Editorials
[It Came From the ’80s] Belial is a Total ‘Basket Case’
With horror industry heavy hitters already in place from the 1970s, the 1980s built upon that with the rise of brilliant minds in makeup and effects artists, as well as advances in technology. Artists like Rick Baker, Rob Bottin, Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., Tom Savini, Stan Winston, and countless other artists that delivered groundbreaking, mind-blowing practical effects that ushered in the pre-CGI Golden Age of Cinema. Which meant a glorious glut of creatures in horror. More than just a technical marvel, the creatures on display in ‘80s horror meant tangible texture that still holds up decades later. Grotesque slimy skin to brutal transformation sequences, there wasn’t anything the artists couldn’t create. It Came From the ‘80s is a series that will pay homage to the monstrous, deadly, and often slimy creatures that made the ‘80s such a fantastic decade in horror.
Writer/Director Frank Henenlotter’s feature debut, Basket Case, showcased how even with a meager budget, creature effects could still be impressive. An underseen gem that follows Duane Bradley (Kevin Van Hentenryck) as he arrives in seedy New York City with not much more than a large wicker basket. It turns out that what’s inside is his very deformed Siamese twin brother, Belial, who was surgically separated from Duane against their will during childhood. Despite Duane’s plucky demeanor, the brothers are in New York to unleash vengeance upon the doctors that separated them. Their quest is complicated by Duane’s budding friendship and romance with nurse Sharon.
There’s a scene in the film where Duane retrieves a wad of cash when checking into the hotel, and Henenlotter has later said that this wad was pretty much the film’s entire budget. Basket Case was the definition of guerilla-style filmmaking, with the cast and crew rushing through scenes to avoid run-ins with the police because they couldn’t afford the required permits to shoot. Which meant that they had to get creative with Belial, too. Hentenryck provided a face cast for the Belial puppet, as well as voice effects for his deformed twin, and scenes where Belial’s hand attacked victims was really just a glove worn by Henenlotter. A full-sized puppet was used in scenes where Belial’s eyes glowed red or when he shared a scene with another actor. It wasn’t the puppetry that transcended the minuscule budget, though Belial’s design is pretty cool, but the stop-motion animation. During a production under the pressure of no money and limited time, stop motion is a lengthy process. Belial’s rampaging was made all the more impressive for the effort, too.
John Caglione Jr. (Amityville II: The Possession, The Hunter, C.H.U.D.), Ken Clark, Kevin Haney, and Ugis Nigals, made Belial both frightening in primal slaughtering and heartbreaking with the expressive design. Trapped forever in a deformed body while his seemingly normal brother could fit right into society and find love meant that Belial was the type of monster that invoked both fear and sympathy.
Released theatrically in 1982, Belial’s story became a midnight movie hit for years after, and it wasn’t until 1990 that Henenlotter picked right up where he left off. Basket Case 2 and Basket Case 3: The Progeny were released a year apart, and really felt most like two parts to a single story. If it wasn’t clear before that Henenlotter viewed Belial as the hero, and humans as the monstrous villains, well, he hammered that home as Belial became a full-blown protagonist. Henenlotter didn’t even plan to have Hentenryck factor much into the sequels, save for maybe a couple of scenes, until distributor Shapiro-Glickenhaus Entertainment insisted otherwise.
Whereas Basket Case was a more grounded horror-comedy set against the sleazy underbelly of New York, Henenlotter dialed up the wackiness to eleven in Basket Case 2, with a plot that lovingly lampooned 1932’s Freaks. With a much higher budget, the sequel brought in a whole new group of monstrous freaks for Belial to call family and even a love interest. Lead by special effects artist Gabriel Bartalos (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Dolls), Belial got an updated makeover. Admittedly, I prefer Belial’s original, cheaper look, but at least the sequel gives me a lot of distraction with the fun character designs behind Granny Ruth’s entourage of misfits.
The jarring tonal shift between Basket Case and Basket Case 2 means that Belial’s story arch can become quite polarizing. You’re either going to love or hate that Belial essentially becomes a family man with a love of his own (don’t worry, he’s still a vicious killer), but the deformed, basket dwelling monster unleashed on unsuspecting audiences in 1982 is one worth adding to your viewing repertoire if you haven’t already. I’ll always have a soft spot for this creature from the ‘80s, and I think you might too.
Editorials
Before ‘The Blair Witch Project’, ‘Alien Autopsy’ Showed How Real Found Footage Could Feel
The line separating artist from con man is a lot thinner than you might initially believe. While I think we can all agree that lying for the sake of profit is actively malicious behavior, isn’t it also true that the faux documentary aspect of The Blair Witch Project is half the reason why that film became such a cultural phenomenon? After all, if there’s one thing filmmakers have in common with stage magicians, it’s that misleading and misdirecting audiences is simply part of the job.
That’s why I’ve developed a habit of mostly ignoring the moral quandaries behind many of film and television’s biggest “hoaxes” in favor of appreciating the narrative elements that drive productions like Mermaids: The Body Found and even Animal Planet’s highly underrated The Cannibal in the Jungle. However, if there’s a definitive case of a highly publicized broadcast fooling the world into taking it seriously, it has to be Fox’s infamous 1995 TV special Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction.
