The Basket Case series
05-21-2009, 10:51 PM
I just finished watching Basket Case 2, an effective candy-cane bridge between the grungy part 1 and just plain freaky part 3... I must say I APPROVE of all three films, it would be next-to-impossible to pick a favorite and put them in order.
BASKET CASE concerns the Bradley twins: The naive Duane, and the feral Belial, Duane's deformed miniature siamese twin who is out to kill the doctors who seperated him from Duane as though he were a tumor... For the majority of the film, they hide out in a hotel, until they find out where their victims live and hunt them down.
I hear a lot of talk about B.C. being one of the sickest films ever released... That doesn't quite click with me, despite "what happens" near the film's end and all the gore that precedes it, there is a benign quality to Basket Case... The film's low-budget isn't well used enough to be brilliant nor badly used enough to be funny, to me, it simply makes the film enthralling and approachable. It was a stroke of inspiration on the director, Frank Henenlotter's part to make this film, and I thank God that he did!
BASKET CASE 2 continues where the first one left off: Duane and Belial hide out with a friend of a relative whilst dodging some very mean tabloid reporters. You can really feel both sympathy and fear from not only the main characters as they hide out, and for the "antagonists" as they get killed...
Although it, like many other b-film sequels, doesn't engrossingly build off the original to a great point, it does manage to do it better than most. You can sense a real bit of character development from Duane and Belial, as well as from their helper "Granny" Ruth as they get to know each other. All the "unique individuals" sharing a house with Ruth are fun to watch, as are the prying reporters and their good share of hi-larious quirks. Surprisingly, the direction is one of the best things about it, some parts convery a rather "epic" feel, and the use of colors tends to resemble Argento's at times. IMO this movie is a testament to giving low-budget "hack" directors a budget and a chance; Get Henenlotter and Peter Jackson in a room together: they could go 10 rounds
BASKET CASE 3 has Ruth and her band go to Georgia on vacation in order to celebrate Duane and Belial achieving their own personal "milestones"... Unfortunately, on the way the southern law expresses the cliche intolerance they often do, which finally pushes the "unique individuals" over the edge.
Despite the rather random plot, and... randomness in general, BC3 actually puts a rather satisfying cap on all the main character arcs. BC3 is silly, very silly, almost too silly to take seriously after the more dramatic part 2, however, if you dig as a true fan would you can see all our characters come together, reconcile, and embrace their utter oddness... The end leaves us open for another sequel/spinoff, but honestly, you could also simply imagine everyone lived happily ever after, despite previous tragedy
I dunno if there are any other fans here, but even if not I hope I;m introducing someone new to a wonderfully screwed-up series XD , and yes, despite my rather "straight" analysis, this series is amazingly screwed up and quite creatively bloody at times... As if you needed any more reason to watch
![[Image: basketcase.jpg]](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tbbBo5gDRlg/ScDFUY2nYaI/AAAAAAAAAgw/ezgrTiGR9JY/s400/basketcase.jpg)
BASKET CASE concerns the Bradley twins: The naive Duane, and the feral Belial, Duane's deformed miniature siamese twin who is out to kill the doctors who seperated him from Duane as though he were a tumor... For the majority of the film, they hide out in a hotel, until they find out where their victims live and hunt them down.
I hear a lot of talk about B.C. being one of the sickest films ever released... That doesn't quite click with me, despite "what happens" near the film's end and all the gore that precedes it, there is a benign quality to Basket Case... The film's low-budget isn't well used enough to be brilliant nor badly used enough to be funny, to me, it simply makes the film enthralling and approachable. It was a stroke of inspiration on the director, Frank Henenlotter's part to make this film, and I thank God that he did!
BASKET CASE 2 continues where the first one left off: Duane and Belial hide out with a friend of a relative whilst dodging some very mean tabloid reporters. You can really feel both sympathy and fear from not only the main characters as they hide out, and for the "antagonists" as they get killed...
Although it, like many other b-film sequels, doesn't engrossingly build off the original to a great point, it does manage to do it better than most. You can sense a real bit of character development from Duane and Belial, as well as from their helper "Granny" Ruth as they get to know each other. All the "unique individuals" sharing a house with Ruth are fun to watch, as are the prying reporters and their good share of hi-larious quirks. Surprisingly, the direction is one of the best things about it, some parts convery a rather "epic" feel, and the use of colors tends to resemble Argento's at times. IMO this movie is a testament to giving low-budget "hack" directors a budget and a chance; Get Henenlotter and Peter Jackson in a room together: they could go 10 rounds
BASKET CASE 3 has Ruth and her band go to Georgia on vacation in order to celebrate Duane and Belial achieving their own personal "milestones"... Unfortunately, on the way the southern law expresses the cliche intolerance they often do, which finally pushes the "unique individuals" over the edge.
Despite the rather random plot, and... randomness in general, BC3 actually puts a rather satisfying cap on all the main character arcs. BC3 is silly, very silly, almost too silly to take seriously after the more dramatic part 2, however, if you dig as a true fan would you can see all our characters come together, reconcile, and embrace their utter oddness... The end leaves us open for another sequel/spinoff, but honestly, you could also simply imagine everyone lived happily ever after, despite previous tragedy
I dunno if there are any other fans here, but even if not I hope I;m introducing someone new to a wonderfully screwed-up series XD , and yes, despite my rather "straight" analysis, this series is amazingly screwed up and quite creatively bloody at times... As if you needed any more reason to watch
âThe Fright Night remake is a film which taps into the audienceâs deepest rooted fears, such as those of vampires throwing motorcycles at them. I dread the thought of a vampire throwing a refrigerator or a deskjet printer or... Iâd better stop before I give myself nightmaresâ
![[-]](http://talkhorror.com/boards/themes/dim/collapse.png)
![[Image: 97166485v11_480x480_Front.jpg]](http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k293/dabytch_01/97166485v11_480x480_Front.jpg)
