Kudos to Frank Henenlotter for reviving his franchise some eight years after the successful cult hit of the original film, but it's a shame he didn't have better material to work with. BASKET CASE 2 points towards being a successful sequel, featuring as it does a storyline that goes elsewhere instead of copying the first, but sadly come the ending you realise virtually nothing has happened of interest throughout.
The problem with the movie isn't the ingredients, which are more than adequate, but the narrative. Henenlotter introduces a cast of outlandish freaks who are as memorable as a modern-day sideshow, but the trouble is he has no idea what to do with them. They hang around in an attic for much of the production, while the viewer struggles to come to terms with lead Kevin Van Hentenryck's obvious ageing (this movie is set directly in time after the first, although eight years passed between films).
In an attempt to make the narrative interesting some villains are shoehorned into the plot in the form of some unscrupulous reporters, but they're far from intriguing. The latter half of BASKET CASE 2 is particularly stultifying, lifted only by a clever and unexpected twist ending. Hopefully, BASKET CASE 3: THE PROGENY will close Henenlotter's trilogy on a more impressive note.
The problem with the movie isn't the ingredients, which are more than adequate, but the narrative. Henenlotter introduces a cast of outlandish freaks who are as memorable as a modern-day sideshow, but the trouble is he has no idea what to do with them. They hang around in an attic for much of the production, while the viewer struggles to come to terms with lead Kevin Van Hentenryck's obvious ageing (this movie is set directly in time after the first, although eight years passed between films).
In an attempt to make the narrative interesting some villains are shoehorned into the plot in the form of some unscrupulous reporters, but they're far from intriguing. The latter half of BASKET CASE 2 is particularly stultifying, lifted only by a clever and unexpected twist ending. Hopefully, BASKET CASE 3: THE PROGENY will close Henenlotter's trilogy on a more impressive note.