General News
Frank Henenlotter’s BASKET CASE Screens Midnights This Weekend at The Moolah
“What’s in the basket? Easter eggs?”
Frank Henenlotter’s BASKET CASE (1982) screens Midnights this weekend (February 22nd and 23rd) at The Moolah Theater and Lounge (3821 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63108) as part of Destroy the Brain’s monthly Late Nite Grindhouse film series.
For those readers who may have existed under a rock over the last four decades—or, perhaps in a wicker basket, hiding yourselves from civilization—Basket Case is a zero-budget (okay, $35,000, but that’s pretty close to zero), Z-grade, grindhouse film. Most films that played the grindhouses of yesteryear didn’t intend on playing grindhouses; it’s just where they ended up. But Basket Case, by writer/director Frank Henenlotter, was intentionally made as a grindhouse film that would play in the grindhouses of 1980’s Time Square. In fact, that was Henenlotter’s only expectation for the film. His dream was to see his film up in lights at one of the theaters that he frequented throughout his youth. So he intentionally went about designing and creating the most outrageous, disgusting, hilarious film he could put together in homage to all the outrageous, disgusting, hilarious films he’d cut his teeth on in Times Square.
Basket Case is the story of Duane Bradley (Kevin Van Hentenryck), a painfully shy and naïve youth with an unfortunate problem. He was born as a Siamese twin. But his twin didn’t fully develop and was simply a blob of flesh with a distorted face and two claws that grew out of Duane’s torso. His parents were horrified and so, during Duane’s youth, they hired some sleazy doctors to perform a horrific surgery to remove this living monstrosity, named Belial, from Duane’s side, thus allowing Duane to live a normal life. With total disregard towards Belial, the doctors wrapped him in a plastic bag and summarily dumped him in the trash where he was rescued later in the evening by Duane. The two brothers eventually escape the Hell of suburbia to enter a different Hell—that of the Big Apple’s 42nd Street. Here Duane meets a pretty young girl and both experience their first true romance. But Belial, who vicariously lives Duane’s experiences thanks to the mysterious psychic abilities some twins share, becomes jealous of Duane. Fearing Duane’s departure, Belial goes on the attack to ensure the two will never be separated (for the rest of Roger Carpenter’s review of the BASKET CASE Blu-ray, go HERE)
THE PSYCHOTRONIC PRE-SHOW STARTS AROUND 11:30P WITH THE FILM STARTING AT MIDNIGHT.
The Moolah Theatre & Lounge serves alcohol until 2:30AM! Feel free to show up early and stay late to have some drinks and get friendly with the amazing Moolah staff.
The Facebook invite for Friday night can be found HERE
https://www.facebook.com/events/337538923507516/
The Facebook invite for Saturday night can be found HERE
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