Basket Case 3: The Progeny



It’s been a couple of months since Duane’s little “freak-out” at the end of Basket Case 2, and life has gone on without him. The biggest change? Belial’s girlfriend is pregnant and Duane is about to be an uncle! But while everyone else seems to be happy, Duane is wracked with guilt about his actions and still desperate to escape and leave his old life behind. And he nearly succeeds. But when the local police get wind of Belial’s location Duane is forced to intercede in order to help his brother get revenge and protect his new family members.


Ya know guys, if ya quit poking ‘em with a stick they might not be so cranky. Just a thought.

Whelp, here we are, at the last film of this unexpected trilogy. Like the second film, the third is a direct follow-up to the second, complete with a 4-5 minute recap of the ending of the last film, just in case anyone forgot what happened the year prior. Unlike the transition from the first and second film, the tone of this one stays largely the same as the last, so there aren’t any jarring changes from dark to dark comedy. But while it’s got some great cheesy moments, it’s probably for the best that the series ended where it did, because it’s clear that the ideas were running out, as it’s not nearly as well put together as the last two films.



If you were a big fan of the weirdness of the second film, then you’re in luck! Because the weirdness from the last film has been jacked up to 11 for the sequel. The freaks? There’s more of them. Cheesy jokes? They bought them by the gross. The slapstick? In nearly every other scene. Duane acting crazy without realizing he’s acting crazy? Near constant. Annie Ross? Hamming it up for every scene she’s in with nary a bit of shame (She even gets her own musical number this time!). Basically if you watched the last installment and liked Frank Hennenlotter’s cheesy and weird homage to the movie Freaks, and you enjoy abject insanity, there’s so much here that you’ll likely be amused by something.


The fact that this woman wasn’t in more films is a damn crime.

Not to be outdone, there’s also a lot more bloodshed in this film as well. And just like the comedy, the gore has been increased to almost silly levels. Although not quite “insane” levels like the funny bits. Think of something along the lines of Army of Darkness, but on a much smaller scale and with less blood than you’d expect considering the amount of violence. Sadly, it seems Hennenlotter was forced to cut out quite a bit. But beyond that the budget seems to have still been pretty solid, so the film still has a lot of goo and slime, even if all that ick isn’t strictly related to violent incidents. And the other FX and practical effects also look pretty decent for the time period, so while much of the film is cheesy it looks sophisticatedly cheesy, and not just your typical, low-budget.…you know…cheesy cheesy.


Blood was originally supposed to come out his eyes and mouth here, which is why this doesn’t look quite…complete.





The downside is that the movie kinda just seems to meander. A lot of scenes aren’t really necessary, you can tell that some moments were just added to inject some more weirdness into a film that’s already plenty weird already.… You get the idea. And that’s not to say that the film doesn’t have a perfectly serviceable plot. It’s just that it feels like…. Well, that the film doesn’t quite have the same level of heart as the last one, which was also plenty quirky, but seemed to have more focus. Hell, I think the first one, which was 100% dedicated to bloody revenge, had more heart than this one walked away with. Meanwhile this final outing feels more like it’s just going through the horror motions. Like it’s just fabricating yet one more excuse for Belial to go on a grisly, bloody rampage, when he never seemed to really need that much motive to begin with. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fun rampage and I was still entertained by all the quirkiness and the silliness that went along with all the bloodshed. But this one just feels to me that it was focused more on the goofiness of it all. So I can easily see why it ended up being the lowest rated of the trilogy.




The costumes in this are pretty great, honestly.

So, while I was greatly amused by Basket Case 3, I can see why others might not be. While I thought it was plenty fun and had some gem moments and some standout acting, I also acknowledge that the extreme cheesiness seen within isn’t going to be for everyone. Certainly not for people who were staunch fans of the much more serious original. But if you can appreciate some intentional goofiness to go along with your horror, then this one could still be a real treat. It’s not as strong as Basket Case 2, but if you were a fan of that film then you’ll likely still find plenty to enjoy out of this one.

Basket Case 3 is available on a variety of streaming services.

Basket Case 3 is also available on DVD and Bluray.

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