true In April of 2009, myself and [DJ Intel][1] launched the 'Bad Meaning Good' monthly movie event at [The Burlington][2] in Chicago. The idea behind the night is to screen cult classics, exploit movies, unintentional comedies and every other kind of film we collectively decide is so bad that it's actually good. In the ongoing search for the perfect 'Bad Meaning Good' film I've decided to take on a weekly (or AT LEAST once-per-week) blog entry in which I'll review, summarize and rate bad movies of every variety imaginable. The goal is to reach somewhere in the range of 75-100 posts within a year, at which point I'll look for a place to publish a first volume of 'Bad Meaning Good' reviews in book form. Stay tuned... ____________________ **Bad Meaning Good case study #2:**<br> ['Basket Case'][3] [1]: http://www.djintelone.com/ [2]: http://www.myspace.com/theburlington [3]: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083624/ **Summary:**<br> A young, timid man by the name of Duane Bradley arrives in a deeply seedy, pre-Guiliani Times Square with a basket's worth of baggage... Literally and figuratively. Born with a semi-formed, conjoined twin brother attached to his side who is surgically removed during the brothers' teen years, our hero has ventured into the big city, basket in tow, in order to right his wrongs and seek revenge on the sleazy network of doctors who forced he and his telepathically-linked brother apart. What might otherwise be a compelling premise (akin to something like, say, ['Dead Ringers'][1]) on the surface is rendered ridiculous beyond belief though (in a good way of course) as we realize that Duane's brother Belial is in fact what could best be described as a fully-sentient, gelatinous and squid-like blob replete with vaguely human characteristics and an uncontrollable penchant for gruesome murder. The end result is something much more like ['It's Alive'][2] in practice and we get some serious mileage out of our comically absurd mini-monster as he cycles through his various rampages and frenzied terror sprees. Duane is sidetracked along the way by what is surely one of the most weird, stiff and chemistry-free, love-related subplots in cinematic history but that is of no consequence for the tragically alienated Belial who will stop at nothing on his bloodthirsty quest for vengeance and reciprocation. The movie also functions as a sort of time-capsule film that perfectly illustrates the bedraggled, unkempt cesspool of urban decay that made up that part of Manhattan for much of the 80's. Along the way we meet a wide variety of hustlers, prostitutes, thieves, rapscallions and just about every other manner of unsavory individual one could imagine; all helping to provide a suitably vulgar canvas on which the film paints it's broad strokes of absurdity. **How 'Bad Meaning Good' is it?:**<br> Technically speaking, 'Basket Case' is an objectively terrible movie on nearly every level (its [Wikipedia page][3] cites the film's budget at $35,000). If director Frank Henenlotter deserves anything resembling credit for actual dramatic affect though, it should indeed be noted that the film's direction delivers a great deal of ['Elephant Man'][4]-styled pathos to the proceedings. The average viewer will likely feel at least some vague sense of sadness on the behalf of the film's anti-heroes and their unfortunate circumstances. With that in mind, the movie strays just a little too far from the kind of over-the-top ridiculousness necessary to achieve the perfect 'Bad Meaning Good' formula. In other words, a viewer looking for something truly, sublimely ridiculous MIGHT be slightly put-off by the film's ability to make a person actually feel something... But just A LITTLE. Because on a comedic level, this movie often comes up all aces and when it does, you'll find yourself laughing out loud. The Belial character is simply one of the most ludicrous murderers in cinematic history. It goes without saying that the mere existence of such a living, breathing person would defy nearly every known law of biology and physics, and that the cold, harsh realities of our world would surely render such a creature's life very short-lived. It is of course this very fact that makes the character so laughably awesome and the sight of Belial doing his awkwardly violent deeds is the stuff of comedic genius. So... Those of you who are finding yourself imagining what it would be like to watch said creature wander about in some wickedly dated stop-motion effects, decorate a woman's face with razor-sharp scalpels, eat a dozen packaged and uncooked hot dogs, grope the boobs of the fairer sex, or grasp a man's balls and lift him completely off the ground with one hand will find a lot to love about this movie. **'Bad Meaning Good'-O-Meter:**<br> 7.8/10 <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_uQj7j8yG6A&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_uQj7j8yG6A&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> [1]: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094964/ [2]: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071675/ [3]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basket_Case_(film) [4]: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080678/ 2009-10-20T22:22:49Z 2009-10-20T03:12:00Z 51 image/jpeg basketcase.jpg 30140 2009-10-31T19:24:53Z