What’s in the Basket? Basket Case 2 and 3 Blu-rays from Synapse Films!
Now here’s some overdue news. Basket Case 2 and Basket Case 3: The Progeny are coming to Blu-ray for North American audiences. Now we can all enjoy the ickiest sex scene ever put on film in hi-def.
Ever since Something Weird and Image Entertainment joined forces to give Frank Henenlotter’s 1982 cult classic Basket Case a proper Blu-ray release, fans have been wondering when the early Nineties sequels would get their Blu due. Heck, the UK got a box set of the entire trilogy along with a making-of doc. Americans love Belial, too.
Thanks to Synapse Films, Henenlotter’s underrated 1990 bizarro freakshow sequel, Basket Case 2, and its lesser sequel, Basket Case 3: The Progeny, finally arrive on Blu-ray August 9th.
Basket Case 2 Synopsis:
Duane Bradley and his surgically-separated twin brother, Belial, return in this frightfully gory follow-up to Frank Henenlotter’s original monster movie classic, Basket Case. After surviving a fall from a hospital window, the two brothers become media targets. Duane’s aunt, Granny Ruth (played by world-famous jazz singer Annie Ross), whisks the duo away to a secluded mansion, where other freaks-in-hiding live out their days away from public scrutiny. When a snooping tabloid reporter finds the location of the mutants, Duane and his new family must stand together to keep their freedom a secret. And in all the chaos, Belial might actually find true love!
In addition to get finally getting to behold Henenlotter’s wide assortment of practical effects freaks for the first time in a beautiful high-definition transfer taken from the original 35mm negative, Synapse’s Basket Case 2 disc will also include a small assortment of extras:
• THE MAN IN THE MOON MASK – Interview with “Half Moon” actor David Emge, the man beneath the make-up of the memorably crescent moon-headed freak
• BEYOND THE WICKER – Behind-the-scenes featurette from Special Effects Makeup Artist Gabe Bartalos
• Reversible Cover Art with newly commissioned front piece by Joel Robinson
As for the 1991 follow-up that rounds out the trilogy:
Basket Case 3: The Progeny Synopsis:
He’s back. He’s bad. And he’s a dad! Belial, everyone’s favorite beast-in-a-basket, is back in this sensational third film in the wildly macabre Basket Case horror series.
After being separated again from his conjoined twin brother, Duane (Kevin Van Hentenryck), Belial finds out he’s going to be a deformed daddy! Mrs. Belial (Denise Coop) delivers a litter of bouncing baby monsters, but the blessed event turns into a nightmarish ordeal when the police kidnap the little critters. They should know it’s not safe to anger Belial! Attacking the cops in a climactic, gory rampage, everyone’s favorite mutant mauler stops at nothing to get his newborns back!
Extras only include the following:
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible Cover Art with newly commissioned front piece by Joel Robinson
The lack of extras on Basket Case 3 kind of confirms its status as the black sheep of this family.
Oddly missing from the all extras: Frank Henenlotter himself. That seems especially odd given that if there’s anyone you would want to listen to and sure knows how to tell an entertaining anecdote, it’s the creator of Basket Case himself. Also no sign of the feature-length What’s in the Basket? retrospective documentary that accompanied the UK set release.
The all-region Basket Case sequel Blu-rays are available for pre-order at the Synapse Films website for only $19.99 each.
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