The Doctor
Is In...sane!
I first saw
Dr. Giggles on TV, one of those early channels in Sweden
One thing
that strikes me when I watched it again was how much money must have been
poured into the production. This is one handsome fucker of a movie. Remember,
this was a four years before Wes Craven's Scream and horror was still very
unpopular, and launching a new franchise, a tongue-in-cheek one, must have been
an odd idea at the time. A movie relying heavy on humour but still had a lot of
quite creepy sequences and seriously violent scene - just like Scream later on.
Together with the movie a two issue long comic book adaption was released, two
different CD's (one with the soundtrack and one with the Brian May score) and a
big marketing campaign all over the US - but the film failed at the box office (according
to Box Office Mojo it took in eight million dollars totally, which I guess was
less than the budget) and fast forgotten.
Which is a
damn pity.
Mostly
because Dr. Giggles is a very well-made and ambitious slasher.
It was
before its time, that's part of the problem. The script, or maybe more the
story, isn't anything special, but the over-the-top witty dialogue, the acting
(especially from Larry Drake as the good doctor) and the gorgeous production
values, from the sets and special effects to the wonderful cinematography (by
Rob Draper, who also shot the boring but nice-looking Halloween 5) is really a
sight to behold. It's not overly gory, but has a couple of excellent scenes and
it's a violent film, make no mistake about that. The morgue-sequence is still
one of the creepiest scenes I've seen in a slasher, and you who have seen the
film will not forget that shocker! It's stuff like that, the pitch-black
comedy, the wonderful performance of Larry Drake and the glossy, almost
advertising-style, look makes it almost a surreal experience.
Dr. Giggles
could have be a very fun franchise and the doctor could have elevated to one of
the best "slashers" out there. It's well worth revisiting, both for
the outrageous early nineties fashion, the interesting characters and the
comedy - but it's Larry Drakes show in the end.
He's
absolutely perfect in the part. And that what makes Dr. Giggles such a
delicious treat to devour.
2 comments:
Love this film. It's funny, well acted and violent. Thank you for reviewing it.
"I first saw Dr. Giggles on TV, one of those early channels in Sweden who only showed feature films (and probably sport, who the hell cares about sport?, something like Filmnet or TV 1000. I recorded it and it's still somewhere down in the basement. I remember watching it a lot during those teenage years, over and over again until I got bored with it, the tapes got buried in cardboard boxes and I went on to find more interesting films."
I have never seen it......not even heard of it.
"Remember, this was a four years before Wes Craven's Scream and horror was still very unpopular, and launching a new franchise, a tongue-in-cheek one, must have been an odd idea at the time."
And a big risk.
"It was before its time, that's part of the problem. The script, or maybe more the story, isn't anything special, but the over-the-top witty dialogue, the acting (especially from Larry Drake as the good doctor) and the gorgeous production values, from the sets and special effects to the wonderful cinematography (by Rob Draper, who also shot the boring but nice-looking Halloween 5) is really a sight to behold."
Dark comedy is difficult to sell to mainstream audiences.
And I suppose Larry Drake may have been the problem too....after L.A. Law (1986–1994) any potential audience may have problems buying him as an dangerous sociopath.
"Dr. Giggles could have be a very fun franchise and the doctor could have elevated to one of the best "slashers" out there."
Well...maybe now they will try...?
Good review and thanks ninja.
Megatron
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