Frank Henenlotter is no stranger to capturing misfits, oddballs, and mutated figures on film, but he always manages to find the humanity in each of them. His unique avant-gutter exploitation cinema has resulted in memorable characters and brutal moments, but he embraces the deadly and unpredictable sides that his creations offer.

Duane and Belial, the once-conjoined twins who shocked Times Square in Basket Case (1982), are back in Basket Case 2 (1990). They find a new home in a mansion of misfits, but the press is after them and closing in. Bad Biology (2008) follows a woman with seven clitori and an insatiable — sometimes murderous — sex drive, and has mutant babies moments after the act; her path collides with a man who has an uncontrollable, brain-controlling, drug-addled penis. This is a genuine weird film for those seeking something they've never seen before — or could even imagine exists.

Our host Jim Hickcox is joined by filmmakers and film teachers Steve Collins and film Spencer Parsons.

Maybe don't listen to this episode at work...

Split Picks

Split Picks: Frank Henenlotter's 'Basket Case 2' Vs. 'Bad Biology'

What is a bad movie? When does the fun start? How did David Cronenberg make a room full of nineteen-year-olds cry? Who *really* killed Abraham Lincoln? Why do birds suddenly appear every time Tippi Hedren is near? The Cinesthesia Boys answer virtually none of these questions, in any way, at all. Who are the Cinesthesia Boys? They’re Jim Hickcox and Jason Michelitch! That was an easy one.

THE CINESTHESIA PODCAST

CHAPTER ONE: TOMMY WISEAU'S LINCOLN

Time travel, mouths covered in plastic, fish-based revenge and another drive-by Cronenberg mention. Join the Cinesthesia Boys, Jim Cine and Jason Sthesia, as they get more talking done about bad movies, ironic appreciation, which Nolan brother is Mama Nolan’s favorite and the ideal iteration of Jaws V: Sharks Hold a Grudge. It’s another certified classic fresh from the presses (we call our mouths “presses” because we press them against each other, when we kiss!)!!

CHAPTER TWO: KILL ME WITH YOUR FISH

The Boys have been missing in action — wandering through the submerged depths of spacetime, the dead zones of material consciousness — but they ride the bathyscaphe up through the cracks in reality's sidewalk and surface with brain bubbles full of hot takes on Cyborgs and Spielbergs. Welcome back to Cinesthesia. Get your surfboards ready: This tide is only rising. Coming Monday, Feb. 24: HALLOWEEN HANGOVER!

CHAPTER THREE: MUCH LOVE, THE SLOPPY JUSTICE ROBOTS

"Some people never got over Vietnam or the night their band opened for Nirvana. I guess Cinesthesia never got over Halloween." 
- Rob Fidelity
They just can't stop! Jim and Jason could talk about literally anything they want, but their brains are permanently trapped in the world of tricks and treats. This week, The Boys take a scattershot look at the convoluted history of one Michael "Halloween is my middle name" Halloween Myers, the once and future king of slashers, who is also maybe a puppet of Celtic witchcraft and an absentee father? Carve those pumpkins, kids, it's time for a Halloween Hangover. NEXT EPISODE: More Halloween Hangover!!! Part 2 of [??!?] WHEN WILL THE MADNESS STOP P P PPP

CHAPTER FOUR: MICHAEL MYERS SHEDS A TEAR

Split Tooth Media is an independent publication based in Portland, Oregon, that still believes in long-form journalism and in-depth podcasts about music and film. Home of "Split Picks," a head-to-head showdown series about the career trajectories of filmmakers and musicians, created by Craig Wright; Jim Hickcox and Jason Michelitch's film criticism series "Cinesthesia;" and Rob Delany and 'T' Trimble's guide to exploring the world of art cinema with "Arthouse Drive-In."

Split Picks: Frank Henenlotter's 'Basket Case 2' Vs. 'Bad Biology'

Split Tooth

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