Dr. Giggles
I had totally forgotten that I revisited this in 2008. That has been eleven years ago, though! This was part of a Warner Bros set of films that are totally unrelated to each other (The Hand and From Beyond the Grave two others) that I picked up very cheap a few years ago. This is a series of doctor-equipment (emphasis on quip) outrageous kills followed by Drake giggles and blood.**½ / ****.
Still it was colorful and fun. I just went with it.
A lunatic, whose father was once a town doctor who lost his mind removing hearts from local folks for his beloved sickly wife, escapes from an asylum heading for Moorehigh where he plans to exact his revenge. Seeking hearts so that he can finish his father's work, psychopathic "Doc" Evan Rendell, Jr(Larry Drake)goes on a murdering spree setting his sights on Jennifer Campbell(..a pre-Charmed Holly Marie Combs, who was then a supporting actress on the Emmy award winning CBS series Picket Fences). Jennifer is a high school teen with a weak heart, a condition she inherited from her mother who died of the ailment. While killing neighbors living near Jennifer, Rendell removes their hearts planning to transplant one in her! Rendell returns home, planning to practice in his own diabolical way. The town is under siege and doesn't even know it. Innocents standing in his path include Jennifer's father Tom(Cliff De Young, wasted as the sensitive caring father with little to do), boyfriend Max(Glenn Quinn), stepmother Tamara(Michelle Johnson), Moorehigh police officers Joe Reitz(Keith Diamond) & Magruder(Richard Bradford), her heart physician Dr. Chamberlain(John Vickery) and an assortment of high schoolers who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The film is really a zany exercise in cartoonish violence, and even though the lead character and premise are sick, the whole slasher flick is made absolutely tongue-in-cheek. Most of the violence is of the off-screen variety which benefits the weak-hearted(..pun intended)because some of the surgical weapons Rendell uses would be quite ghastly if shown. The film has Rendell delivering zingers after killing each victim, most concerning phrases often used by doctors and physicians(.."The doctor is in", etc). A running gag has this medical bag Rendell carries around which must have no bottom because he keeps pulling an endless amount of medical instruments that he uses as weapons. The medical instruments often contain additional devices he concocted specifically to kill victims in gruesome ways. Director Manny Coto, I don't believe, ever frames him regularly opting to lens him in warped camera angles..I think this works because such a warped character shouldn't be shown in a normal cinematic style. Drake always entertains and looks perfect for the part as a maniac popping up behind victims with his little giggles and crazy eyes. He also delivers his zingers with just the right touch..the film can't be taken seriously if one keeps in mind that the title is even silly. The film will obviously offend those incapable of finding humor in such a macabre story-line as this wacko offing people, extracting their hearts, always popping one-liners, and planning to commit heart surgery to a teen. The more memorable sequences include Rendell as a boy cutting himself from the inside of his mother(!), Jennifer's nightmare of her chest being opened with her heart on display, the icky use of a sphygmomanometer(..high blood pressure meter)wrapped around a victim's neck suffocating him, and the grisly removal of a bullet. If you approach this with the right frame of mind, "Dr. Giggles" might provide belly-laughs, even if you are rolling your eyes at the absurdity of it all. The finale goes a bit overboard after Rendell's house is ignited and Jennifer is taken in for surgery, but it only furthers the point that this film is to be considered a slasher farce. But, golly, doesn't this guy kill a bunch of people! The waiting room inside Rendell's father's house containing his victims has to be seen to be believed.
Still it was colorful and fun. I just went with it.
A lunatic, whose father was once a town doctor who lost his mind removing hearts from local folks for his beloved sickly wife, escapes from an asylum heading for Moorehigh where he plans to exact his revenge. Seeking hearts so that he can finish his father's work, psychopathic "Doc" Evan Rendell, Jr(Larry Drake)goes on a murdering spree setting his sights on Jennifer Campbell(..a pre-Charmed Holly Marie Combs, who was then a supporting actress on the Emmy award winning CBS series Picket Fences). Jennifer is a high school teen with a weak heart, a condition she inherited from her mother who died of the ailment. While killing neighbors living near Jennifer, Rendell removes their hearts planning to transplant one in her! Rendell returns home, planning to practice in his own diabolical way. The town is under siege and doesn't even know it. Innocents standing in his path include Jennifer's father Tom(Cliff De Young, wasted as the sensitive caring father with little to do), boyfriend Max(Glenn Quinn), stepmother Tamara(Michelle Johnson), Moorehigh police officers Joe Reitz(Keith Diamond) & Magruder(Richard Bradford), her heart physician Dr. Chamberlain(John Vickery) and an assortment of high schoolers who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The film is really a zany exercise in cartoonish violence, and even though the lead character and premise are sick, the whole slasher flick is made absolutely tongue-in-cheek. Most of the violence is of the off-screen variety which benefits the weak-hearted(..pun intended)because some of the surgical weapons Rendell uses would be quite ghastly if shown. The film has Rendell delivering zingers after killing each victim, most concerning phrases often used by doctors and physicians(.."The doctor is in", etc). A running gag has this medical bag Rendell carries around which must have no bottom because he keeps pulling an endless amount of medical instruments that he uses as weapons. The medical instruments often contain additional devices he concocted specifically to kill victims in gruesome ways. Director Manny Coto, I don't believe, ever frames him regularly opting to lens him in warped camera angles..I think this works because such a warped character shouldn't be shown in a normal cinematic style. Drake always entertains and looks perfect for the part as a maniac popping up behind victims with his little giggles and crazy eyes. He also delivers his zingers with just the right touch..the film can't be taken seriously if one keeps in mind that the title is even silly. The film will obviously offend those incapable of finding humor in such a macabre story-line as this wacko offing people, extracting their hearts, always popping one-liners, and planning to commit heart surgery to a teen. The more memorable sequences include Rendell as a boy cutting himself from the inside of his mother(!), Jennifer's nightmare of her chest being opened with her heart on display, the icky use of a sphygmomanometer(..high blood pressure meter)wrapped around a victim's neck suffocating him, and the grisly removal of a bullet. If you approach this with the right frame of mind, "Dr. Giggles" might provide belly-laughs, even if you are rolling your eyes at the absurdity of it all. The finale goes a bit overboard after Rendell's house is ignited and Jennifer is taken in for surgery, but it only furthers the point that this film is to be considered a slasher farce. But, golly, doesn't this guy kill a bunch of people! The waiting room inside Rendell's father's house containing his victims has to be seen to be believed.
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