31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 02 Basket Case 2

 

TITLE-Basket Case 2

SOURCE-Synapse DVD

8 years after the first film we finally got a sequel. Dwayne and his brother survived the last film and a lady that has a house full of freaks helps sneak both of them out of the hospital. 

The rest of the film is mostly the two brothers becoming part of this family of freaks. Belai finding a female that is in the same shape as he is. And Dwayne falling for the young lady that lives there helping her "Aunt". And we got a reporter and PI trying to find the brothers.

Yea this isn't as good as the original film. Matter of fact first time I saw it in the early 90s on Showtime I was mega disappointed. Gone was the scuzzy vibe that first film had. The increase in budget also hindered this sequel in my eyes back then. Now I think it is one of Frank Hellenlotter's better films. 

The highlight of the films is the look of the various freaks. Each who has a talent that makes them stand out as much as their odd appearance. 

This DVD includes two extras. One is a 20+minute piece on the film. Lots of good info about the making of the film. Then we get a short interview with David Emgee. Who plays Moonface in the film. This isn't as good. 

Basket Case 2 gets a B.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 01 Black Swarm

 

TITLE-Black Swarm

SOURCE-Maneater films triple feature dvd pack

Back months ago I started gathering cheap dvds of horror films. Every year I cover 31 horror/Halloween themed films on this blog each October. So I'm always needing stuff to watch for this. Saw for a buck each two Triple packs of these made for SYFY channel CGI creature feature films.

Black Swarm has a lady moving back to her home town. Along with her young daughter. She is gonna be a local cop. All seems ok. Until a local homeless man is found dead from wasp stings. Then we find out there is mutant wasps in the area. Created by Robert Englund. If you get stung by them the Queen Wasp gets control of you.

With that simple plot they managed to fill 90 odd minutes and not make the film feel padded. Decent acting,the guy playing the Ice Cream Man is a stand out. Yea the wasps are CGI but they are small so it being cheap CGI doesn't stand out as much as it normally would in a film of this monetary level. 

This is the third film I've watched off those two Triple feature packs and all three were worth seeing. Not sure if they are worth owning. And most of these Maneater Films movies are on Tubi or Fawesome or another of the FAST services.

Black Swarm feels like the modern version of those 60s creatures on the loose films. Stuff like Monster from Green Hell. But unlike Green Hell,Black Swarm is entertaining from start to finish.