Review: Basket Case 2 (1990)

Following on from the final moments of 1982’s Basket Case, Basket Case 2 reunites star Kevin Van Hentenryck, director Frank Henenlotter and the lumpy blood-thirsty Siamese twin Belial for another bout of ridiculous goings on.

Here Duane (Van Hentenryck) is rescued from hospital after the ending of Basket Case saw him plummet, along with his brother Belial, several storeys, to what one would have assumed to be their death. Finding refuge in the home of ‘Doctor Freak’ Duane must come to terms with his strangeness by embracing those around him. Hot on his trail are a couple of journalists greedy for the inside scoop on his brother’s deformity. Whilst Duane begins to lose faith, his brother begins to find love.

If you’ve seen its predecessor then you’re probably fully prepared for Basket Case 2. The strange OTT music returns in all of its glory (or lack of), whilst the film recycles much of Basket Case‘s material. Utilising its flashbacks, Basket Case 2 often feels stale and reeks of being a rehash of the mediocre film that came eight years previously.

Whilst the effects have slightly improved (Belial’s facial expression is now not confined to conveying a blank plastic grimace), the acting has not and much of the cast wade their way through a bad script with the aplomb of a man weilding a machete.

The sanctuary offered to Duane is ridiculously surreal, with his fellow deformed residents ranging from a large face named Lorenzo, to a toad-faced humanoid, to an unexplained living gargoyle. Whilst the film is commendable in that it teaches the importance of accepting everybody for who they are it’s difficult to find that message amongst the cast of Star Wars alien rejects.

For a film advertised as a horror comedy there are very few laughs to be had here. Whilst the film will have its audience, its journey into sketchy waters will manage to lose the interest of many. Those who do make it to the end of the movie will be greeted with one of the most questionable sex scenes in cinema history. Don’t believe us? Watch below. (It’s all kinds of wrong – you’ve been warned.)

Best line: “Ripping the faces off people may not be in your best interests.”