Belial is back and he is out for revenge! Basket Case 3 continues off right where Basket Case 2 left off. In the second film Belial and Duane got rescued by a family of freaks and Belial finally found the love of his life, a female version of himself. Duane also did fall in love but it ended very tragically. This time around Duane gets in trouble with the locals after talking to a girl and Belial becomes a new father! What could possibly go wrong? With this being a Basket Case movie, alot could!
Review: I honestly think I have seen this chapter of the Basket Case trilogy more than the others. The think I think that appealed to me about this series was the look of the freak family as well as the better looking Belial. Also the humor infused with the horror. It's very much more off-beat from alot of the other films that mix the two genres. The characters are very odd and over the top. Most people I have talked to about this series before seem to not really like the two sequels as much as the original and I think that is mainly due to it being more on the odd side and not as more solid of a horror film as the original. For me that is what I like most about them.
Duane is that much more crazier than he was in the first and he seems to spiral more and more into madness. Surprisingly this time around the character I loved the most was Little Hal who helped to deliver the baby Belials. He is simply hilarious when they show him filming the birth of the babies and he keeps saying stuff each time another one is delivered. It's a scene you must see to get what I mean. This film was of course made when practical special effects reigned and they looked amazing. Everything from the gore to the way the freaks look morbidly beautiful.
The presentation of Basket Case 3 looks awesome on this release, I used to own the older DVD release that was in full frame and not as sharp. This time it's presented in anamorphic widescreen with a fantastic looking picture. The colors are bold and has a very clean image. I really wonder why they did not release this on Blu-ray as well. I think it would of looked amazing on that format. Maybe we will get that release of it sometime in the future. The only downside is that there is only a trailer on this release, I would of loved to of seen either a retrospective on the whole series or even at least a commentary with director Frank Henenlotter or actor Kevin Van Hentenryck. Nonetheless I still am very pleased with this release and I think other fans will be as well. Way to go Synapse!
-Daniel "Damnation" Lee
Director: Frank Henenlotter
Genre: Horror/Comedy
DVD Release Year: 2012
Theatrical Release Year: 1991
Time Length: 90 mins.
Company: Synapse Films
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