Runtime: 95 minutes
Directed by: Manny Coto
Starring: Larry Drake, Holly Marie Combs, Cliff DeYoung, Glenn Quinn, Keith Diamond
From: Largo Entertainment
As silly as you'd expect for a movie called Dr. Giggles. When this was recently put on Shudder-it's also on Prime, as I discovered afterwards-it was a priority for me to view then review. It's not something I have nostalgic love for—except that one night in college (this is over 20 years ago now) me and some pals watched this-someone else chose the film. Sadly, there aren't as many instances as I'd like for there to be of this kind of shared communal experience during that time in my life. There are still some nice memories, such as I mentioned in my review of the Tony Montana Scarface how I first saw the movie (well, the initial hour or so before leaving to go out partying!) in a pal's room.
Regardless, I did not remember too much about Dr. Giggles except that it was rather goofy yet was fine overall. Turns out, my opinion has changed little in 2024. The title character is broadly characterized as schizophrenic; no matter the malady he escapes from the institution and heads back to his old hometown to make a house call and start killing random people-you see, his father was an actual doctor but he went bonkers so I guess mental illness is hereditary there. Lest you think my pun about house calls was corny, wait until you hear most of the medical-related puns that Dr. Giggles himself made throughout. The tone was decidedly not serious, in other words.
By the end the movie becomes especially absurd, but overall I'll say this was fine. Larry Drake in the title role was simply delightful being OOT and giggling more often than The Joker. The gory moments we do get don't necessarily come from the kills, but at least those deaths are appropriate modus operandi for the villain. I was amused by the other teens in the stock teen situations while Holly Marie Combs was likable as a teen who has a reason to be moody-she recently lost her mom and she has a heart condition.
If you need a prescription for a wacky 90's slasher/comedy which actually has more artistic moments than you'd expect (especially in a Hall of Mirrors sequence) and has better lighting than too many modern films, take one Dr. Giggles & call me in the morning.
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