethora of interesting production details: Terry Susan Smith's godawful wig was necessitated by her membership in a punk rock band, for which she shaved her head; star Kevin Van Hentynryk is a real life sculptor working on a Rip Van Winkle sculpture at Hunter Mountain in upstate New York until 2010 for those who want to pester him, and porn star Jerry Butler can be seen in the bar scene. Good stuff from people with strong memories. Solid fun from beginning to end.