Dr. Giggles

{{Infobox film

| name = Dr. Giggles

| image = Dr giggles poster.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| starring = {{Plainlist|

Larry Drake

}}

| director = Manny Coto

| producer = Stuart M. Besser

| writer = {{plainlist|

Manny Coto
Graeme Whifler

}}

| music = Brian May

| cinematography = Robert Draper

| editing = Debra Neil-Fisher

| released = {{Film date|1992|10|23}}

| studio = {{plainlist|

}}

| distributor = Universal Pictures

| runtime = 96 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $7 million{{cite magazine |last1=Kutzera|first1=Dale|last2=Biodrowski|first2=Steve|date=September 1996 |title= Dr. Giggles|url=https://archive.org/details/cinefantastique_1970-2002/Cinefantastique%20Vol%2023%20No%204%20%28Dec%201992%29/page/n19/mode/1up?view=theater|url-status= |magazine=Cinefantastique|location= |publisher= Fourth Castle Micromedia|access-date=February 17, 2023}}

| gross = $8.4 million{{Cite web |url= https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl2907604481/weekend/e |title=Dr. Giggles |website=boxofficemojo.com |access-date= December 29, 2020}}

}}

Dr. Giggles is a 1992 American slasher film directed by Manny Coto, starring Larry Drake as Evan Rendell Jr., the eponymous Dr. Giggles, and Holly Marie Combs as Jennifer Campbell. The film co-stars Cliff DeYoung and Glenn Quinn. It is based on the comic book series of the same name published by Dark Horse Comics. It was released on October 23, 1992.[https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0CE0DA1238F937A15753C1A964958260 The New York Times]

Plot

In the town of Moorehigh in 1957, the patients of Dr. Evan Rendell keep disappearing. The townspeople found out the father and son duo had been ripping out the patients' hearts — in an attempt to resurrect the doctor's dead wife. The townspeople called the police, resulting in Dr. Rendell being shot to death in a police shooting. His son, Evan Jr., disappeared.

In 1992 (thirty-five years later), the adult Evan Jr. (now nicknamed "Dr. Giggles" for his hideous giggle and insatiable obsession to follow in his father's footsteps) escapes from a mental asylum, killing everyone in his path. In Moorehigh, 19-year-old Jennifer Campbell, her boyfriend Max Anderson, and their friends are planning their summer break. Jennifer, already upset by family trouble, is further distressed from having a heart condition and being forced to wear a heart monitor. Dr. Giggles returns to his childhood home, goes through Evan Sr.'s files, and gathers a list of names. He begins stalking and killing several residents, including Jennifer's friends.

After the party, Jennifer becomes fed up with her heart monitor and dumps it in a fish tank. Jennifer's father finds it and leaves to look for her. Dr. Giggles shows up and kills his girlfriend (Jennifer's prospective stepmother). Jennifer returns to the party and sees Max kissing another girl. Distraught, she runs into the house of mirrors. Dr. Giggles notices Jennifer has the same heart condition as his mother and goes after her. He kills the girl Max was kissing, but Jennifer sees him coming and escapes. Officers Magruder and Reitz find her and take her to the police station.

Officer Magruder explains to Reitz how Evan Jr. escaped. He was on guard duty at the morgue housing the bodies of Dr. Rendell and his wife. Investigating a giggle, he witnessed Evan Jr. cutting his way out of his mother's body with a scalpel. He realized that Rendell had cut open his wife's body, stuffed his son in and sewn it shut. Upon being threatened by Evan Jr., Magruder passed out from shock. When he woke up, Rendell's wife's corpse had been re-sewn, and all traces of the event at the morgue had been wiped clean.

Dr. Giggles makes his way to Jennifer's house and attacks her father. Officer Magruder goes to investigate Jennifer's house and finds her father there, lying in a pool of blood. Dr. Giggles mortally wounds Magruder who, recognizing Evan Jr., shoots and wounds him before dying. Reitz arrives soon after, finding his partner dead and Jennifer's father wounded but alive.

Meanwhile, Dr. Giggles returns to his hideout, performing surgery on himself to remove the bullet. He kidnaps Jennifer and tells her his plan to replace her "broken" heart with one he took from her friends. Reitz and Max arrive. While Reitz distracts Dr. Giggles, Max and Jennifer escape. Dr. Giggles kills Reitz, but his father's house explodes and collapses on him.

At the hospital, Jennifer learns that the events of the evening have damaged her heart, requiring immediate surgery. While she is being prepped, Dr. Giggles reappears and cuts a bloody path through the hospital staff. He chases her to a janitor's closet. Jennifer ambushes and finally kills Dr. Giggles with his own instruments. Dr. Giggles breaks the fourth wall, staring at the camera and weakly asking, "Is...there a...doctor in the house?" before he collapses and dies.

Recovering in the hospital, Jennifer is visited by Max and her father.

