Basket Case 2



After miraculously surviving their fall of several stories from their apartment building, Duane Bradley and his deformed brother Bilial, are rushed to the hospital. The two immediately become a media sensation, partially due to Bilial’s unusual appearance, and partially because they’re also suspects in the murder of several people. But thanks to all the media attention the pair also gain the immediate attention of Granny Ruth, an old friend of the brothers’ aunt, and a retired doctor who runs a secret home for “unusual individuals,” or other deformed people similar to Bilial. Ruth and her granddaughter Susan quickly bust the two brothers out of the hospital and take them to their home in secret. But the pair are still wanted fugitives and a sleazy tabloid reporter and her equally sleazy colleagues have managed to track them down, hoping to gain a payday from their story. Meanwhile, Ruth and her family just want to be left alone to live their lives in peace, so they’re forced to take it upon themselves to bring about that peace…one way or another.


Peace… Face Munch…. Same deal.

Basket Case 2 is an American horror comedy from 1990, and is a direct follow-up to the original Basket Case from 1982. After several years of claiming a sequel to the first film was completely unnecessary, due in part to the brothers “dying” at the end, the first film’s creator/director/writer Frank Henenlotter apparently threw his hands in the air and said “well, why the hell not”, and thus this sequel, and it’s subsequent sequel (that I’ll get to next week) was born. And that actually makes this series kind of impressive in and of itself, because it makes Basket Case one of the few horror series where the creator/director/writer managed to maintain pretty much complete control of their entire series. Not only that, but it also managed to retain one of its producers and its main (non-puppet) stars, Kevin Van Hentenryck (and even one of the secondary characters also comes back for a brief appearance). So keep that little tidbit in your back pocket next time horror trivia night rolls around. But while the film manages to keep most of its original key players and still ends up being pretty fun, it does switch things up a bit, which may not wholly appeal to all the fans of the original.


Okay! Everyone get into frame and smile! Grandma wants a nice picture for Christmas!

One of the most obvious changes from the first film is that it’s switched genres a bit. Whereas the first film is treated as a gritty, raw horror shocker, the sequel leans much more heavily into comedy. Instead of being shocking like Bilial, the appearance of the new, murderous “freaks” are instead (intentionally, I might add) meant to be silly, or in some cases even whimsical. The “good” doctor, Granny Ruth, who’s secretly trying to help and shelter all these “unusual individuals” by giving them a home and (much needed) therapy, often veers into the macabre-ly sinister (“I understand your pain, Belial, but ripping the faces off people may not be in your best interest.”), to the point where you’re pretty sure this is less of a “family” and more of a cult. The deaths are still there, and are still pretty violent, but they’re much more subdued and less bloody, and often accompanied by an element of dark irony or black humor (like the ultimate fate of the reporter, or the photographer’s flailing silhouette being seen from outside thanks to his constant camera flash as Bilial strangles him to death.) So basically, the movie retains many of the same elements, it’s just not nearly as scary. Though it does still retain a distinct vein of tragedy within it. Except instead of being directed at Bilial and his unfair treatment and circumstances, this time it’s aimed squarely at his brother Duane, as he finds himself struggling to explore the possibility of true freedom and individuality for the first time in his life, after being stuck with his brother (both figuratively and literally) since birth.


Yup, once you start donning special robes for your family meetings it’s definitely become a cult.


Shockingly, Duane may be the more messed up of the brothers…

The other obvious change is that the movie clearly has the benefit of more money behind it. The first Basket Case is essentially a “guerilla” film, shot with little more than a camera and a prayer that some New York City cop or other official didn’t run after them demanding to see their filming permits. As a result, the first film has a distinctly darker and grittier feel to it, while also being kind of quaint thanks to all the handmade stop-motion they made to showcase Bilial. But you can tell almost immediately that the sequel has a lot more funding behind it. Scenes aren’t as dark, things are lit with more than one light-bulb, the framing is more thought out, and the camera they had was much better quality, ridding the film of any grain and making the picture super crisp. The biggest standout though, are the effects. The costumes and masks for all the freaks are diverse, creative and often outlandish, with some being a bit more out there than others (one of them is apparently a gargoyle that likes to hang around outside the house). And Bilial this time is more of a fully functional (or at least mostly functional) puppet, or series of puppets. Meaning there’s no cheesy stop-motion to look forward too and everything feels a lot more controlled. Including the blood, which is still present, but used much more sparingly when compared to the first film. The result is that while the movie manages to look a lot nicer, it also seems to have lost some of that gritty charm that really drew some people towards the first film.


I keep thinking that’s some kind of soda can next to him and it’s messing with me.


Well, uh, hi to you too, I guess…

Despite some of the changes they made between installments I still ended up liking Basket Case 2. It feels like a very different film than the first, but I think the slight pivot in genres really worked with the new direction the filmmakers were going for. Kinda like how Don Mancini transitioned Child’s Play from a horror with dark comedy, to a dark comedy with horror (and lots of blood) in it. So, a bit different, but also mostly the same. And surprisingly still plenty entertaining, especially when you consider the crappy track record horror sequels tend to have. I really think the only downside to this one is that it’s not as bloody or even as violent as the first one. But other than that it’s very solid. The story is kind of simple, but it looks good, the effects are creative, and even the acting is pretty great (Annie Ross is damn a treasure). So if you like a lot of dark comedy to go with the creepiness in your horror films, then Basket Case 2 is a very solid choice.

Basket Case 2 is available on a variety of streaming services.

Basket Case 2 is also available on DVD and Bluray.

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