Basket Case 2 Review (1990) Worth Watching?

It's about a house full of mutant freaks who take in Belial and Duane as one of their own, but then get screwed by Belial and Duane (both literally and figuratively).

Basket Case 2 was directed by Frank Henenlotter (who also directed Basket Case and Brain Damage) and stars Kevin Van Hentenryck (from Basket Case 3), Annie Ross (from Witchery) and Jason Evers (from Barracuda and Claws).

Belial is back! But this time he's not alone.

Horror has a habit of making sequels that turn serious horror movies into goofy comedies. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 comes to mind. So does House 2, Silent Night Deadly Night 2 and Bride of Chucky. Hollywood even did it with Gremlins 2. And Frank Henenlotter did it with Basket Case 2.

Basket Case was a tragic tale of brotherly love and jealousy. Basket Case 2 was a circus full of ridiculous side show freaks thrown at you through an outlandish plot. Basically, Duane and Belial wake up in the hospital after falling from the window of the Hotel Broslin and become the obsession of every journalist in the country. Duane's long lost Aunt shows up and helps him escape, taking him to her sprawling mansion where she claims him and Belial will feel at home. Turns out she collects mutants and serves as the matriarch for a loving but freakish family.

The deformed mutants in this movie are so over the top it's absurd. They make Belial almost look normal.

There's "Moon Man" who has a giant crescent moon as a head. There's "Toothy" who has a giant face full of teeth that look more like fanned out swords. Then we have "Mouse Face" who is literally a mouse man, "Worm Man", "Frog Boy", "Platehead", "Braniac" and there's even a guy named "Man with 27 Noses". Oh, and then there's "Eve", Belial's female counterpart and eventual love interest. Yeah, you don't want to think about that one too much.

Basket Case 2 was a blast to watch, but it couldn't have been more different from the first. Everything changed. The atmosphere was clean and modern as opposed to seedy and dingy. Duane and Belial were in the public spotlight instead of hiding in the shadows. The overall vibe was goofy rather than tragic. Even the Belial puppet was different. It was actually unecessarily refined, kind of like Freddy Krueger's mask in the final sequels. You know it's him, but he just doesn't look quite right.

But overall Basket Case 2 was a fun movie, especially if you know what you're getting yourself into if you sit down for this one.