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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: Good Times Video
Salesrank: 47816
Released: May 1, 2001 |
| Our Price: $22.90 |
| Used Price: $8.09 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Strictly for horror buffs with an appetite for gratuitous gore and bloodshed, Dr. Giggles is appropriately titled, since the title character (played by Larry Drake, best known as Benny from TV's L.A. Law) is a psychotic killer who chuckles uncontrollably as he eviscerates his victims. Having escaped from a mental hospital, he returns to the town where he was raised to seek bloody revenge on those responsible for the death of his mad doctor father. His chosen payback method is a lot of unnecessary surgery. But then he takes pity on a teenaged girl who desperately needs a heart transplant. Of course, he's got plenty of involuntary donors! That should tell you enough to know if you'd actually want to watch this movie, which is actually worth a few laughs--or at least a few giggles--if you're into this kind of thing. Drake puts everything he's got into his performance, and you have to admire his effort in the service of a lost cause. --Jeff Shannon
Dr. Giggles Reviews:
Still Good After All These Years!!! 
2009-07-01 - This film was recommended by Sid the Elf as a can't-miss! It had been ages since I've seen it. To be honest I didn't care for it upon its release, but after years of maturity and openess I took another look at it and was quite pleased!
You can pretty much look at a movie and tell what decade it was filmed in with little difficulty. Many films have that "look" or feel that just screams 70s, 80s, 90s. This is one of those that has early 1990 all over it. Not just the clothes or hairstyles, but the overall feel of the movie. If you've seen A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, Terminator 2, Die Hard with a Vengeance, and Hard to Kill (among many others), you might know what I mean.
First of all to really enjoy this movie you MUST give plenty of slack with the storyline. Overall its solid and believable but there were a few points that I questioned. Second you CANNOT be annoyed by the countless cornball lines that Dr. Giggles gives throughout the movie, usually after he's just killed someone (personally I think they enhance the movie), but sometimes before. Other than that I can't see any other reason NOT to like this movie.
It stars Holly Marie Combs long before her Charmed, legendary TV star Cliff De Young (whom you'll recognize only if you seen him), Glenn Quinn, who played Becky's jerk boyfriend on Roseanne, and Darin Heames, who seems to be Hollywood's go-to guy for goofy-looking dorks in various bitparts on TV. And of course, the good Dr. himself, Larry Drake, who's been in countless movies as "that guy!" as well as Darkman, and many cartoon voices.
The special effects are great and the acting is what you expect from horror. Need I say more? There are a few scenes that had me spooked, too. I'd thought there was a sequel to this but don't see how. It's still a fun movie all these years later.
Thanks Sid for recommending another classic!
As far as 90's b horror goes, laughter is the best medicine
2009-06-23 - When it comes to Sid there isn't much better then a fine b horror from the 90's. If you've read any of our reviews in the past you know we have a true affection for the films showcased in this time period. And Dr Giggles is no exception. For years we've known about it but for some reason never took the bull by the horns on this one. Thankfully on-demand, whose supplied us with so many gems, had it available which gave us no choice but to take the plunge.
The small town of Moorehigh is unaware that the wildly insane Dr. Giggles (Larry Drake) has just broken free from a mental institution and is on his way to pay a visit. Years back that very town murdered his equally crazy father who experimented with the townspeople. His dream was to perform the first heart transplant with no anesthesia, but was stopped in his tracks. Motivated by revenge Dr. Giggles shows up and the killings begin, along with his sinister laughs while in the act. His first 2 kills are non other then Doug E Doug & Troy (the white kid with the identity crisis) from the Fear. Yeah awesome! His main goal is to find Jennifer (Holly Marie Combs) who is in need of a heart transplant and perform it himself. The ultimate revenge for his father's twisted legacy. As the bodies pile up Dr Giggles finds his patient but of course is stopped by all 105lbs of her.
This movie simply had everything we look for in a campy 90's b horror. There is no doubt it was the inspiration for the 1996 classic The Dentist, which we also loved. The story was perfect, the acting was hilarious, and the gore was just enough to be fun without going overboard. Not to mention it came out in 1992 along with the immortal action powerhouse Death Ring. Our only regret is that we watched in 17 years after it came out instead of enjoying it in it's hayday. Without question this is one we Would have loved back in the good old days. We're even going to close it out with the Drive In totals.
17 Dead Bodies
94 creppy giggles from the Dr
1 Dead poorly acted Doug E Doug
7 unwanted surgeries
1 The Fear alumni
0 breasts (I know!)
Dr Mario Tetris playing
Bra Saleman Sid Farkus from Seinfeld (2 star sighting)
and one fantastic b horror
A Surprise: 'Dr. Giggles' Is A Funny Guy 
2008-12-17 - This was a surprisingly entertaining B-type film with a lot of good lines by "Dr. Giggles" (Larry Drake).