Cast

{{cast listing|

Holly Marie Combs as Jennifer Campbell
Larry Drake as Dr. Evan Rendell Jr. / Dr. Giggles
Cliff DeYoung as Tom Campbell
Glenn Quinn as Max Anderson
Keith Diamond as Officer Joe Reitz
Richard Bradford as Officer Hank Magruder
Michelle Johnson as Tamara
John Vickery as Dr. Chamberlain
Nancy Fish as Elaine Henderson
Doug E. Doug as Trotter
William Dennis Hunt as Dr. Evan Rendell Sr.

}}

Production

On 11 August 1992, the Daily Variety reported that Largo Entertainment signed an exclusive first-look deal with Dark Horse Comics to develop and produce films based on Dark Horse's franchises. Dr. Giggles was the first film produced as part of this venture.{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59230-DR-GIGGLES?sid=8ca63450-4a2a-4d7e-8015-14935dd7c8ed&sr=13.466872&cp=1&pos=0|website=American Film Institute|access-date=July 2, 2019|title=Dr. Giggles}}

Graeme Whifler's initial script, known under the title Mr. Giggles, was considerably different from the final film.{{cite web|url=https://www.joblo.com/writer-turned-the-original-dr-giggles-script-into-a-different-movie/|title=Writer turned the original Dr. Giggles script into a different movie|work=JoBlo.com|date=November 2, 2018|access-date=August 28, 2024}} According to Whifler, due to the producers strong desire for a horror franchise numerous changes were made on the script all of which Whifler felt resulted in an inferior film. Whifler would later revisit the original script for Mr. Giggles and adapt it himself as writer and director for the 2005 film Neighborhood Watch.

Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers covered the song "Bad Case of Lovin' You" for the soundtrack.{{cite web |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/b-sides/50297/b-sides-we-ve-got-a-bad-case-of-dr-giggles/ |title=B-Sides: We've Got a Bad Case of Dr. Giggles |last= Foywonder |date= December 7, 2013 |website=dreadcentral.com|access-date= February 12, 2019}}

Release

Dr Giggles was the first film distributed by Universal Pictures through its distribution deal with Largo. Universal would handle domestic distribution and release the film in all territories except for Japan and Italy, where the film would be released by the Victor Co. of Japan Ltd. and Penta Films respectively. The film premiered in Los Angeles and New York on 23 October 1992.

The original release was on October 23, 1992 and the re-release on December 12, 2009 at New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles.{{cite web|url=http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/18366|title=BC Brings 'Dr. Giggles' Back To The Big Screen|date=December 12, 2009 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/14816/see-dr-giggles-at-la-s-new-beverly-with-the-good-doctor-himself/|title=See Dr. Giggles at LA's New Beverly with the Good Doctor Himself!|date=December 12, 2009}} Following writing and directing Dr.Giggles, Coto created some more original stories about the character for a then upcoming comic-book series from Dark Horse.{{cite magazine|magazine=GoreZone|issue=25|page=64|first=Kim Howard|last=Johnson|title=Profile: Manny Coto|type=1992 Special}}

=Critical response=

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Dr. Giggles holds an approval rating of 23% based on 31 reviews and an average rating of 3.7/10. Its consensus reads, "Larry Drake's deranged performance as the titular doctor is just about all that distinguishes Dr. Giggles from its slasher brethren."{{cite web |title=Dr. Giggles (1992) – Rotten Tomatoes |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dr_giggles |website=Rotten Tomatoes.com |publisher=Fandango Media |access-date=18 August 2023}} Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.{{cite web |url=https://m.cinemascore.com |title=CinemaScore |work=cinemascore.com}}

Variety called it a "wildly uneven horror film" and said that the film focuses too much on cheap laughs.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/1992/film/reviews/dr-giggles-1200430765/|work=Variety|title=Dr. Giggles|last=Cohn|first=Lawrence|access-date=November 29, 2012|date=October 25, 1992}} Vincent Canby also criticized the script in his review for The New York Times, stating, "The screenplay is stitched together from variations on cliches used by or about the medical community."{{cite web|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0CE0DA1238F937A15753C1A964958260|work=The New York Times|title=Dr. Giggles|access-date=November 29, 2012|date=October 24, 1992|last=Canby|first=Vincent|author-link=Vincent Canby}} The Washington Post wrote, "Manny Coto turns to co-writer Graeme Whifler time and again for punchlines in a desperate attempt to revive a script that begins in critical condition and ends up DOA."{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/drgigglesrharrington_a0ab4c.htm|newspaper=The Washington Post|title='Dr. Giggles'|last=Harrington|first=Richard|date=October 26, 1992|access-date=November 29, 2012}} Sight & Sound wrote that the film's satire "gives way to a few nicely nasty moments" but that the film never tops the visual flair of the opening credits.{{cite journal|title=Video Reviews|volume=3|issue=11|page=59|date=November 1, 1993|journal=Sight & Sound|last1=Kermode|first1=Mark|last2=Dean|first2=Peter|publisher=British Film Institute|location=London}}