MovieChat Forums > Basket Case (1982) Discussion > Judge it for its time...

Judge it for its time...

posted 8 years ago by decmcg
7 replies | jump to latest

A lot of first-time viewers seem to watch this today and view it as a piece of crap, HOWEVER you have to take yourself back to when and how it was made and to its time and place in movie-making which was SO very, very different to today.

I first saw this back in the 80s and have recently just revisted it and YES the production values are low and disjointed, but there's a definite sense of style, creepiness, gore-iness, fun and innovation about the whole thing that deserves full marks for effort and originality!

[–] RealityFanJen (23) 6 years ago

I agree. I was 8 when this movie came out, and I remember loving it! My dad let us watch pretty much whatever we wanted as kids, and I remember having nightmares over this one, but still rented it from the video store over and over!

[–] zephyr_cape (2979) 6 years ago

Sicc bump. Serious vibes on this movie. 👍
Can't imagine having seen this as a kid! Your dad is a wild man. Basket Case nightmares sound like my kind of good time. Did you see the sequels?

re the OP: This flick is especially disjointed and crappy even for its time, and the particular way in which it is so works greatly to its advantage. This is a premiere example of enhanced surrealism and creativity by way of low budget necessity. I understand this was shot piecemeal over the course of years as Hennenlotter could scrape up just enough dough to shoot a scene here and there, which surely contributed a good deal to its fragmentation.

[–] RealityFanJen (23) 6 years ago

I remember watching the sequels out of sheer curiosity, but only once and much later on. Didn't have the same effect as the original, though. My childhood was largely unsupervised. No wonder I'm so warped :-D

[–] hurricane (1948) 5 years ago

I saw this film for the first time about five years ago, and think it stands up as a masterpiece.

[–] jdforyou1983 (1470) 4 years ago

Just watched it for the first time and I liked it

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

It's a classic.

[–] SandyR (7837) 11 hours ago

Yes.