The Dentist (1996)

Dr. Feinstone has everything, a beautiful wife and a successful career in dentistry; but when he discovers his wife's affair, he realizes that behind every clean, white surface lies the ... See full summary »

Director:

Brian Yuzna

Writers:

Dennis Paoli, Stuart Gordon,

Stars:

Corbin Bernsen, Linda Hoffman, Michael Stadvec

3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Corbin Bernsen	...	Dr. Alan Feinstone
Linda Hoffman	...	Brooke Feinstone
Michael Stadvec	...	Matt
Ken Foree	...	Detective Gibbs
Tony Noakes	...	Detective Sunshine
Molly Hagan	...	Jessica
Patty Toy	...	Karen
Jan Hoag	...	Candy
Virginya Keehne	...	Sarah
Earl Boen	...	Marvin Goldblum
Christa Sauls	...	April Reign
Mark Ruffalo	...	Steve Landers
Lise Simms	...	Paula Roberts
Joanne Baron	...	Mrs. Saunders
Brian McLaughlin	...	Jody

Storyline

Dr. Feinstone has everything, a beautiful wife and a successful career in dentistry; but when he discovers his wife's affair, he realizes that behind every clean, white surface lies the stench of decay. Having gone insane, he enacts cruel dental torture on his patients.

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Plot Keywords:

dentist | tooth | torture | pool boy | dental torture | 

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Taglines:

It's Time For Your Final Appointment

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for graphic violence including scenes of dental torture, sexuality and some language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 October 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

O Dentista

Filming Locations:

North First Street, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Image Organization, Trimark Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shot in only 18 days.

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Goofs

When Dr. Feinstone is struggling to get Sarah, and Mr. Goldblum starts to attack Feinstone, the position of Karen's head changes.

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Quotes

Detective Gibbs: [to Feinstone] You're a dentist, right?
Dr. Alan Feinstone: Yes.
Detective Gibbs: That's a little like a cop.
[smiles]
Detective Gibbs: A necessary evil.

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Crazy Credits

Lead Assistant ... Shea "Blood Guy" Clayton.

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Connections

References Bloodsucking Freaks (1976)

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Soundtracks

"Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore"
by Giacomo Puccini (as G. Puccini)
Performed by Daniela Dessì (as Daniela Dessi)

User Reviews

Fun little flick!

After witnessing his wife (Linda Hoffman) engaging in sexual acts with the pool boy, the already somewhat unstable dentist Dr. Feinstone (Corbin Bernsen) completely snaps which means deep trouble for his patients.

This delightful semi-original and entertaining horror flick from director Brian Yuzna was a welcome change of pace from the usual horror twaddle that was passed out in the late Nineties. Although ‘The Dentist' is intended to be a cheesy, fun little film, Yuzna ensures that the movie delivers the shocks and thrills that many more serious movies attempt to dispense. Despite suffering somewhat from the lack of background on the central characters, and thus allowing events that should have been built up to take place over a couple of days, the movie is intriguing, generally well scripted and well paced which allows the viewer to maintain interest, even during the more ludicrous of moments. ‘The Dentist' suffers, on occasion, from dragging but unlike the much inferior 1998 sequel, there are only sporadic uninteresting moments, and in general the movie follows itself nicely.

Corbin Bernsen was very convincing in the role of the sadistic, deranged and perfectionist Dr. Alan Feinstone. The way Bernsen is able to credibly recite his lines, especially with regards to the foulness and immorality of sex (particularly fellatio), is something short of marvellous. While many actors may have trouble portraying a cleanliness obsessed psycho without it coming off as too cheesy or ridiculous, Bernsen seems to truly fit the personality of the character he attempts to portray and thus makes the film all that more enjoyable. Had ‘The Dentist' not been intended to be a fun, almost comical, horror movie, Bernsen's performance would probably have been much more powerful. Sadly, the rest of the cast (including a pre-fame Mark Ruffalo) failed to put in very good performances and although the movie was not really damaged by this, stronger performances could have added more credibility to the flick.

‘The Dentist' is not a horror film that is meant to be taken seriously but is certainly enjoyable, particularly (I would presume) for fans of cheesy horror. Those who became annoyed at the number of ‘Scream' (1996) clones from the late Nineties may very well find this a refreshing change, as I did. A seldom dull and generally well paced script as well as some proficient direction helps to make ‘The Dentist' one of the more pleasurable cheesy horrors from the 1990's. On top of this we are presented with some particularly grizly and (on the whole) realistic scenes of dental torture, which should keep most gorehounds happy. Far from perfect but far from bad as well, ‘The Dentist' is a flick that is easily worth watching at least once. My rating for ‘The Dentist' – 6.5/10.