Capital Celluloid 2024 — Day 25: Thu Jan 25

Basket Case (Henenlotter, 1982): BFI Southbank, NFT2, 8.40pm


This screening is part of the 'Scala: Sex, drugs and rock and roll cinema' season at BFI Southbank.

Time Out review:
A freak-show revenge plot that puts small ugly creatures like ET and Ewoks back where they belong: in baskets. Much of the suspense lies in the question: what is in the basket? It eats junk food in quantity, flaps its little lid, belches, and goes walkabout with deadly effect. Its custodian is a painfully fresh-faced nerd strangely adrift among the big-city low-life; and the secret of the wicker world is soon revealed to be the victim of extremely prejudicial surgery by a nympho doctor and desperate veterinarian. In a flashback, the nerd rescued his brother from a black plastic bag; now is the hour of their revenge ... Same old gore and poignancy, but some garish characters and the nightmare quality of the New York hotel give it more low budget charm than it deserves.

Here (and above) is the trailer.

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