One of the finest low-budget freak flicks of the 80s. It’s got gallons of blood and barrels of laughs. Underneath all the flying entrails and ear-piercing screams is your basic story of brotherly love. One’s a skinny sensitive lad with eyes full of innocence, one’s a murderous mutant that looks like a wad of chewed-up gum with a face and claws. They used to be siamese twins, but got separated against their will. They’re still as close as can be, though. The normal brother carries the mutant brother around in a basket as they arrive in New York City to get revenge on the doctors who operated on them.
In addition to being a gory good time, this also survives the years as one of the great portraits of early 80s sleazoid New York City. Writer/director Frank Henenlotter has a real love for the setting (see the lengthy interview with him in RE/Search’s Incredibly Strange Films book). Here, he shows off the glowing grindhouse marquees that line The Deuce, the sex palace lights, the sidewalk drug dealers, the bombed-out hotels, and the blown minds you meet in the hallways. You can all but smell the urine stench in the air. Even the doctor’s office looks like a dangerous place to be.
Followed by two sequels.