Basket Case 2
As far as low-budget cheese goes, there are few directors that ever approach the lofty heights of Frank Henenlotter. Henenlotter’s previous films Basket Case, Frankenhooker, and Brain Damage are true cult classics in that there is a very small audience that simply love these movies and can watch them over and over again. Basket Case 2 continues the Henenlotter’s tradition of crafting low-budget, quirky films with a dark sense of humor and better than average production values.
Basket Case 2 is the sequel to the largely underappreciated film Basket Case, a tale of two brothers who were born as Siamese twins and forcefully separated in a painful experience. One brother is a murderous lump of flesh with arms like a chronic masturbator who lives in a basket. The other brother is a socially inept freak bound by his loyalty to his misshapen brother, with whom he shares a psychic link. After a fiasco in Times Square, the two brothers escape from a hospital and find sanctuary in a house of freaks or “unique individuals” as they are called by the house’s owner. A newspaper reporter and her photographer buddy attempt to locate the whereabouts of the two freak brothers, one year after the incident in Times Square, forcing the house full of freaks to fight back and defend their secrets with deadly force.
Frank Henenlotter has crafted his best looking film with Basket Case 2, the visuals are crisp and the sound design is done fairly well. The film has some pretty interesting imagery and straddles the line between horror and comedy rather precariously. The pace to Henenlotter’s film is amazing and the film just seems to fly by. Henenlotter’s film is enjoyable and full of interesting scenes and confrontations and even a few well placed surprises. The most amazing thing is the depth of character that Henenlotter manages to imbue in his characters while not doing tons of character development. The only thing he should probably have skipped are the unnecessary flashbacks he uses to pad the run time of the film.
The acting in the film isn’t that great, mostly because Henenlotter brings back the main character from the first film, Kevin Van Hentenryck, who plays Duane Bradley… the normal looking brother. There’s something oddly discomforting about Bradley’s performance in this film and the previous one. I don’t know why, but I just get a molestery feeling off the dude, and as an added minus, the guy can’t act worth shit. The rest of the cast is adequate if you can handle a little over the top acting.
The best performance comes from David Emge as Half Moon, a twisted freak with a moon face. Actually, you can’t really tell what Emge is doing behind all the special effects he’s wearing. I just wanted to mention his name because he played Stephen, aka Flyboy, in Dawn of the Dead. There’s also a short but interesting featurette on the DVD where Emge talks about what it was like to be a freak covered in makeup.
The special effects in the film are awesome, highlighted of course by the superb makeup effects applied to the freaks in the film. Each freak is fascinating to look at and has their own personality. There are some costumes, like the frog-headed dude, that look cheap and ridiculous, but for the most part the freaks are just fascinating to stare at… especially the one that looks like Johnny Rotten. I could stare at that thing all day.
Basket Case 2 is just a plain old good time. The film isn’t a gorefest but it is a continuation of one of horror’s most beloved and well-kept secrets, the story of Belial and Duane Bradley… I don’t know if the world is ready for misshapen, doggy style, freak sex though.
Final Synopsis: Basket Case 2 is campy cheesy fun that is interesting to look at. The acting may not be great, but the character’s stories are fascinating. I definitely recommend a watch if you can handle cheesy horror and odd looking freaks.
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