Getting Freaky With It
It's been a few months since he freaked out and having spent those months in a straight jacket in a padded cell Granny Ruth (Annie Ross) lets Duane (Kevin Van Hentenryck) out of his cell. That is when he discovers he is going to become and uncle as when his brother Belial got freaky with one of Granny Ruth's freaks he ended up getting her pregnant. But a freak giving birth is not a normal affair and Granny Ruth, Duane, Belial and all the freaks take their bus to a doctor she knows in the South who can help deliver the what ever it will be. But when the police become aware of the birth of freaks they take the babies leading to Belial going on the rampage.
First things first, imagine Sesame Street but imagined by someone with a penchant for the grotesque. That is what the early scenes made me think of as we have the maternal Granny Ruth, her home full of freaks and Duane looking wide eyed about it all. Then throw in the bus journey with a musical element and this is like Sesame Street on some sort of acid trip. Oh I should say that if you stumble across "Basket Case 3" having not watched the previous two movies watch them first as I honestly believe you need to be acclimatized to the visual wackiness which fills this third movie and trying to watch this as a stand alone movie will probably be dumb founded by it all.
As for what happens well in truth that is kind of a let down as what we end up with Belial on the rampage when his babies are kidnapped and I would have loved something a bit more imaginative. But the journey there is a whole lot of fun thanks mainly to Kevin Van Hentenryck and Annie Ross whose delivery of facial expressions whilst surrounded by the various weird creations is what makes you smile again and again. Plus there are plenty of set piece gags and watching Granny Ruth buying a whole load of condoms and looking for the largest ones possible is simply hilarious.
What this all boils down to is that in many ways "Basket Case 3" is more comical than scary but what a lot of grotesque fun it is. And so for those who enjoyed the wackiness of the "Basket Case" movies the comedy of this third movie will appeal with Kevin Van Hentenryck coming in to his own when it comes to the comedy.
