SLASHER SATURDAY: Dr. Giggles

Dr. Giggles
Director: Manny Coto
Year 1992

Dr. Giggles is a hysterical slasher flick with enough one liners to make Arnold Schwarzenegger go crazy and enough creative kills to make Jason Voorhees stand up and cheer. The film never takes itself too seriously and that's part of the fun of this wacky flick.

Is there a doctor in the house cause this

guy doesn't know what the fuck he's doing!

The movie starts out with our crazy Dr. Giggles as he attempts to take the heart out of a security guard. You see, he's just escaped out of his room and is running havoc throughout the asylum by releasing his fellow patients and cutting the arms off people and coping feels on nightly nurses. What a guy.

This is exactly what you don't want to see during your surgery.

After the girl notices that the hands aren't that of her regular pervert doctor she screams and Dr. Giggles utters the fantastic line of, "He should have kept his hands to himself." Cheesy but brilliant. In this opening scene we are treated to so many one liners, that it is hard to believe that it's only the first 5 minutes of the movie. Hot damn we're in for a treat!

The snozberries taste like snozberries.

After Dr. Giggles gory romp through the asylum, he decides to travel home to visit his old house which at this time is a real piece of shit. Surprisingly enough the place isn't torn down and all of his neat stuff that he left there is still right where he left it. Like the hidden doctor's office that resides in the basement, fully equipped with even a waiting room so you can sit around and be bored for an hour before Dr. Giggles gets to open you up and play with your organs. How nice.

Dr. Giggles' beautiful turd of a house.

We are then introduced to our main heroine named Jennifer Campbell, played by an innocent Holly Marie Combs. She does her job perfectly and you can really feel the vulnerability in the fact that her character has a frail heart. Her performance here makes it look as if Scream's Neve Campbell drew a great deal from her performance for her portrayal as Sidney Prescott.

Poor girl. Dr. Giggles will fix you up in a jiffy.

Like all good teen slasher movies, you need a great cast of stereotypical shithead kids and this film does not disappoint. Oh and here they come now up Dr. Giggles driveway to scope out his house and cause some shenanigans. We have Doug E. Doug playing Trotter the typical black guy that you know is going to die first, followed by his main squeeze Leigh, played by Denise Barnes, who is sporting a Kid n Play inspired hairdo. I shit you not. Then we have Stu played by surfer dude himself, Darin Heames with his lovely lady Dianne, played by Deborah Tucker. These will soon be the next patients for Dr. Giggles to operate on.

Lets go knock on the walls and see what we find.

Of course as I mentioned above, Doug E. Doug gets it first, pulling one of the hamiest death scenes to ever grace the silver screen. When he bites it, it looks like what I imagine myself to look like when pinching out a brown one. So if that's what he was going for, then you nailed it Mr. Doug.

Doug E. Doug giving it all it's worth. Get out of my ass you demon!

There are some pretty creative shots throughout this film as the director uses many strange angles to express his demented vision of Dr. Giggles as he performs his various torturous examinations. One of the best ones is when Dr. Giggles is using that damn wooden stick that doctors like to use to hold your tongue down. The camera is filming this entire shot from inside the patients mouth so we get a really interesting angle on the procedure and I think it's just brilliant and adds to the weirdness of it all.

Now open up and say AHHHHHHHHH SHIT!!!!

Larry Drake does an amazing job as Dr. Giggles. He performs the shit out of his killer role and he seems born to play the demented part. His giggles are beyond creepy yet are down right hilarious at the same time. What a strange combo to say the least, but he's definitely made something entirely original with this character and I think he nailed it wonderfully.

Dr. Giggles says, Peek-A-Boo you fucks you.

There is also some great imagery provided by director Manny Coto. Frankly that name seems kind of made up, but I looked it up and it's legit. Coto creates some surprisingly stunning images in this otherwise odd slasher movie. A great image that comes to mind, is when Dr. Giggles is standing outside Jennifer's house under a light post and he's staring up into her window. The way he lays out the composition in the frame and how the lighting is just right is just one of the examples of how Manny can make a pleasing image with a side of creepiness.

Dr. Giggles does make house calls.

There is also another memorable scene that has become some what of a legend with my circle of friends. It's the flashback scene where young Dr. Giggles comes crawling out of his mothers belly after they take her down to the morgue. This scene is just crazy as all hell and really jolts up the horror elements of this film, making you forget for a second about all the silly one liners. This scene is amazing and creeps me right out every time. Who ever the kid is that plays the role of Jr. Giggles is OK in my book.

Earlier in the film he contributes to one of the funniest scenes in the entire flick. His mother has just died and his dad is out of his god damn mind giggling up a storm. Junior hears the giggling and starts to join along with his crazy dad. The last giggle that utters out of juniors mouth is one of the funniest giggles in giggle history. My one friend described it as the sound he would make if someone tickled his ass. His words not mine, but it's so true. This scene will go down in history among my friends.

Go take a bath you little shit, and stop giggling.

Like all good slashers, the bodies start to pile up and what does our good doctor do but collect all the bodies together and put them on display in his waiting room of horrors. It's a fun way to carry on the tradition of storing your bodies in various places like how so many slasher killers do. I enjoyed the scene where Jennifer and her boyfriend see all of their friends as they look bored as hell waiting for their turn at surgery. It's a great macabre like moment.

Damn, and you thought your doctor's office was bad.

We are given a great scene with Dr. Giggles attempting to operate on Jennifer and then being fouled up by that pesky rookie officer who wouldn't stop poking around in the doctor's business. They tussle for a long while and through all of the chaos, someone ends up puncturing one of the gas tanks and the whole place starts to act like Bon Jovi by going down in a blaze of glory.

A face only a mother would love.

We are also treated to a resurrection of sorts as our Dr. Giggles just won't stay dead. He shows up for one last surprise visit at Jennifer's legit operation. He dispatches the real doctors with ease and attempts to perform the heart surgery himself. Well, Jennifer is having nothing of that and she lures him into a storage closet where she shocks the bastard to death. A great ending for a highly entertaining movie that never stops giving you something to giggle about.

It's shocking how much doctor's are charging nowadays.

Tee Hee Hee. And yes I hate myself for making that stupid joke.

All in all, Dr. Giggles is just like the title makes it sound. It's a fun romp through a cartoon like slasher that never lets up on the funny lines but delivers good solid and entertaining kills. If you're having a bunch of friends over and they love to laugh, then put this bad boy in the player and sit back and relax. There's nothing better then viewing a movie that has a sense of humor and knows that they're simply making a film to entertain. That is what this film does so well and I highly recommend it to anyone who has ever gotten the giggles and lived to tell about it.

4 out of 5 stars    A Silly Film With a Tongue and Cheek Edge and Kills to Match.