Basket Case 2
Director: Frank Henenlotter
Cast: Kevin Van Hentenryck, Judy Grafe, Annie Ross
Basket Case 3: The Progeny
Director: Frank Henenlotter
Cast: Kevin Van Hentenryck, Annie Ross, Gil Roper
Reviewed by Brian M. Sammons
In 1982, writer/director Frank Henenlotter made a very weird (and at times, even creepy) little movie about a guy that carries around his tiny, deformed, murderous twin brother in a wicker basket. Called Basket Case, it developed a small but loyal cult following, so much so that nine years later, Henenlotter got enough interest and funding to do a quick one-two punch of sequels that went direct to video. While neither were as good or well received as the original movie (now that’s saying something), are they worthy of getting the Blu-ray treatment? Are they even worth a watch? Well pick out your favorite picnic basket and let’s find out.
Picking up where the first film left off, the normal looking brother, Duane, and his ugly little spud of a sibling, Belial, are sprung from the hospital by an elderly woman named Ruth. The woman and her pretty granddaughter look after a whole houseful of exceptionally deformed and weird looking freaks. The cartoonish look of some of these guys may turn some people off, but me, I loved them. They are so overblown that they make the movie, because honestly, there’s not much here without them. Eventually a tabloid reporter starts snooping around, looking for the murdering mutant, causing Duane and Belial to join with the freaks in defending their home.
At the end of BC 2, the brothers take steps to make sure they can never be separated again. Well, Basket Case 3 hits the reset button right at the start and Duane is locked up by granny Ruth while plans are being made for little Belial and his equally deformed lady friend, Eve, to give birth to some babies. This inspires a road trip to Ruth’s ex-husband, who is a doctor. All the freaks load up on a bus and hit the road, with Duane all trussed up with them. There is a run in with some police, babies are born, tragedy strikes both sides, Belial gets an upgrade, and naturally there’s a bloody confrontation. This leads to a big public announcement, and then it ends.
So yeah, story and acting are not why you’re going to watch these. You watch them for the silliness, the WTF moments, the splatter and the over-the-top looking freaks. It is a modern freak show, one that you can’t help but watch no matter how bad it gets. And these movies are bad, but they are so firmly set in the category of ‘so bad, they’re good’. If you like that sort of thing, and I do, then these are the flicks for you.
Now let’s get to the goodies and extras Synapse has put on these two new Blu-rays. For BC 2, you get a short interview with the actor who played one of the mutants; “Half Moon,” that runs six minutes, and a behind-the-scenes featurette called “Beyond the Wicker” that’s a respectable 22 minutes long. It was made by special effect makeup artist, Gabe Bartalos, who worked on the film. As for the third movie, it has…a trailer! Yep, that’s it. So yes, neither of these are exactly packed with extras, but the real star here is the always excellent HD transfer that Synapse did for both of these forgotten flicks. That, combined with the low starting price point, go some distance to make up for the lack of special features.
Look, these movies aren’t for everyone. I mean, there are goofy horror movies, and then there are the Basket Case films. And while the original movie was weird and silly, things only get – worse? Better? – as the series goes on. If you like B-movies that don’t take themselves, or anything, too seriously, ones that are full of puppet monsters running amok, then these sequels aptly carry on what Basket Case started. If that’s your thing, then consider both of these highly recommended. If not, then not so much. Both movies come out August 9th.
