Dr. Giggles (Manny Coto, 1992)

The doctor is out... of his mind!

Sometimes, a kitschy early-90s slasher movies is just what the doctor ordered.

From the very first shot — a distinctly 1992 CG animation of blood cells coursing through veins — Dr. Giggles feels decidedly rooted in its contemporary moment. Add in several recognizable 90s pop culture faces (my personal highlight: Doug E. Doug of Cool Runnings), several shots that could have been ripped straight out of The X-Files, and a maniacal doctor spitting puns on level with those dropped by Schwarzenegger in Batman and Robin, and you’ve got something truly glorious.

So what’s it about? A crazy doctor, yes?

Oh yes! The film opens on Dr. Giggles conducting open heart surgery on a, shall we say, unwilling patient. He lectures on the human anatomy related to the procedure he’s performing as a crowd observe above the operating theatre. And then we realize that this is all taking place in an insane asylum. Dr. Giggles is breaking out and this performance is just the start of his killing spree!

So far, so Halloween, except there’s no Dr. Loomis here to try and put a stop to Dr. Giggles’ murderous rampage, which means the psycho physician is more or less free to roam around sans mask, giving the townsfolk a taste of his unique brand of medicine pretty much unhindered. The killings and the killer one-liners start stacking up quickly.

Meanwhile, it’s the last day of school before the summer, and all the teens are planning a big blow out celebration, which includes a carnival, parking and drinking at the local makeout overlook, and daring each other to go into the abandoned house which used to belong to the town doctor — before he went crazy and started killing people.

The “Dr. Giggles” of this movie is actually the son of a homicidal Dr. Rendell from several decades earlier. The father went nuts as a result of his wife’s fatal heart condition and began slaying his patients as he attempted to find her a new heart. The son was never found (allegedly) and somehow wound up in the sanatorium (where he most definitely belonged) and now wants to pick up where his father left off — both in terms of killing as many “patients” as possible and realizing his heart surgery ambitions.

Enter Jennifer. She’s a high school senior with a heart condition. She’s a natural opponent for Dr. Giggles and, sure enough, their paths eventually converge. You know how these films go. He’s going to save her. By killing.

As the film progresses, the bodies continue to stack up, Jennifer’s boyfriend teams up with a couple of local cops, and a mock hospital (complete with a waiting room) is unearthed beneath the former Dr. Rendell’s decrepit mansion. It’s electrifying.

Folks, hear me when I say that Dr. Giggles is a scream. It’s exactly what an early-90s slasher should be. Brisk, always entertaining, and occasionally nasty in its kills, I loved every minute of this film.

It is a masterpiece of the genre — and I’m not alone in thinking that. Countless 5-start reviews on Letterboxd all bemoan that this movie never spawned a franchise. I don’t entirely disagree, but considering that most sequels have diminishing returns, I’d argue that’s what’s more criminal is that Dr. Giggles is not on every horror fan’s “must watch” list. Put it on yours today. Consider it a prescription.