Man, I can still remember when this film was originally released: I was just finishing up college, and there was a big ol’ cardboard stand-up in the local theater, proclaiming its imminent release. I was never a horror movie aficionado back then, and, frankly, this just sounded like an excruciating viewing experience, preying on all of my own personal medical nightmares, so I decided to take a pass on checking it out.
What a fool I was.
Not that “Dr. Giggles” is in any way a classic, but as a fan of really awful puns and one-liners, I laughed out loud a dozen times during the course of the flick…and probably groaned at least as often. Anyone who’s guilty of snickering when Arnold Schwarzenegger watches a guy get cut in a half and then says, “He had to split,” will love watching a film with a serial-killing doctor who throws out lines like…
“Get ready to take your medicine.”
“Check-out time.”
“Do you feel any discomfort?”
“If you think that’s bad, wait until you get my bill.”
If you’re one of those folks who likes to have a pop culture timeline, “Dr. Giggles” was filmed in the same time frame when Holly Marie Combs was just starting on “Picket Fences,” Glenn Quinn was just getting the hang of playing Becky’s boyfriend, Mark, on “Roseanne,” and Larry Drake was several years into his stint as Benny on “L.A. Law” but was already trying to make sure it wouldn’t be the only role he was remembered for. (He’d already played the villain in “Darkman” two years prior to this.)
The film focuses on Evan Randell (Drake), whose father was the physician of the small, picturesque town of Moorehigh; Dr. Randell’s wife passed away, and he proceeded to remove the hearts from several townsfolk in an attempt to bring her back, but he was caught and stoned to death. (Gotta love that small-town justice, huh?) Young Evan, who’d assisted his father, managed to get away, vanishing into anonymity, but his natural tendency toward being batshit crazy led him to be institutionalized, and as “Dr. Giggles” begins, we’re introduced to Evan, all grown up, in the midst of performing a decidedly unauthorized operation on one of the suits at the asylum where he’s been held. This opening sequence is pretty sweet, actually, and I couldn’t help but think of Arkham Asylum, from the “Batman” comics. (When is someone gonna get around to adapting Grant Morrison’s graphic novel into a film, by the way?)
As you’ve read, there’s a lot of ridiculously silly humor in “Dr. Giggles,” but it works because of Drake’s delivery. There’s really not as much gore as you’d expect, although there are a couple of scenes worth noting, including one where the good doctor operates on himself; certainly the most disturbing scene, however, comes via the flashback sequence where we discover that Evan made it out of his parents’ house because his father sewed him into his mother’s corpse!
I’m mildly surprised that the film ended in such a way that a sequel is unlikely, but you can’t beat the way it does end, with Combs holding up two sharp knives, saying, “Take two and call me in the morning,” and stabbing Evan to death…though not before he gets in the closing line, “Is there a doctor in the house?”
Not anymore! (Ho, ho.)
