Everyone's favourite surgically-separated Siamese-twins, Duane (Kevin Van Hentenryck) and Belial, return for more freakish fun in Basket Case 2, in which the brothers escape from hospital (after their near fatal fall in the first film) and find sanctuary at the home of 'Granny Ruth' (Annie Ross), who runs a haven for the physically deformed. Meanwhile, a reporter working for the gutter press is hoping for a major scoop by tracking down the brothers' whereabouts...<br /><br />Frank Henenlotter's sequel to his demented debut Basket Case once again displays a very unique vision and some incredibly dark humour, but made on a bigger budget, and away from the the original's 42nd Street locale, it lacks the trashiness, sleaziness and general grubbiness that gave the original film much of its charm.<br /><br />Also serving to weaken the film somewhat is the collection of grotesque freaks that reside at Granny Ruth's place, who include a buck-toothed, floppy eared creature, a frog-headed man, a living gargoyle, and one monstrosity with teeth as big as planks; these creations are inventive, but way too silly looking and childish in their mannerisms to be unsettling.<br /><br />Fortunately the positives outweigh the negatives: the cast pitch their performances perfectly, imbuing the film with just the right level of deranged lunacy; there are some inspired touches of twisted humour (gotta love the disabled badge on Granny Ruth's van and Belial's hilarious sex scene); and Henenlotter manages to deliver quite a few effectively macabre moments, my favourite bits being a meeting between Duane and a reporter in an Irish bar that doesn't go as planned for the newsman, a photographer's unexpected encounter with the freaks in Granny Ruth's attic, Duane coming face-to-face with a 'baby' that refuses to be born, and a suitably disturbing finale that sees the psychotic siblings joined together once again.