The tenant in Room 7 is very small, very twisted, and very sharp-looking as Arrow Video gives Frank Henenlotter’s Basket Case its 4K UHD debut this spring. The adventures of Duane Bradley (Kevin VanHentenryck) and his monstrous, formerly conjoined twin Belial will see its ultra-high-definition disc release April 30, and Arrow gave FANGORIA the first look at its new trailer for this edition.
Along with the 4K restoration from the original 16mm negative by MoMA, presented in 2160p and Dolby Vision, this new release will come with the following special features (including a few that—full disclosure—were created by this writer) from Arrow’s previous limited-edition, now sold-out Blu-ray:
- Audio commentary with writer/director Frank Henenlotter and star Kevin VanHentenryck
- Archival audio commentary with Frank Henenlotter, producer Edgar Ievins, actor Beverly Bonner and filmmaker Scooter McRae
- Basket Case 3-1/2: An Interview with Duane Bradley: Short film by Frank Henenlotter
- Me and the Bradley Boys: Interview with actor Kevin VanHentenryck
- A Brief Interview with Director Frank Henenlotter: A strange 2017 interview with the director
- Seeing Double: The Basket Case Twins: Interview with actors Florence and Maryellen Schultz
- Blood, Basket and Beyond: Interview with actor Beverly Bonner
- The Latvian Connection: Featurette including interviews with producer Edgar Ievins, casting person/actor Ilze Balodis, associate producer/special effects artist Ugis Nigals and Belial performer Kika Nigals
- Belial Goes to the Drive-In: Interview with film critic Joe Bob Briggs
- Basket Case at MoMA: Footage from the 2017 restoration premiere
- What’s in the Basket?: Feature-length documentary covering the three films in the Basket Case series
- In Search of the Hotel Broslin: Archival location featurette
- The Frisson of Fission: Basket Case, Conjoined Twins, and “Freaks” in Cinema: Video essay by Travis Crawford
- Slash of the Knife (1976, 30 mins.): Short made by Frank Henenlotter featuring many of the same actors from Basket Case, including optional audio commentary with Frank Henenlotter and playwright Mike Bencivenga
- Basket Case and Slash of the Knife outtakes
- Belial’s Dream (2017, 5 mins.): Animated short by filmmaker Robert Morgan
- Extensive image galleries
- Trailers, TV and radio spots
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck
- Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck
- Collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by Michael Gingold and a Basket Case comic strip by artist Martin Trafford
As promised, here's your first look at Arrow's Basket Case 4K UHD trailer.
Retail price is $49.95; the UHD can be pre-ordered at Amazon.com.