It’s been over three decades since that eerie footage first haunted television screens right at the peak of the ’90s ufology craze, and in that time, the video has taken on a life of its own. From countless parodies and references in everything from The X-Files to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (as well as John Dower’s recently released tell-all documentary The Alien Autopsy Scandal, which I’d highly recommend to genre fans everywhere), there’s no denying the legacy of the Alien Autopsy video. However, I rarely see the tape discussed as what it truly is: a highly convincing found footage film directed by a passionate stage magician and brought to life by masterful practical effects work.
That’s why I’d like to invite readers to join me on a deep dive into one of the most infamous broadcasts of all time in an attempt to reevaluate the footage as a fascinating narrative experience rather than a complete hoax.
The TV Special That Convinced Millions It Was Real
Ray Santilli next to Extraterrestrial replica in ‘The Alien Autopsy Scandal’
For starters, regardless of whether or not you believe that there was in fact an extraterrestrial crash in Roswell during the summer of 1947 and that some form of autopsy was performed on the victims, the producers behind the black & white recordings, Ray Santilli and Gary Shoefield, insist that their video was a “restoration.” Though I’d argue that the proper word is “remake”of genuine footage that was too damaged to air on television. That’s why the duo went on to recruit filmmaker and eccentric magician Spyros Melaris and sculptor/monster designer John Humphreys to bring their version of the autopsy to life and sell it to the highest bidder.
This is where the story of the Alien Autopsy as a narrative experience really begins. Melaris claims that his approach to the faux recording consisted of striving for extreme period accuracy in both shooting equipment and setting while also planting subtle details that would initially seem like mistakes but could later be revealed to actually fit the time period. That being said, the filmmaker was under the impression that the short would be released for free as a PR stunt, with the team later producing and selling an informative documentary chronicling exactly how the footage was faked and commenting on how easy it is to manipulate public perception with a good old-fashioned magic trick.
This obviously isn’t how things went down, and that’s likely the reason why Melaris has since distanced himself from everyone else involved with the project. Yet, no amount of behind-the-scenes drama can undermine the genuine effort that went into making the short as impressive as it is. From the sourcing of real animal organs from a local butcher to make the organic part of the creature more lifelike to the highly detailed sculpt that made use of a hollowed-out underlayer that could be filled with fake blood and assorted viscera, there’s a reason why so many Hollywood specialists are still impressed with the artistry on display here.
Of course, the believability is only half the story, as I think that the best part of the autopsy is how Melaris builds on the existing tension by obscuring certain details and often embracing the chaos of what a real examination of extraterrestrial life could feel like. The camera often goes out of focus at just the right time to make certain effects hit even harder, and we can only speculate as to what the hazmat-suited doctors are gesticulating about during the operation. There’s a real air of mystery to the whole thing that almost makes it feel like a cosmically terrifying, cursed film containing forbidden knowledge that civilians were never meant to see.
So when Fox’s Fact or Fiction brings in the specialists to comment on the film and its otherworldly subject, it’s no surprise that we end up with one of the most memorable mockumentaries of all time – albeit one where the participants are unaware that the footage they’re commenting on is basically a large-scale practical joke. A joke that the network was obviously in on, as many participants claim that the TV special cut out significant portions where guests point out that they believe the footage to be an elaborate hoax.
The Lasting Impact of the Hoax Turned Cultural Event
Regardless, I remember going to bed terrified after watching reruns of the special and thinking about the respected pathologist who claimed that the body was almost certainly inhuman, with even effects maestro Stan Winston commenting on how difficult it would be to recreate some of these visuals through practical puppetry. That’s not even mentioning Jonathan Frakes’ dramatic hyping up of the disturbing imagery as if he was talking about the tape from The Ring, with his spooky demeanor here likely being responsible for his later role as the host of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction a few years later.
Personally, I’d argue that the Alien Autopsy phenomenon had just as much of an impact on me as a horror fan as The Blair Witch Project, a film that was almost certainly influenced by the success of this immensely popular hoax (to the point where they even produced their own TV special commenting on Heather’s found footage). Even if Fox didn’t intend to produce a narrative feature about the aftermath of the Roswell crash, the end product still holds up remarkably well as a highly entertaining mockumentary exploring the idea that we may not be alone in the universe.
While neither Santilli nor the rest of the production team has ever commented on this, I also think it’s very likely that the idea of a faux Alien Autopsy could have been influenced by Dean Alioto’s The McPherson Tape/UFO Abduction. I’ve already written about how this granddaddy of found footage was co-opted by rogue ufologists who began selling bootlegs of the tape at conventions as if it were real evidence of a close encounter, so it’s not that much of a stretch to imagine that Santilli and company could have heard about this phenomenon and been inspired to come up with their own highly profitable hoax.
At the end of the day, it’s unlikely that the Alien Autopsy film is recreating any real footage from Roswell, but I can still appreciate the short and the accompanying television event as a standalone horror story that still influences the way we see found footage to this very day.
After all, the possibility that something could be real is often much scarier than finding out for sure – and that’s why I think Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction is still worth revisiting three decades down the line.
You must be logged in to post a comment.