An extremely successful dentist goes off the deep end after he catches his wife cheating on him.An extremely successful dentist goes off the deep end after he catches his wife cheating on him.An extremely successful dentist goes off the deep end after he catches his wife cheating on him.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 4 nominations
Virginya Keehne
- Sarah Andrews
- (as Virginia Keehne)
Aixa Maldonado
- Maria
- (scenes deleted)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe real-life serial killer dentist, Glennon Engleman (1928-1999), was not the inspiration for the story of the film. The idea for the movie came from Mark Amin, and was written by Charles Finch, Stuart Gordon and Dennis Paoli. However, Corbin Bernsen had played a character inspired by Engleman in Beyond Suspicion (1993), which has nothing to do with this movie.
- GoofsThe light equipment can clearly be seen in Dr. Gibbs glasses a few times.
- Quotes
Dr. Alan Feinstone: I am an instrument of perfection and hygiene, the enemy of decay and corruption. A dentist. And I have a lot of work to do.
- Crazy creditsLead Assistant ... Shea "Blood Guy" Clayton.
- Alternate versionsIn order to get a "Not under 18" rating in Germany, the German version was cut by nearly two minutes to tone down the violence in most of the death scenes. The uncut version was later released on DVD unchecked by Laser Paradise; however, due to the "glorification of violence," the movie later got confiscated and outright banned entirely across Germany in 2010. Only in October of 2024 was the banishment lifted. Days after the banishment was lifted, the FSK granted the uncut version of the movie a "Not under 16" rating through re-examination.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Boogeymen: The Killer Compilation (2001)
Featured review
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.
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.
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $700,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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