Skip to main content
Games Radar Newsarama Total Film Edge Retro Gamer SFX
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The smarter take on movies
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Trending
  • Best Netflix Movies
  • Best movies on Disney Plus
  • Movie Release Dates
  • Best Netflix Shows
Don't miss these
Embalmed hand from Bring Her Back (2025) website blackangeltapes.net net to the embalmed hand from Talk To Me (2023)
Horror Movies New horror movie Bring Her Back launches in-universe black market website all but confirming Talk To Me connection, and its contents will terrify you
Bring Her Back
Horror Movies After looking through Bring Her Back's viral black market website, I need Danny and Michael Philippou to make a V/H/S-style found footage movie about its creepy, cursed objects
David Howard Thornton as Art The Clown in Terrifier 3
Horror Movies Terrifier creator says that although he’ll "never be on the same level as David Lynch," Terrifier 4 will explore Art the Clown’s origins the "Lynchian way"
Jonah Wren Phillips as Oliver and Sally Hawkins as Laura in Bring Her Back
Horror Movies Bring Her Back directors admit they don't feel "any more confident now" despite releasing two hit horrors in a row: "The pressure was almost unbearable after Talk to Me"
The 30 best horror movies of all time: pictures from The Wicker Man, The Shining, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Hereditary.
Horror Movies The 30 best horror movies that will haunt you long after the credits roll
Mia in Shelby Oaks
Horror Movies Longlegs studio boosts budget on fan-funded found footage horror movie, adding more "gore and violence"
The Naked Gun popcorn bucket
Comedy Movies The Naked Gun's wild popcorn bucket is an ingenious throwback gag to one of the original movie's raciest jokes
Aaron Stanford as Doug holding a baseball bat
Horror Movies Terrifier director has revealed his favorite horror remake from the '00s, and film fans are discussing their picks
Wednesday season 2 stop motion sequence
Fantasy Shows Wednesday season 2 features a new Tim Burton stop-motion short, and Netflix has released an amazing behind-the-scenes look at how it was made
A still from a Weapons teaser
Horror Movies After Weapons' gory ending, fans are discussing the most disturbing final lines in horror movies
Dogtooth
Drama Movies The new Yorgos Lanthimos movie is getting rave first reactions out of Venice Film Festival, but I think it's worth revisiting his breakout feature Dogtooth before Bugonia hits theaters this fall
Caleb Landry Jones as Walter in Harvest
Drama Movies I loved the folk horror elements of 28 Years Later, and this new nightmarish medieval movie follows in its footsteps in all the right ways
'The Sword' sequence in Predator: Killer of Killers
Sci-Fi Movies Predator: Killer of Killers director wanted to make sure the sci-fi anthology movie wasn't "going to just smash action figures together"
Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim in Together
Horror Movies Together stars Alison Brie and Dave Franco think "there's no place for vanity" in either comedy or horror: "We're not worried about how we look when we're in these crazy positions"
Rachel Sennott in Shiva Baby
Movies The 32 greatest movies under 90 minutes
  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies

The Making Of Basket Case

Features
By Sam Ashurst published 31 October 2012

Director Frank Henenlotter on his trash horror classic...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Inspiration

Inspiration

The producer Edgar Ivans and I decided ‘Oh, let’s try and make a commercial film.’ (laughs).

We were pretty naive. Thinking we could actually raise money (laughs) which we failed to do on all counts.

But anyway, once we thought let’s make a commercial film, I thought let’s try and make a horror film.

But the problem was I didn’t know what it was going to be.

Page 1 of 11
Page 1 of 11
The title

The title

I was just sitting around one day playing with titles, and I was trying to come up with titles that hadn’t been used.

‘Psychopath, oh that’s been used. This and that, oh that’s been used.’

Then I came up with the title Basket Case , and the moment I thought of that, I just had this image of a monster in a basket leaping out like a jumping jack in the box.

