Before Hollywood became obsessed with filming unnecessary remakes, throughout the 80’s and 90’s Hollywood was inspired to fill the multiplexes and video stores with as many horror sequels they could manage to churn out. Sure, I have a deep seeded obsession with Friday the 13th and the Nightmare on Elm Street franchises, but there are other franchises out there that were blessed with a slew of sequels when the originals, though they hold a soft spot in my horror-drenched heart, just didn’t need to continue the story; it was good as it was and should have been left that way. And that’s how I feel especially about Basket Case.
Basket Case goes back to my years of hanging out at the mom-and-pop video store around the corner from where I lived. The horror section was simply my playground. I still have the old VHS to the original Basket Case stuffed away in a box somewhere. It was just one of those insane over-the-top gore fests that are just so fun to watch with whoever I could convince to stay up and watch a bunch of horror films till we passed out in the living room.
The sequel, I’ll be honest: I couldn’t tell you a thing about it; it’s as though my mind has pushed it out into the ether never to remembered again. And now after popping in the third installment, I just want to know what happened. The crazy goofy horror is there, and it has all the elements that I like from the first, but there is simply too much of the absurd. It does more than dip its toe into B-movie schlock; instead it leaps into the deep end of cheesiness and ruins everything I grew to love about the first film.
This time around Duane (Kevin Van Hentenryck) is kept apart from his brother Belial after trying to stitch his mutated brother back to his side. And it is soon after it is discovered the Belial is about to become a father. This scene pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the film. A mass of flesh engaged in a sexual act like this is something easier seen than described. Knowing that there are some babies on the way, Granny Ruth (Annie Ross) gathers the family of freaks together to find a doctor that will help deliver the babies.
The birth of the offspring is equally disturbing as it is amusing as we watch the doctor pull one by one out. It’s hard to imagine anyone could ever find these monstrous babies cute by any stretch of the imagination, but yet Granny Ruth is quick to take them in an embrace them as part of the family. Things get even crazier when the mutated brood is taken by the local Sheriff and Bilial is out for blood.
The movie is silly and over the top, but isn’t for everyone. For fans of Frankenhooker and Basket Case, this is essential viewing. But for the casual horror fan, I’d give this one a pass unless you were ready to take a trip to the wild side of horror.
