 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 1990 film basket case 2 and if you're not aware I already did a review for the first basket case the classic basket case It's available on my channel and I do have a playlist created for all the Frank Hennan lotter films I've reviewed that's not complete yet, but I'm working on it slowly also in that first review I said that I would show in this review the German Trilogy Blu-ray box set of the basket case films that I got from Diabolic DVD about a year ago as you can see there It's pretty nice and big It's got all sorts of good stuff and it's it was the last one available in stock Unfortunately when I got it I'm fortunate for me, but not unfortunate for other people So I'm very glad to have that now Let's jump into this stuff Obviously written and directed by Frank Hennan lotter who has done brain damage Frank and Hooker bad biology and then documentaries Hershey Herschel Gordon Lewis the godfather of gore chasing Banksy boiled angels the trial of Mike Diana I do want to check out his documentaries at some point because I am a fan of How he makes film Hennan lotter so obviously Kevin van Hentenrich is back in this film as Dwayne Unfortunately, he's in it without the mullet That is a terrible thing. You don't really realize that until a Good amount into the film because he has his head all bandaged up from the events The end events of the first film where he you know fell as you assumed at that point to his death with Belial And you also thought that he was dead because Belial was holding him by the throat choking him so But anyway, Van Hentenrich is back and it is sad that that signature mullet is not there anymore He looks too different in my opinion without it. He definitely should have kept that. That's one of my big gripes I know it's not a big one. I'm just being kind of funny There was a reported budget of two and a half million dollars for this film That is a crazy increase over the thirty five thousand dollars for the first film You can see where it's spent in this film too. Obviously. There are a lot more I'm gonna call them children in this one because that's how granny Ruth refers to all the People with deformities who are living with her who are like Belial. I'm gonna refer to them as the children They're called many things freaks by other people, but I'm gonna call them the children in this one So obviously there are a lot more of the children in this one than in the first basket case And that's one of first of all that's I'm I'm assuming where a lot of the money went Also making the film look better because film-wise it looks way way better So and it's much larger and broader in scope and then also, you know Like the whole sideshow setup and all that type of stuff and there's there are more people There's more actors added into this as well versus the first one But that that jump in budget from 35,000 to two and a half million is crazy Another thing that's really important that I that I noticed in this film the guy who plays arty the can't the the The reporter the cameraman for the reporter who goes in and ends up getting killed by all of the children in the attic He was looking familiar to me. I'm just like I've seen this guy before somewhere. Why does he look so familiar? So I looked him up in IMDB and he was in the film the mutilator Which I have a review for on my channel, and I'm a big fan of I love the mutilator. It's so fun And that's also known as fall break and actually in IMDB credits. It's in there as fall break under his name So Matt Mittler is his name. I was blown away when I figured out that's who that was. I was like That's so cool. So in basket case and the mutilator Great actor. I mean, you know, I just love it Anyway starting with the ending events of the first film is like I understand that move There are plenty of films out there that do that where it's like This is where we left off Do you remember because you have to think it's been eight years since the first one came out? Well, I don't like it in particular because I feel like people who saw the first one are probably gonna remember what happened at The end of the film. It's not like it's a forgettable ending So I think you could just pick up with them laying on the street instead of going through all the other stuff Another thing to point out kind of tied to that is that there are a lot of portions from the first film that are used in the second film Much like the showing the actual surgery from when the two of them were separated and just a lot of stuff from the back Story of the first basket case or the back story of Dwayne and Belial from the first basket case Now I don't feel like it's needed for two reasons one It was in the first film and if you're seeing the second one You've probably seen the the first one and the other thing being the film quality for the first one is is way Way worse than the film quality for the second one. So it clashes a lot. So I really didn't like that move I also felt like maybe it was a little bit of a filler thing a little time waster Which I didn't particularly like but that that's probably my biggest criticism of the film Immediately you can see the increase in budget and the more expensive looking Belial. That's another aspect of it There's a new newly created Belial in this and you could tell because he looks a bit different. He looks more polished He looks more realistic. He looks more Menacing so I like that. He actually looks a little bit larger too. Is that just me put it in the comments So now Dwayne's link with Belial is taken to the next level If you remember in the first one I talked about how they kind of work out the relationship with Dwayne and Belial And there's this kind of big moment in the first one where you realize that they can talk just through their minds Now it's this next level that they introduce in the beginning of this film where Belial It was actually able to mind control Dwayne and have him do things The main thing being kill that guard and escape from the hospital. So that's kind of a next level now That doesn't get used again in the film, which I then wonder like why was it introduced in the first place? Unless there's a plan for it for the third film But we'll see because when I watch the third one and do a review for it on this channel That will be the first time I see that one. This was the first time I saw the second one. So just know that all the other Children living with granny Ruth look very cartoonish But I actually kind of like that aspect to it it makes it not as much scary or nightmarish, but more fun and One of the great things is there's so many of them and they look so different So it's really cool to like as much as they show them in this and they show them a lot, which I'm very happy about There's just a lot to really look at and take in because there's a lot of