This is not an April Fools’ joke. I swear. Look at the date!
There was a time when weird cult movies like Basket Case were frowned upon. They certainly weren’t respected by cinephiles and they weren’t even treated as real art. But the times are changing. The entire Basket Case trilogy is on Blu-ray as of last year, and believe it or not, the freakin’ Museum of Modern Art has just chosen the original for preservation and restoration!
Director Frank Henenlotter just made the (highly surprising) announcement over on Facebook today, revealing that a new restoration of the 1982 cult gem is coming soon. He wrote:
Hey, Basket Case fans. I’m both humbled and proud to announce that Basket Case is now part of the permanent film collection of the Museum of Modern Art. (And, yes, I asked them if they actually watched the film and they assured me they did.) It’s quite an honor and one that I’m still trying to wrap my head around.
I’ve already given them all the film elements for preservation, and they’ll be doing an all new restoration in the upcoming months. Amazing, yes? Congratulations to producer Edgar Ievins, actors Kevin Vanhentenryck and Beverly Bonner, as well as everyone else who helped make this crazy little movie a reality way back when. Thank you, Moma.
In the film, “a young man carrying a big basket that contains his extremely deformed Siamese-twin brother seeks vengeance on the doctors who separated them against their will.”
