Basket Case 3: The Progeny
Basket Case 3: The Progeny is a 1991 American horror comedy film written and directed by Frank Henenlotter. It is the third and final installment of the Basket Case series. It was released on DVD by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in 2004. Synapse Films released a new DVD on October 9, 2012. Troma Entertainment released the film on its streaming service Troma Now! on October 1, 2021.
Plot
After crudely trying to sew his monstrous former conjoined twin Belial back onto his side at the end of the previous film, Duane Bradley is reseparated from Belial and put in a straitjacket and padded cell in Granny Ruth's haven for "unique" individuals.After several months of captivity, Duane is released by Granny Ruth, who is preparing to take everyone on a road trip to the home of her ex-husband, Doctor Hal Rockwell. He will help in giving birth to Belial's equally misshapen girlfriend Eve's babies. Before leaving for the trip, Granny Ruth sternly tells Duane to stay away from Belial, who has stopped speaking to Duane telepathically after Duane's attempt to put them back together.
While traveling via bus to Hal's house in Peachtree County, the group stops at a drug store, where Granny Ruth meets local sheriff Andrew Griffin while Duane, attempting to wriggle out a bus window, meets the sheriff's daughter Opal, whom he tries to convince to help Belial and him escape. Before Duane can talk to Opal any further, Granny Ruth returns, boards the bus, and heads back on track to Hal's house, having sweet-talked Sheriff Griffin into letting her leave despite the bus being illegally parked.
Eventually reaching Hal's home, Duane escapes out a window after Granny Ruth decides to give him a chance and removes his straitjacket; as Duane is imprisoned by Opal and several officers in the local jail, Eve prepares to give birth, which is complicated when Belial mauls Hal, the sight of him in surgical attire causing him to remember his original separation from Duane. With Hal incapacitated, Belial is drugged to calm him down, and the birth of Eve and his 12 children is overseen by Little Hal, the multiarmed and blob-like prodigy son of Hal and Granny Ruth. Shortly after Eve and Belial's children are born, Deputies Bailey and Baxter break into the Rockwell house, having realized a million-dollar reward has been offered for the capture of both Duane and Belial. While the freaks party, Bailey and Baxter find the sleeping babies, and mistaking the groggy Eve for Belial, shoot and kill her before fleeing with the babies when the freaks come after them.
At the police station, Sheriff Griffin finds his daughter in the midst of trying to seduce Duane in dominatrix attire and sends her away, shortly before Bailey and Baxter arrive with the babies. Griffin sends Bailey and Baxter back to their homes and goes off to see what is going on at the Rockwell residence, leaving Officers Brennan, Banner, and Brody in charge of the station. Breaking into the Rockwell house, Sheriff Griffin finds Granny Ruth and the freaks in the midst of mourning the dead Eve, and the sheriff, disturbed by the sight of the freaks and Little Hal, hurries back to the station, which Belial had broken into. As Belial attacks Brennan, Banner, and Brody, Opal releases Duane from his cell, hoping he can stop Belial. Belial kills Brennan by crushing his throat and rips Banner's head off before trying to maul Brody, who accidentally blasts Opal with his shotgun prior to having his neck snapped by Belial. Putting Belial in his basket, Duane runs from the station just as Sheriff Griffin appears and opens fire, injuring Belial. Wanting to help Belial reclaim his babies and take revenge on the remaining police, Duane makes up with Belial and has Little Hal construct a robotic exoskeleton for him, which Belial uses to butcher Bailey and Baxter.
At Eve's funeral, Granny Ruth rallies the grieving freaks, and they all travel to the police station, where Sheriff Griffin, grieving over his dead daughter, offers them a deal: Belial for the babies. Granny Ruth agrees to the sheriff's offer and tells him to show up at an abandoned factory on the outskirts of town for the trade; after the meeting at the station, Granny Ruth and the freaks ransack a fast-food restaurant, scaring away all the customers, much to the chagrin of the staff.
Arriving at the factory with the babies and a shotgun for protection, Sheriff Griffin is ambushed by Belial and the two fight; Belial has the upper hand due to his exoskeleton. After seemingly killing Sheriff Griffin with a blow to the head from his mechanical claw, Belial goes to retrieve his children, but the recovered sheriff ambushes and trips him. Flailing about in his armor, Belial scores a hit against Sheriff Griffin, who is swarmed and killed by the babies when he falls into their cradle.
With the babies reclaimed, Granny Ruth, Duane, Belial, and the freaks attack a talk show entitled Renaldo; Belial mauls the titular host. Speaking into the camera, Granny Ruth tells the world that the freaks will no longer hide in the shadows and will fight back if oppressed. She finishes her speech by telling everyone to have a nice day.
Cast
- Kevin Van Hentenryck as Duane Bradley and Belial Bradley
- Annie Ross as Granny Ruth
- Gil Roper as Sheriff Griffith
- Tina Louise Hilbert as Opal Griffith
- Dan Biggers as Uncle Hal
- Jim O'Doherty as Hal "Little Hal"
- Jackson Faw as Bailey
- Jim Grimshaw as Baxter
- Carla Morrell as Twin #1
- Carmen Morrell as Twin #2
- David Milford as Brody
- Tim Ware as Brennan
- Jerry G. White as Banner
- Beverly Bonner as Fast Food Manager
- Jeff Winter as Renaldo
- Berl Boykin as David
- Denise Coop as Eve
- James Derrick as Basil
- Donna Hall as Arthur "Huge Arthur"
- Dean Hines as "Mouse Face"
- Larry Hurd as "Twister"
- Cedric Maurice as Cedric
- Diane Oxford and Pearl
- Wendy Parham as "Brainiac"
- Pierre Perea as Simon
- Fernando Perez-Lee as "Half Moon"
- Bunny Phipps as Mackerel
- Heather Place as Ellice
- Marty Polak as "Toothy"
- Charles Portney as "Platehead"
- James Scott as Frederick
- William J. Scully as Leon
- Rick Smailes as Man With 27 Noses
- Dominic Marcus as Belial Bradley and Unique Individuals
- Regina Stewart as Eve and Belial's Babies
- Heather Rattray as Susan Smoeller
- Richard Pierce as Mr. Bradley
- Diana Browne as Dr. Judith Kutter
- Bill Freeman as Dr. Julius Lifflander
- Lloyd Pace as Dr. Harold Needleman
- Sean McCabe as Young Duane
- Tim Kearns as Sam Umbacho
Production
Development
During the filming of Basket Case 2 and Frankenhooker, producer James Glickenhaus of Shapiro-Glickenhaus Entertainment requested a third installment in the Basket Case series. Writer-director Frank Henenlotter initially agreed only if he could also make Voodoo Doll, a film that he had written. Voodoo Doll would remain unproduced due to financial issues. Henenlotter admitted that he did not have a proper idea for a story for the film, and just ad-libbed much of the film on the spot. He described the production as a "disaster", and would apologize to co-writer Robert Martin for the quality of the scenes that he delivered. The film was originally titled Basket Case 3: The New Generation, but was changed to Basket Case 3: The Progeny.Following the film's production and release, Henenlotter tried to get other projects made. He failed to find investors, who expressed interest in doing another sequel to Basket Case. Henenlotter took a hiatus from filmmaking until his return with Bad Biology in 2008.