It was the stupidest thing, but it was so visual I thought ‘I can have a lot of fun with that.’ I knew it didn’t make any sense at all.

Having a creature in a wicker basket actually raised more questions than it answered, but I thought it’s a funny idea, it’s a crazy idea, it’s a cheap idea, but let’s roll with it and see what we can do.

Page 2 of 11
Page 2 of 11
The writing process

The writing process

At the moment that I came up with the idea that Duane and Belial should be brothers, I was in Nathan’s hot dogs in Times Square, which was a huge fast food joint for hot dogs. It had two floors. It was bigger than it needed to be.

And I was downstairs eating hot dogs when I thought of that detail.

When I’m working on a script, I always carry a pen or pencil with me so I can write stuff down.

So suddenly I was writing dialogue and scenes on napkins.

And that’s what I came home with a whole bunch of mustard stained napkins and actually the dialogue I wrote at Nathan’s that day is almost verbatim in the film when he tells Casey the hooker about his past.

It’s almost verbatim.

Page 3 of 11
Page 3 of 11
The audition process

The audition process

I wanted Duane to be very anonymous in the crowd. I wanted him to be very ordinary.

But when I saw Kevin (Van Hentenryck), he was so tall he stood out in a crowd. And I thought, that’s better.

It makes him a little gawky and Kevin was able to play this wide-eyed innocent almost to the point of that he’s maybe a little mentally off.

And I just thought he was great at that. I just thought I had no trouble with that.

Page 4 of 11
Page 4 of 11
First day on set

First day on set

The first day was a disaster. It was an absolute disaster, because we used a 16mm camera that we borrowed from a friend, and I kept saying there is something wrong with the view-finder.

And no one was taking me very seriously, you know ‘What do you know about a camera?’ and we filmed the scene where the tenants come into the Irish guy’s room and find him dead – that was the scene we were shooting.

And we got the footage back and sure enough everything was so off-centre it looked like I was aiming and cutting people off right at the chin and filming most of the ceiling.

And sure enough we found out the camera had the wrong viewpoint on it.

So we scrapped that weekend and started the next weekend and reshot it. So that was a dreadful way to begin a film.

Page 5 of 11
Page 5 of 11
The effects

The effects

Oh, I didn’t know what I was doing.

So, there’s often times when you don’t know what you’re doing, when you either get creative or you’re in a kind of a mental bliss where you don’t realise just what the odds are against you.

We had two Belials, one was a very rigid puppet, but I realised I could do stop motion with it, very bad stop motion, but I could still do it.

The other one was more of a hand puppet. I painted a glove red that looked like a tongue and I treated him like a hand puppet.

So there were scenes in the film when he’s in the hotel room, and I am actually stuffed inside the dresser drawer, which was hollow, sticking my hand up with the red glove on it.

I had the puppet sticking up out of the basket making it work, looking through a crack in the dresser drawers and a mirror across the way, so I could see which way I was pointing and what I was doing.

That’s about as home-grown crude at it gets. And I also did the awful stop-motion animation. And that was just terrible.

Page 6 of 11
Page 6 of 11
Favourite memory from the shoot

Favourite memory from the shoot

I have very few favourites.

One of the few days when we actually had a crew - about six people - was the day Belial is on top of the girl at the end.

Everybody thought that was great because she was naked, so everybody had a good time… until I put the blood all over her crotch, and everybody got so offended.

I think it looked worse when it was on the set than it did on film. I didn’t care, but the crew was so outraged and angry that in protest they said they were going to walk out.

I said ‘Get out of here, leave, go away. I don’t give a shit’.’

So it was only shot with me, Kevin Van Hentenryck and the producer Edgar Levins.

Edgar had to climb in the hole in the mattress and on a pole he’s making Belial bounce up and down on her. That’s not how movies are supposed to be made.

Page 7 of 11
Page 7 of 11
Watching it with an audience

Watching it with an audience

It’s always terrible. You know it’s weird because in the case of Basket Case, the audience were laughing pretty much at all the bits that I was hoping they would laugh.

