Filthy Review - 'Basket Case 3: The Progeny'

Basket Case 3: The Progeny (1992)

Review by Jude Felton

Timing, as they say, is everything, and in the case of this release of Basket Case 3 it couldn’t be truer. At just about the same time that it was announced that Synapse would be releasing Basket Case 3: The Progeny on DVD, to follow up their 2007 release of Basket Case 2, news came in that Second Sight Films in the UK would be releasing the Basket Case trilogy on DVD and Blu-ray. Who would have known? Sometimes movie releases are like buses; you wait ages for one, then two come along at the same time!

Back to the (Basket) case in hand though and Synapse’s release of this DVD, and I was eager to see how it looked, and how it shaped up after all these years. Now, I have not seen the third movie in many years. The first one I did watch again a couple of years back, so I was eager to revisit Frank Henenlotter’s second sequel, which continues the misadventures of Duane and his diminutive brother Belial.

Batshit bloody crazy! I could, and really should, end my review right there. Basket Case 3 really is two inmates short of an asylum, and a bloody joy it is to watch. Duane’s off his rocker, Belial, the horny little devil, is expecting babies (the birth scene is hysterical) and the freaks are all on display, along with Granny Ruth. If the first film was a dark and gritty little horror film, then this third film is a full on bloated horror comedy that could only have been made in the 1990’s.

It’s a sick and twisted beast of a film that any fan of entertaining horror should just lap up. Fuck, I’m not even going to talk about the damned plot, aside from what I have already mentioned. Why the hell should I? Basket Case 3 is a damned riot! Yeah, it might have shifted tone dramatically from the first film, so what? What did we want, just another rehash like so many sequels are? Hell no.

Now, whilst Basket Case 3 might lean heavily towards comedy, it is still a horror film and the blood flows freely here my friends. There’s plenty of blood and guts to keep the gorehounds happy, and when you throw the humor into the mix it only gets more outrageous. Of course I want to see Belial and his missus humping in their crib! Why in the good name of brain damage would I not want to see this? I want to see shocking and outrageous imagery. If I didn’t I would be down the local multiplex watching whatever PG rated dross is playing there. Fuck no brothers and sisters, gimme more of this right now!

Watching this took me back to its original release, when its predecessor, Basket Case 2, was plastered on the cover of Gorezone magazine (the US mag, not the shitty English one). I’ll always look back at the horror flicks of the 80’s and 90’s fondly, because that’s when I got into them; rose-tinted glasses and all that. Watching Basket Case 3 again though reminded me that films like this are all too rarely made now. The amount of prosthetics in this movie would give a film studio a hernia, which means it would all be CGI and that would not be good.

This DVD release also looks very good indeed. Synapse always does a good job with their movies, whether they are on DVD or Blu-ray, and this one is definitely up there. Honestly, the picture is freaking great; it’s clean, crisp and just oozes with color. Quite why this didn’t receive a Blu-ray release as well, from Synapse, I do not know, but on the strength of this DVD it is no great loss.

I shall just end this review by saying that Basket Case 3 is damned good fun and this release is well worth your hard-earned cash. I suggest grabbing yourself a copy, even if you are planning on picking up the trilogy release from across the Pond.

Basket Case 3: The Progeny is released on DVD by Synapse Films on October 9th.

The stills used in this review are NOT taken from this DVD release, and are only used to give you a taste of the movie.