BASKET CASE 2 (1990)

Directed by Frank Henenlotter, Starring: Kevin Van Hentenryck, Annie Ross. Horror, US, 1990, Cert 18.

“I understand your pain, Belial, but ripping the faces off people may not be in your best interest”.

Picking up right where the original left off – with the Bradley Brothers dangling from the neon sign of the Hotel Broslin before plunging to the sidewalk in an apparently fatal impact – it turns out that both survived the fall and are recovering in the city hospital. The subject of tabloid notoriety, they are rescued and taken in by their aunt, Granny Ruth who runs a commune on Staten island for ‘unique individuals’. Nicknamed ‘Dr Freak’ Granny Ruth (the wonderful veteran actress Annie Ross) provides safe haven for a veritable smorgasbord of freaks with her daughter Susan. Love is very much in the air for both brothers – Duane with Susan – with whom he hopes to escape into the sunset with – and Belial, who finds his soul mate in ‘Eve’. But those pesky reporters are hot on the infamous Bradley twin’s heels – and a bloodied showdown is guaranteed.

Made some 8 years after the original – it was always going to be a tough ask for Henenlotter to just pick up the narrative with such a chronological gap. Apart from Duane having an overnight haircut, the film itself is slicker and technically more proficient, but it’s softer edge, particularly the shift in relocating to Staten Island – is jarring if you approach it straight after its grimy predecessor. 

Gabe Bartalos’ creature make-ups are fabulous, and Annie Ross’ Granny Ruth steals the film. The standout scene features a photographer stumbling upon the attic full of ‘unique individuals’ who are lit by the flashes from his camera. Whilst the whole film is clearly a homage to Tod Browning’s FREAKS, this scene in particular conjures up the nightmarish sequence in the thunderstorm when the ‘freaks’ crawl and stalk through the rain and mud whilst periodically lit by bursts of lightning. 

***(OUT OF 5*)

Paul Worts