Basket Case 2

With its prominent coupling motif, this sleazy romp would have perhaps been better entitled 'Bride of Basket Case'. After surviving a near-fatal fall from a New York tenement building, Duane Bradley (Van Hentenryck) and his twisted brother Belial find sanctuary from prying public eyes in the home of philanthropic granny Ruth (Ross), who presides over a menagerie of mutant misfits. While the brothers discover love is a many-splendoured thing, scheming journalist Marcie Elliot traces them to their new home, causing the normally amiable aberrations to turn nasty. Henenlotter's sequel to his shoestring-budget horror classic is an inconsistent affair which mixes comedy, shock and boredom in roughly equal proportions. Lacking the gritty, grainy quality of its predecessor, Basket Case 2 finds itself overstretched in its ambitious attempts to parody (or perhaps honour) Tod Browning's seminal Freaks, despite the impressive efforts of make-up artist Gabe Bartalos. However, the gratuitous unpleasantry is present, correct, and (unsurprisingly) sexual, and the occasional snappy one-liner is welcome.