Basket Case 3

I love this movie. I nearly wet myself laughing it was so hysterical. I wish they had made more than 3 of these films, because each one just keeps getting campier and funnier.

The third entry in this bizzare series sees the usual cast return, namely Annie Ross as Granny Ruth and Kevin VanHentenryck as Duane Bradley. This third and last installment in the series has more gore than BC2, is campier and more entertaining than BC2, has some memorable characters and lovable cops, and you get to see 12 of Belial's kids, or his "progeny"....It's also got an ending to remember. Highly recommended, this flick rests easy in my collection. 9/10

Rated 18s for strong horror violence and gore, language, sensuality and nudity

Frank Hennenlotter made the classic "Basket Case", a highly enjoyable film with two great heroes: Duane and Belial, Siamese twins (one normal, one deformed) getting revenge on the doctors who separated them. I really liked it, and really wanted to like it's two sequels. Unfortunately the sequels are totally unlike the first one, in tone and in content, although not without their own charm.

In "Basket Case 2" Duane and Belial joined up with a group of God-forsaken abnormalities that were more humorous than horrific. It might have been passable entertainment if the mutations were cool looking, but too many of them were cheap-looking and silly. Well, they all return for this one, and it's a mild improvement. Belial has fathered a dozen baby Belials who are promptly kidnapped by the local police, setting Belial off on another killing spree.

The best parts of this flick involve Duane. He spends the first half of the movie in a straight jacket, and I for some reason I found him hilarious and very likable. There's a great scene where Duane eats corn flakes while Belial kills a guy wearing leopard-print briefs. Other highlights include Belial in a robotic body and the patriarchal Granny Ruth singing "Personality" backed by the freaks.

The worst part has to be the scene where Belial's girlfriend Eve is giving birth and a new character called Little Hal is videotaping it. Someone must have thought this actor was hilarious and let him improvise the scene or something, because he gives an almost unwatchable "comic" performance. In fact, the weakest part of any Hennenlotter movie is when it tries too hard to be funny. The original "Basket Case" is funny in a dark way, and never resorts to silliness.

I also don't get why in one scene the freaks decide to become a part of society and then in the next scene invade a fast food restaurant and eat the customers' food off their trays. That's not the best way to win people's affection; I know, I've tried.

The "Basket Case" sequels have more in common with Hennenlotter's "Frankenhooker" than with his "Brain Damage", so if you liked the former then this flick is probably right up your alley (if you don't mind gore that's over-the-top and cartoony instead of realistic- I like either).

Wow. Just when you thought they couldn't possibly twist BASKET CASE's bizarre concept into more of a surreally grotesque hodgepodge of blood, guts, playfulness, insanity, and 'unique individuals' than the first sequel already has-- they do. And boy do they do it with flair! In THE PROGENY, the premise of the first two movies have been taken to every single wacky extreme imaginable. If you thought BASKET CASE 2 was weird, then the final entry in Frank Henenlotter's cult trilogy will no doubt make you faint with confusion and utter disbelief.

Trying to explain the plot would be like trying to rationalize a horrific, fast-paced, 90-minute acid trip so I'm not even going to bother. In BASKET CASE 3, you'll witness the silver screen's most unusual musical number, the birth of a dozen monsters, a beautiful dominatrix with multiple personalities, a killer robot-machine, and an overweight genius with several arms. Yet, somehow within the film's warped universe, it all makes perfect sense. I highly recommend the entire series.

Just from the ending of the second one starts the third chapter of the Basket Case saga. Still in the "freak house", Duane got crazy, at least for a little at the beginning of the movie... anyway did you ever think he was sane?? He is put in kind of "madhouse style" cell in the basement until the entire community is forced to move because of Eve, the Belial-like freak known in the previous movie, is pregnant and is going to need the help of a "specified" doctor! So they all move to the "doctor's house" we soon discover to be Granny Ruth husband (you will also see their son, but I think you'll be glad to discover that yourself!) and try to help eve to give life to the progeny the title talks about! A strange-but-happy family picture? Useless to say troubles are on their way and a couple of police officers "steal" the little creatures and shoot eve: it's time for Belial's revenge!! The battle scene provides a "techno-belial" too! Very funny!

This movie is full of silly-yet-entertaining character, but I consider better the previous one. Maybe the plots are too similar, nothing is added except some freak and some laughs, maybe it is just too hilarious, sure it's not as good as the others! Technically it's still above the average level of low budget movies, but it lacks of something I can't define. Anyway it's worth a look with some friends for some good laugh!