Le Dentiste

THE DENTIST is an uneven, but quite effective little horror comedy that tries (and succeeds) at easy audience manipulation! The universal fear of dental pain will be amplified after just one viewing of this gorefest!

Corbin Bernsen (he of L.A. LAW fame) isn't bad as Dr. Allen Feinstone, a wealthy dentist whose nympho wife is having an affair behind his back with the pool boy. He is obsessed with cleanness and despises "Decay" of all kinds, not just the molar variety, but of the human variety as well. His wife qualifies, and so do many of his obnoxious patients.

After discovering his wife's infidelity, he snaps and goes on a murderous rampage, sinking various dental instruments into victims gums, ripping out teeth with pliers and taking a dental drill to the tongue. The stand-out scene is when he crushes a woman's tooth with a drill in glorious close-up. You will cringe at all this, for sure, since the make-up FX are quite effective....but you will also find yourself laughing through most of the gore.

Since this is a biproduct of some of the twisted minds that brought us RE-ANIMATOR, the script and execution is not without touches of intentional humor. Good supporting cast, also. And terrific to see Ken Foree (Peter from DAWN OF THE DEAD) again, although he's wasted in a lame supporting role as a cop.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Director Brian Yuzna has had an uneven career in the horror genre, creating masterpieces such as "Return of the Living Dead 3" or "Bride of Re-Animator", but at the same time he has done awful movies such as "Faust: Love for the Damned" or the mediocre "Progeny". He is obviously better in the seat of Producer where his work producing Stuart Gordon's films has been superb.

"The Dentist", is one of his lesser works as director, but the low profile it has benefits the film and its lack of pretensions makes it a very enjoyable experience. It tells the story of Dr. Alan Feinstone (played superbly by Corbin Bernsen), a successful dentist who one day discovers that his perfect life is not really as perfect as he thought when he discovers that his beautiful wife (Linda Hoffman)has an affair with the pool boy. This event disturbs his mind and puts him in a killing spree as he takes revenge on the world for being so "filthy".

The premise is very well handled by Yuzna, as he takes us on a ride following Feinstone's day of revenge. What makes this movie different from most slashers is that we are not in the victim's perspective, we follow Feinstone because he is the main character. We witness how he goes from respected professional to psycho murder in a day. Yuzna manages to give the movie the exact amount of suspense but adds a good dose of dark humor that really helps the movie.

Most of the success of the premise is in Bernsen's performance as Feinstone. He can make you feel sympathy and hate towards him at the same time, and the subtle humor his character has is another aspect that aids the film. The rest of the cast is not as good, and I think that their sub par acting hurts the film more than it should. A notable exception is Ken Foree, as the detective trying to catch Feinstone. While his part is quite small, he makes a great job with it.

With a dentist as killer, gory scenes are expected, and Brian Yuzna delivers great SFX in the correct amount. It's good to see that he does not go over-the-top with it as he usually do, and I dare to say that this is a highlight of the film. It has the exact amount of gore that is expected, nothing less and nothing more. Yuzna restrained himself of his common excesses and the result is great.

While this is not among Yuzna's most well-known films, I would say that it is one of his best. Sure, it is not classic material as his masterpieces, but it is a movie that entertains and never gets tiresome or boring. It is a low-budget simple film, but for what it is, I think it rocked. 7/10

This film to me is just another cheesy horror film with the usual stereotypical plot of a normal person gone insane. it is used in horror films to many times. But in this film it's quite enjoyable.though the film is not all that great.with the lack of character development,A bland plot and very poor acting. But the film is saved by great camera shots, a decent pacing and a very memorable performance by Corbin Bernsen.

The film starts with Dr. Alan Feinstone a successful dentist who's got it all until things start going downhill for him. He finds out that his wife is having sex with his pool man and starts to go insane by having thoughts of killing him and her as well. when he gets to work his stress and problems start affecting him at work.he has visions when he does a little boy's teeth and hurts the boy in the process thinking he has rotten teeth.

Later the day he has a plan to get revenge on his wife he does an oral surgery by yanking all of her teeth out her mouth and removes her tongue in the process.The pool boy realize what's going on and is killed in the process and now Dr Fienstone has gone to the other side of insanity and will kill anyone who has rotten teeth or gets in his way.

The plot overall is very flat and dull.This type of plot has been done in so many films if your a fan of horror film you get tired of it.but in this film it fits perfectly but then again you could care less.

As for character development it's very weak.these characters are so flat and dull, by the end of the film whoever or not dies you could care less.The protagonist Dr. Feinstone is the only developed character in the whole film. You understand he's a neat freak and has a short temper and wants things to be done in order, making his character not very likable.But as the film progress the level of insatiny evolves into him from thinking about killing his pool boy and wife it's the anger and revenge he wants from those who can't stand him.In a way you understand what he is going through and you can't blame for going insane.

as for the acting it's very poor.though Corbin Bersen is on top of game as he gives the standout performance as Dr. Feinstone.It's the Range he pulls off in this film and stealing the show from the other actors.to be honest he never breaks character he knows how perfectly portray the insane doctor.with his visions of rotten teeth to his anger moments as he yells at people and showing no remorse of his actions as he overall takes this performance home.as for the rest of the actors I can't say much as everyone gives a bad performance and everyone acts if there reading off the script.

Overall this film is not bad worth renting but not buying.

I really enjoyed Yuzna's "Society," which I view as a rather clever send off to the 80s: A satire of sorts in which an outsider teen chases the unobtainable girl, engages with his wacky friends and confronts a family that is increasingly alien to him. The tropes were John Hughes; but the special effects were Stan Winston: straight out of the animatronics and puppet cabinet of that time. It was very clever (and rather gross!)

"The Dentist" is not that film. There is almost no social commentary; and frankly it plays rather straight forward: Corbin Bernsen's "Alan" is the titular main character who becomes unhinged when his trophy wife takes up with the pool boy. There is a pretense that Alan is obsessed with ridding the world of dirt and decay (get it?!) Thus his wife's actions set loose a screw that has long been barely secured inside of him. But that's pretty thin as plot devices go.

So, original? Certainly not. But the cast is wonderful, and the dark humor make it worth the watch (like "Society," this film includes some running gags and camera work that presage the likes of "Scrubs" and "Malcolm ITM." Look for "Sarah" and the IRS agent.)

So why is "The Dentist" listed in IMdb as straight horror? Got me. It is definitely horror-comedy as far as I am concerned. Yes, it is gory, but a great deal of that is centered on the good doctor lapsing into a psychological rage as he works. Anyone who has ever visited a dentist will cringe.

If you are looking for a comedy type slasher movie forget it, as this is an old style type horror movie with plenty of gore & tension througout. Also like many of these fims it is unintentionally funny, though in all fairness this is not badly made, & the acting is okay, particularly from Bernsen. The main cop & girl with braces are also good. I must admit a few scenes made me wince & look away, but it hasn't put me off going to the dentist.

Not too bad for its type, & worth a look, as long as you don't have a phobia about teeth or dentists.

5/10