Basket Case 2 - 3/5

I always thought this sequel would be another run-of-the-mill follow-up that the horror genre seems to be littered with. The original poster art for this is even the exact same as the original for Christ sake only with the number "2" tacked on to the end. If they couldn't take the time to make new poster art I figured they wouldn't have taken the time to make a sequel worth a shit. It also didn't help that all critics, except for the godly Job Bob Briggs, seem to shit on it despite liking the original.

After viewing Basket Case 2 I have found it not only to be a fine sequel, but about as good of a sequel to Basket Case could get. Thankfully director Frank Henenlotter didn't want to do a carbon copy of the original by having Duane and his deformed brother Belial going on another blood hunt. He changes it up a bit here by having our gruesome twosome survive the end of their previous slaughter and being busted out of the hospital by an elderly women who takes in deformed individuals and gives them home where they are loved and cared for. You see her own son was born a monster so she believes all deformed people deserve respect and caring.

Finally they have a place where they belong, that is until Duane falls in love with another pretty girl. Eagle-eyed viewers have the image of what Belial did to his first girlfriend in the original Basket Case burned in their brain so this can't end well. Surprisingly Belial himself finds a mutant deformed girlfriend for himself! Who knew Henenlotter could make this sequel more bizarre than the original but he does, oh boy, doe she ever and we are even graced a mutant sex scene. Some things I never thought I would see and a mutant sex scene was one of them. Words cannot describe this sequence. All I can say is that I can't believe that sequence got past the ratings board intact!

In the mean time a reporter is doing a story on the dastardly duo and while doing research, comes across where they are hiding. She has no idea the monsters that lurk inside and it seems it will be a bloody fun time for Belial.

Due to a much higher budget this sequel has a much more polished look to it. Everything from the lighting, to the acting to the effects are up tenfold. Belial also looks great in all his animatronic glory (thankfully the filmmakers didn't bring back those glowing eyes). If one can get past the gore they will find a nice underlying meaning to the story about people that are physically different do not deserve to be treated any different than people that are born normal. That is unless they are a homicidal killer like Belial!

One thing that does tend to annoy me is the look of the other deformed people. I can't believe I'm typing this but they were too silly and non-realistic. A guy with a half moon face? Come on. I can accept a deformed lump of a person that was attached to his brother's side but some of these other things were just too much.

Overall this was good sequel to the original no-budget classic. It' lacks the grittiness and overall nastiness of the original but it still contains the trademark over-the-top humor and gore to please fans. This is a horror sequel that I recommend.
Written By Eric Reifschneider