And yet all I was doing was thinking was ‘Oh they’re not going to laugh at the next one, they’re not going to laugh at the next one.’

And after 90 minutes of them liking it I remember thinking, ‘Well, next week’s audience won’t.’

So it’s a terrible experience. I learned real fast not to watch my films with an audience. I just go through hell with that, but obviously audiences inexplicably liked it, so I ain’t complaining.

Page 8 of 11
Page 8 of 11
Cult following

Cult following

I really don’t know why Basket Case has such a big cult following. I’ve asked other people that. I don’t really know.

I think if I had to guess, it’s funny. And I think the humour helps it a lot. I suppose if that story was played seriously what do you have?

I think it’s such a wacky idea and I think the comedy works. I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.

I was mystified when it became you know and as soon as it started playing at midnight it started selling out.

I couldn’t understand it and there were lines played at the theatre I mentioned a few minutes ago, that’s four blocks away from me and it played there for two and half years. What the hell? So I never did understand it.

Page 9 of 11
Page 9 of 11
The fans

The fans

I’m always struck at how polite and respectful they are.

I would have thought the fans of my movies would be foaming at the mouth degenerates, but they’re not.

They’re really sweet and decent, and a few times I’ve always been thrown by that.

I remember the first time I came to London was for FrightFest , for Bad Biology a couple of years ago.

And I had assumed I had been forgotten and so had the films, because I was thinking in terms of theatrical release.

So I didn’t think anybody would connect me with Basket Case .

And I’m in the theatre and all these kids are coming up to me ‘Can you sign this Basket Case box for me? Can you sign my Basket Case DVD?’

I totally forgot there was a whole generation that grew up with these on home video.

So I was flabbergasted.

Page 10 of 11
Page 10 of 11
The remake

The remake

I’ve been asked about it making a remake and really I don’t see what the point it. Leave it alone.

I’ve had some serious requests, usually they’re from people who want to pay me as little as possible because they figured they can do it low-budget too.

I already did the low budget version and if you’re going to remake it at least do a big budget version.

And if you do, I don’t know, I just think if you did it once, why do it again?

I’m not a big fan of remakes, I’m not at all. Come up with another crazy idea.

The Basket Case Trilogy is out now on Blu-ray

Page 11 of 11
Page 11 of 11
Sam Ashurst
Social Links Navigation

Sam Ashurst is a London-based film maker, journalist, and podcast host. He's the director of Frankenstein's Creature, A Little More Flesh + A Little More Flesh 2, and co-hosts the Arrow Podcast. His words have appeared on HuffPost, MSN, The Independent, Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, and many more, as well as of course for us here at GamesRadar+.

