Basket Case III

08/25/2015 20:34

Film: Basket Case III: The Progeny

Year: 1991

Director: Frank Henenlotter

Writer: Frank Henenlotter

Starring: Kevin Van Hentenryck, Annie Ross and Gil Roper

 

Review:

This film begins where the last one left off. We see Kevin Van Hentenryck getting ready to make love to Susan, but she stops him due to still being pregnant with a monster that is not ready to come out. Spliced with this is Hentenryck’s twin, Belial, making love to a creature similar to it, Eve. Hentenryck accidently pushes Susan out of the window, killing her. He has snapped and sews Belial back onto his side.

The film then shifts some months into the future. Hentenryck has been kept in a padded room in a straitjacket due to what he has done. Belial was removed some time ago. Annie Ross has decided that he is cured and lets him out, not taking the jacket off though. We learn that Eve is pregnant and they are going on a road trip to Georgia to meet with a doctor she trusts. Belial is also not talking to his brother. They load up a school bus and embark.

We then shift to the sheriff come to a large house; he is played by Gil Roper. The house has a high-tech doorbell. A man comes out, played by Dan Biggers. Roper states that he has brought something for his son. Biggers thanks him and invites him in. We learn that Biggers son likes to invent things, but he is shy. We end up seeing a picture of him as a baby where he has multiple arms. As Roper is leaving, he sees the man on the roof. He waves. We do also learn that Roper knows there is something wrong with Biggers’ son, but he protects him.

The bus arrives and Ross goes into a store. As she shops, she seems to grab anything and everything. She ends up meeting with Roper in the store. He takes a liking to her. During this, Hentenryck tries to escape, but he can’t free himself. He ends up meeting Tina Louise Hilbert. She talks to him and takes a liking to him, but finds him weird. We learn that Roper is her father.

Ross and her group get back on the road and end up at Biggers’ home. They go inside and Biggers goes about prepping to deliver Eve’s baby. We also meet Biggers’ son, played by Jim O’Doherty. It turns out that he is really Ross’ son, but she had to give him up. O’Doherty will be the one that will be delivering the baby as well.

Biggers goes to help, but Belial’s hatred toward the doctor kicks in and he attacks Biggers, nearly ripping his face off. Belial is removed from the room. Hentenryck is also released from his straitjacket and escapes through the window. He ends up at the police station where he runs into Hilbert. He tells her everything.

His plan backfires though. Hilbert gets him locked up and she tells some of the other police officers. They check out to find that he is telling the truth of who he is. They set out for Biggers’ house to collect the reward. We also learn at this time that Hilbert has a secret side to her and she wants to use it on Hentenryck.

There is a party going on for Eve and Belial, even though neither is enjoying it. The cops show up and see what is going on from outside. They sneak into the room where Eve is and find out that she has had a dozen babies. Eve spooks them and they shoot her, killing her. They escape through the window and flee back to the station.

The two cops who took the babies go home, but leave them in the station. Hilbert and the cops still there are playing with them. The thing is Belial shows up. As he starts to kill the police, Hilbert releases Hentenryck hoping he will help them. She ends up being killed in the foray. The problem is the babies are locked up in a cell. Roper shows up and tries to kill Hentenryck and Belial for what happened to his daughter.

Belial is heartbroken, but bent on revenge. Will he get it? Will he get his children back? Will he patch things up with Hentenryck? Can Belial be stopped? Will he punish these cops for they’ve done?

I have to say that this is an interesting ending to the trilogy. The best part of this for me was the ending. I love that they mock a famous talk show host and what they do to his show. I also liked that they got creative with the death scenes in this one, which was one of my gripes from the previous ones. I also thought the machine that is built for Belial was interesting. Not realistic, but interesting. The story is okay, the action not bad as this one is pretty gory.

I do have a lot of issues with this one as it is the worst in the series. First off, there are way too many things that were just unrealistic. The film itself is unrealistic, but I’m willing to look past that. The daughter stripping down in the jail to do some S&M with the prisoner is one thing and it was a turn I was not expecting. Belial’s dream only seemed to be used to show Carla and Carmen Morrell nude. The acting was subpar at best, especially Hentenryck. I have liked him in the rest, but this one overacted horrible and I didn’t like his performance. The death scenes were creative, but fake looking. And the biggest issue I had was how Belial could impregnate Eve when he does not have the necessary parts.

With that said, I would not recommend this film unless you want to watch the Basket Case trilogy. The first is the best and this one just continues the outrageous story that began in the last one. The concept is okay, the story is alright and the acting is subpar. There are some interesting death scenes, but they look fake. There area lot of issues with this film, so I would say you could avoid this one.

 

My Rating: 4 out of 10