detail to all of their being basically and actually one of my favorite scenes is the Scene towards the end where they're having that picnic outside the barbecue outside and you're just seeing how all all of them eat differently For some reason, that's just a lot of fun to me But really any scene where they're showing a lot of these new children is just fun And I think they're they show up again in the third one. Hopefully they do You can tell romance is in the cards for Belial in this because of when he gets introduced to the female version of him I mean you can just see that coming when it's like, oh, she's like you and then just the way they're kind of looking at each other Which by the way, I like the shot of of the camera inside the blanket that she's in looking out at Belial I think that's a really cool shot So yeah The newspaper editor and reporter conversation Highlights the constant desire for media to focus on entertainment no matter what you know if people's lives are involved or not Now this is an issue that's kind of you know, it's been around for a long time and I will say right now I don't feed into this BS where people talk about fake news. The media is terrible They're the enemy of the United States whatever that that's dumb. That's stupid But there there are problems within the media and and those things do need to be addressed You know at one point I worked as a reporter for a local newspaper So I know about how those things are I ran personally up against some issues with my editor About what I should and should not put in stories I wanted to hold extra information out that could ruin people's lives and he said we have we have the ability to do that so But there are other people who aren't like him and who are good people So it's you know, it's a minor thing But it's blown up big time to make that kind of a main part of the story in Basket case too and it works because it makes sense, you know Dwayne and Belial are on the run They're trying to get away They're trying to basically have a new life and they've basically you know They kind of had found it when they found granny Ruth or well granny Ruth found them and Susan found them and You know, it's a place that Belial can live there are others like him. He's he's protected. He's comfortable He has a love interest in everything and then Dwayne starts to kind of question, you know Do I really really feel comfortable here because this is more of like Belial's place in life and not as much of mine You know, maybe there's something else I can do out there Now obviously that doesn't go his way when he tries to you know Have a relationship with Susan because he finds out he can't get away from people like Belial basically unknowingly But we'll come back to that. I'll talk about that a little bit more Lyle Barker the character of Lyle Barker flipping out in this for over the hundred dollars The guy gets a phone call who's like the carnival Barker, which I'm sure is why his name was last name was Barker in this Who has that sideshow? I love his character. His acting was so funny and fun. I love him in it So everything having to do with him is also part of my favorite thing in the film And just the way his sideshow was set up and and the fight scene in there and how he gets killed love it love it I like how Dwayne just assumes that Susan would want to run will run away with him And this is basically after they kind of just met So it's a very presumptive thing for him to be like I love you and you should come with me and we should get out of here I think it's just this thing where like He just recently lost was her name Sharon from the first one. He's still reeling He's still really wanting to get out of having to be around Belial and people like Belial So he sees her she looks normal and he's just like I gotta get out of here all all of a sudden. I'm in love He feels comfort comforted that belows in a better in is in better hands and a better place And that kind of gives them some relief too. He's kind of like, you know, he's in a better situation I've been looking out for him this entire time But now maybe this is this is a situation where he's fine here And there's someone else and other others like him to look out for him and they can look out for each other So I can safely feel like I can move on But that doesn't end up happening does it? Do they really need a rehash of a bunch of stuff from the first film? I already talked about this, but that bears repeating It's a little too much Didn't see that live gargoyle coming hen and lotter knows how to pack the film with wacky stuff I really love that first reveal of the gargoyle like on the rooftop and when Dwayne's kind of walking outside And it starts like making like a laughing noise That's one of my favorite creatures in the in the film very cool But is that one of the I don't know is that one of the children I assume so But it's not with all the other children. It's just kind of odd But looks cool. I started getting psyched for the carnage to come when granny Ruth started rallying her kids in the attic She started talking about you know, we're not gonna take it They're coming for us type stuff and I was just like oh here it comes all the fighting all the killing all the blood Now that said actually a lot of the kill scenes were a little bit of a letdown because I wanted more to it I want a more gore. I want a more viscera Now you get that a little bit more when the news reporter got killed and they like messed up her face So she looked like them Which I thought that was cool and especially I think you know Dwayne had a comment And he's like who's you look like a freak now or who's the freak now something like that And also like the setups the setups for getting people in the situations where they get killed. I like I think they're well done It's fun like you know luring the the cameraman into the house and then also the the editor of the newspaper getting him to that bar and then just having everyone in the bar be the children who then You know make him feel out of place first. It's cool The attack on arty looks kind of cool because of the camera flashing But I would actually rather have seen like stable lighting on that scene to see a better death This kind of rolls in with what I was saying. I wish there were better death scenes in it more gore and viscera I Like the touch that the guy with all the noses has I don't know if anyone noticed but the guy with all the noses on his face He there's one scene that they show of him It's after arty gets killed and there's like literally this the string of snot dripping out of one of the noses So I like that touch The setup of the bar is fun like I was talking about and how Dwayne leads into it by pointing out Who gets seen as a freak in society and that it really just has to do with your surroundings It is situational which is true