This article contains several comparisons which contrast the older Something Weird Video Blu-ray transfer with the new Arrow Video restoration. The frames aren’t necessarily exact matches, but should give a solid indication of the visual differences.
Frank Henenlotter’s grimy NYC exploitation horror debut was recently treated to a new Limited Edition release from Arrow Video, sporting a new 4K restoration from the original 16mm negative by MoMA.
The film was previously released on Blu-ray by Something Weird Video in a pretty well-regarded edition that wasn’t begging for an upgrade, so it’s interesting to see what Arrow and MoMA bring to the table.
Comparing the picture quality of the two releases, Arrow’s is a bit clearer and sports finer, less noisy grain, though on the flipside Henenlotter had intentionally made no attempt to clean up the prior version. Additionally, the image generally sports a slightly less reddish tone now – possibly the result of color correction. Being 16mm sourced, the 4K restoration may not offer a whole lot more fidelity than 2K or 1080p, but is nonetheless greatly appreciated.
Perhaps the best aspect of this new transfer is the least obvious — it’s a little wider, showing more of the frame horizontally.
Additional features of Arrow’s Limited Edition release:
- Brand new 4K restoration from the original 16mm negative by MoMA
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
- Original Uncompressed Mono Audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Brand new audio commentary with writer/director Frank Henenlotter and star Kevin Van Hentenryck
- Basket Case 3–1/2: An Interview with Duane Bradley — Frank Henenlotter revisits Duane Bradley decades after the events of the original Basket Case
- Seeing Double: The Basket Case Twins — a brand new interview with Florence and Maryellen Schultz, the twin nurses from Basket Case
- Brand new making-of featurette containing new interviews with producer Edgar Ievins, casting person/actress Ilze Balodis, associate producer/effects artist Ugis Nigals and Belial performer Kika Nigals
- Blood, BASKET and Beyond — a brand new interview with actress Beverly Bonner
- Belial Goes to the Drive-In — a brand new interview with film critic Joe Bob Briggs
- Outtakes Featurette
- In Search of the Hotel Broslin — archive location featurette
- Slash of the Knife (1972) — short film by Frank Henenlotter
- Belial’s Dream (2017, 5 mins) — brand new Basket Case-inspired animated short by filmmaker Robert Morgan
- Behind-the-scenes of Belial’s Dream
- Trailers, TV Spots and Radio Spots
- Extensive Still Galleries
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck
- FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet with new writing on the film by Michael Gingold
Get it at Amazon:
Except where noted, all 16:9 screen images in this review are direct captures from the disc(s) in question with no editing applied, but may have slight compression inherent to file formats.