"Dr. Giggles" is a mad doctor who has this high-pitched giggle when he kills people, which is frequently.It sounds hokey, and it is, but it's done with great tongue-in-cheek humor. Actually, that's what I think this is: a takeoff on grisly horror movies. Drake's Ines, mostly doctor clinches, are very funny and his face is strange enough so that he fits the part.
This movie is well photographed, too and with nice color sand some good camera angles.
Overall, I'd rate this a "sleeper," something much better than anticipated.
Very good slasher pic!
2008-08-25 -
At a mental hospital, a patient nicknamed Dr. Giggles (Larry Drake) because of his giggling whenever he kills someone has escaped. His father was considered a great doctor as now he follows his footsteps by wearing a doctor coat and has a medical kit full of stuff like stomach-pump, scapal, bonesaw, syringes filled with chemicals etc. as he uses them to terrorize a small town's folk to kill them, he also stalks a beautiful young girl with a bad heart as he needs her for a sick experiment.
Well made and funny splatter slasher comedy from Dark Horse productions who would later give us "The Mask", "Sin City" and "Hellboy 1 & 2". The film does offer some cringe-inducing sequences of murder like a probe up some lady's nose then into the brain and a stomach-pump sequence that will gross you out. The acting is decent and the make-up effects are chilling, but there is some dark sick humor presented in the motion picture. Fans of slasher flicks should give this one a try as it's one of the most overlooked and enjoyable horror entries of the 90's.
This DVD does have great picture and sound but there's no trailer or other extras, oh well at least it's back on DVD.
Also recommended: "The New York Ripper", "American Psycho", "The Hills Have Eyes (2006)", "Scream Trilogy", "Saw Series", "Hostel 1 & 2", "The Untold Story", "A Nightmare on Elm Street Saga", "Friday The 13th Series", "Freddy Vs. Jason", "Sleepaway Camp Series", "Halloween Series and 2007 remake", "Maniac (1980)", "Terror Train", "The Devil's Rejects", "House of 1000 Corpses", "Re-Animator", "Candyman", "Misery", "The Shining", "Inside (2007)", and "The Toxic Avenger".
No apple a day will keep this crazy doctor away
2008-06-16 - Remember Larry Drake's Emmy Award-winning portrayal of "Benny," the mentally challenged office worker on L.A. Law? Well, a couple of years before he started winning the hearts of L.A. Law viewers, Larry Drake was busy removing the hearts of the residents of Moorehigh - while they were still alive, no less - as the infamous Dr. Giggles. Now let's just stop for a minute here and talk about this giggling thing. I think all of the maniacal giggling did this movie more harm than good, and I for one would never have released a film with this campy a title. How can you take this movie seriously with a title like Dr. Giggles? It might be different if this were a horror comedy, but it isn't - sure, there are elements of comedy strewn loosely about every so often, but I defy anyone to watch this movie without getting sick and tired of the one-liner overkill that plagues it. I don't have any complaints in the horror department, though, as Dr. Giggles turned out to be a pretty successful slasher film.
Young Evan Rendell always wanted to be a doctor, just like his father. That didn't change just because his father went mad and ended up killing several patients in a futile attempt to save his wife's life. Mrs. Rendell died, Dr. Rendell was killed by a mob, and young Evan disappeared, eventually ending up as a John Doe in a mental institution. As the movie opens, "Dr. Giggles" escapes, not before killing several staff members, and heads toward home to continue his father's work. The old Rendell house, abandoned all these years, gives him access to all the tools of the trade - not to mention a few that he comes up with on his own. His first patients, in the form of dumb teenagers exploring the spooky old house, actually come to him, but his attention focuses on young Jennifer Campbell (a pre-Charmed Holly Marie Combs) when he learns that she has a "broken heart" just like his mother - in Jennifer's case, it's a mitrovalve prolapse. Dr. Giggles is determined to save her, and he certainly has plenty of brand new hearts to choose from by the time he finally gets her under his control.
It's just a bad day all around for poor Jennifer. Her doctor gives her a heart monitor to wear in order to see if she'll need heart surgery to repair her valve; her step-mother is just as annoying as ever; her boyfriend proves to be less than loyal (making for just the kind of excitement she's supposed to avoid) - and now the dangerously schizophrenic son of the man who killed her mother is coming after her, determined to cure her "broken heart" with the most radical of unwanted surgeries.
There's nothing all that scary about this movie, although some might experience a few creeps during a certain morgue scene, and I don't think true gorehounds will find the film excessively gory, either. Still, the body count is most satisfying, all of the victims are killed in the most interesting and unusual of ways, and it's always nice to see a mad killer who cares so much about his work. The writers just go way overboard with the one-liners, really taking something away from an otherwise good ending for this viewer. In the end, the film is just a little bit too gimmicky for its own good - but it's still a pretty darn entertaining slasher film.