and that's a good point to the film You know, I know this is a ridiculous just fun film But there are actual points that come through in the film and one of those things is about being accepting and what Happens when you start looking at a certain group of people or a certain person who sticks out as being other as being a freak You kind of drive them to a bad place in in life and it can make them a worse person like blile You know bliles basically the product of being ostracized and called a freak forever and what happens to him He becomes basically feral Although with the new love interest that might change a little bit Bears reiterating the barbecue outside scene is very fun. Love it I want to behind the scenes of how how it was shooting the belial love scene a Documentary on the behind the scenes would be amazing because I cannot imagine that people were taking it that seriously There had to be a lot of snickering laughing and just being like what are we doing because that is such a weird sex scene It's so weird Like I felt a little bit like uncomfortable during it But I also was like laughing. It's a lot of weird feelings during that Just saying Sure didn't see Susan's pregnancy coming when she talks about that and she's like I've been pregnant for six years I was like what it would I mean I figured that there was something going on with her because she said like word like them and all this stuff And with how strongly Dwayne was was coming on to her I kind of had this feeling that he was just going to be lulled into this false sense of oh She's like a normal human being and then something being wrong. So I knew it would be something, but I didn't see that basically like creature the bursts out of her stomach coming and Yeah, when Dwayne experiences that he just Literally just loses it because it's like even if he's trying he can't get away from Belial and You know people like Belial so He just loses it and that's when he goes nuts and he accidentally kills Susan is definitely an accident and then Something awesome like I love love that they went there where they have Dwayne grab Belial Well, he knocks him out first then he grabs him and he sews him back on to him. It's kind of like this He's gone so far off the edge. He's just like fine if I can't get away from him Then we might as well be rejoined at this point It's you know, you know when you've had those times when you just like you get so fed up with something that you make a Decision to do something that when you look back on it You're just like I probably should have calmed down before I did that But you just you're not thinking and you just fly off the handle. That's the Dwayne situation in this for sure And it was cool. I love that scene where like Belial screaming in pain and Dwayne just like maniacally sewing him back to him pretty awesome and The big thing is like all Dwayne wanted in this was some normalcy and he saw that as his opportunity in Susan and then when he realizes that He's subconsciously even going for people who are like Belial. He's just like I just it'll never work I can never be normal. So yeah and I love how Henan lotter used that thing at the end to basically You know turn the tables on this whole thing because the whole time in the first one and a lot of the second one Belial was making Dwayne unhappy and in the end of the second one Dwayne makes Belial unhappy because you know Belial has just formed this relationship with this other woman who is like him He just had sex probably well first time having consensual sex I was gonna say having sex for the first time but the first consensual sex he's probably ever had and then and Then um Dwayne comes in knocks him on the head and then sews him back to him So now Belial's life is being ruined by Dwayne because now Belial can't get rid of Dwayne So I love how the tables got turned like that and I'm very excited to see where the third one goes Based off the title. I'm pretty sure I know because it's called basket case 3 the progeny I'm pretty sure there will be baby Belial's. So yeah There's a point in here about people looking to make money off of the pain of others You got to think about the reporter the editor the sideshow operator All those people kind of looking For that and and there's some history in that actually with you know side shows in in the past Many decades ago where they would use people with deformities or disabilities and have them as these side Sideshow freaks. That's what they called them To make money and and it's it's a history of exploitation with that And that's brought up in this film and how terrible and disgusting, you know something like that is Thankfully, we're in a situation in society where we're Not a hundred percent done with it, but getting past doing that type of stuff. So yeah So anyway, I need to like the first basket case rate this one on two scales the just as a film scale and As a so bad it's good film. So out of five stars with half stars in play for just overall film I'm gonna put this at about a two Two. Yeah, I'll put it into two as a straight-up film how But as a so bad, it's good film. How good is it? I mean I gotta I'm gonna put it into three and a half I thought about putting it at a fort. That's where I put the first basket case for so bad It's good film, but it's not it's a little bit below The first one in my opinion and I think it's because of the story the story is more compelling in the first one It does feel like story kind of treads water a lot in the second one and there's some you know wasted time Especially with dipping into stuff from the first one that we already know So it stalls a little bit But I was close to giving it a four because I like it almost as much, but I'm gonna go with three and a half on that So I would like to hear your opinion put some comments down there. What do you think about basket case to love it? Hate it whatever I assume if you're watching basket case to you watch the first one And that means that you liked the first one enough or found it fun enough to do another one So most people probably won't make negative comments, but I don't know whatever you want to say Anyway, do me a quick favor hit that subscribe button That is your best way to repay me for any of the videos I do if you like even one single video I've done I would really appreciate it if you go ahead and hit the subscribe it takes you a second It is totally painless for you and it can mean a lot for me in the future of my channel because I'm trying to grow And in it, you know it encourages me to keep doing the videos, but I do appreciate you checking this out Oh real quick if you are gonna hit the subscribe hit the notification bell, too Because that way it lets you know whenever I'm putting up new videos or live streaming. So very important Anyway, thanks for checking this out and until next time keep it brutal