See more Movies Features
Read more
Embalmed hand from Bring Her Back (2025) website blackangeltapes.net net to the embalmed hand from Talk To Me (2023)
New horror movie Bring Her Back launches in-universe black market website all but confirming Talk To Me connection, and its contents will terrify you
Bring Her Back
After looking through Bring Her Back's viral black market website, I need Danny and Michael Philippou to make a V/H/S-style found footage movie about its creepy, cursed objects
David Howard Thornton as Art The Clown in Terrifier 3
Terrifier creator says that although he’ll "never be on the same level as David Lynch," Terrifier 4 will explore Art the Clown’s origins the "Lynchian way"
Jonah Wren Phillips as Oliver and Sally Hawkins as Laura in Bring Her Back
Bring Her Back directors admit they don't feel "any more confident now" despite releasing two hit horrors in a row: "The pressure was almost unbearable after Talk to Me"
The 30 best horror movies of all time: pictures from The Wicker Man, The Shining, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Hereditary.
The 30 best horror movies that will haunt you long after the credits roll
Mia in Shelby Oaks
Longlegs studio boosts budget on fan-funded found footage horror movie, adding more "gore and violence"
Latest in Movies
Gimli in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
From passing on Lord of the Rings to Cleopatra's infamous budget, film fans are debating some of the worst mistakes in movie history
Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal as Agnes and William Shakespeare in Hamnet
Chloé Zhao's first movie since Eternals is already getting Oscars buzz as critics call it "the most devastating movie I've seen in years"
Christoph Waltz as Henrich Harlander in Frankenstein
Frankenstein star Christoph Waltz is in favor of Guillermo del Toro's use of practical effects: "CGI is for losers"
A still from Jujutsu Kaisen season 3
You can watch Jujutsu Kaisen season 3 early – if you see this new compilation movie
Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster in Marvel's Thunderbolts*
A new behind-the-scenes Thunderbolts photo is making fans even more disappointed with one character death: "She showed her face for like two seconds for absolutely no reason"
Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania
Avengers: Doomsday directors tease it's even bigger than Endgame as Paul Rudd hints at more practical, "jaw dropping" sets in the MCU crossover
Latest in Features
Borderlands 4 screenshot shows someone holding a weapon forward towards the camera.
"We tend to commit to the bit": Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford talks Borderlands 4, the evolution of looter-shooters, and $80 game discourse
A mech firing a machine gun in the desert in Menace
Menace is an XCOM-Warhammer hybrid that makes turn-based strategy feel like an immersive sim, and for the first time in my life I'm playing a game that seems made for me
Metal Gear Solid 5 showing Snake and Ocelot looking to the horizon in front of more soldiers
10 years later, Metal Gear Solid 5 remains a masterpiece that was never going to live up to its own hype
Dogtooth
The new Yorgos Lanthimos movie is getting rave first reactions out of Venice Film Festival, but I think it's worth revisiting his breakout feature Dogtooth before Bugonia hits theaters this fall
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Legacy of the Forge DLC showing Henry and two allies standing looking down
I built a home and ran a business in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's next DLC, and the added role-playing guarantees I'll spend another 70 hours in my current game of the year
D&D Player's Handbook laid out on a wooden surface
Will romantasy be the next great crossover for Dungeons & Dragons? Fourth Wing could be the perfect D&D setting, if you ask me
  1. Kaser clad in black and Victor in white clash swords in Lost Soul Aside
    1
    Lost Soul Aside review: "We (don't) have Final Fantasy Versus 13 at home"
  2. 2
    Hell is Us review: "The lack of waypoints and explicit objectives is a double-edged magical sword that pulls me deep into its harsh world"
  3. 3
    Shuten Order review: "The Danganronpa creator's new multi-genre mystery feels like a forgotten DS cult classic I would have been obsessed with"
  4. 4
    The Rogue Prince of Persia review: "I roguelike but don't roguelove this freerunner – there's just not enough to stand out"
  5. 5
    Shinobi: Art of Vengeance review: "So close to being to a pitch-perfect revival of a classic series, but just can't quite line up the killing blow"
  1. Jacob Elordi as the monster in Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein
    1
    Frankenstein review: "A classy, if somewhat safe, adaptation"
  2. 2
    Weapons review: "A twisted fairytale that bests Barbarian"
  3. 3
    The Fantastic Four: First Steps review: "An occasionally thrilling heroic adventure that sits safely within a B-tier MCU range"
  4. 4
    Superman review: "A triumphant reinvention and a promising start for the DCU"
  5. 5
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  1. John Cena as Peacemaker holds a gun to the head of a different John Cena as Peacemaker in Peacemaker season 2.
    1
    Peacemaker season 2 review: "Darker and sadder than the first year, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids."
  2. 2
    Wednesday season 2 part 1 review: "Complex and exciting but weighed down by too many subplots"
  3. 3
    Alien: Earth review: "Arguably the franchise's strongest outing since James Cameron's Aliens"
  4. 4
    King of the Hill season 14 review: "Hank Hill himself has evolved into a much more open and accepting person"
  5. 5
    Eyes of Wakanda review: "A creative premise shortchanged by the runtime and Marvel bloat"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...