Corbin Bernsen gives a terrifically intense and riveting performance as Dr. Alan Feinstone, a wealthy and successful Beverly Hills dentist who's obsessed with perfection. When he discovers that his lovely blonde babe trophy wife has been cheating on him and the IRS start hounding him about tax problems, Feinstone cracks under the pressure and goes violently around the bend. Director Brian Yuzna, working from a suitably dark, witty and demented script by Stuart Gordon, Dennis Paoli, and Charles Finch, exposes the seething neurosis and psychosis bubbling underneath the squeaky clean well-manicured surface of respectable affluent rich America with deliciously malicious glee. Moreover, Yuzna further spices up the grisly goings on with a wickedly twisted sense of pitch black gallows humor. Bernsen positively shines as Dr. Feinstone; he expertly projects a truly unnerving underlying creepiness that's right beneath Feinstone's deceptively calm and assured veneer. The supporting cast are likewise excellent: Linda Hoffman as Feinstone's bitchy, unfaithful wife Brooke, Earl Boen as smarmy, meddlesome IRS agent Marvin Goldblum, Molly Hagan as feisty assistant Jessica, Patty Toy as perky assistant Karen, Jan Hoag as jolly office manager Candy, Virginya Keehne as sweet, gawky teenager Sarah, Ken Foree as thorough, no-nonsense Detective Gibbs, Tony Noakes as Gibbs' equally shrewd partner Detective Sunshine, Michael Stadvec as womanizing stud muffin pool cleaner Matt, and Mark Ruffalo as on the make sleazeball Steve Landers. The first-rate make-up f/x are every bit as gory, gross and upsetting as they ought to be. The polished cinematography by Levie Isaaks boasts lots of great crazy tilted camera angles and a few tasty zoom-in close-ups. Alan Howarth's spirited shuddery score also hits the flesh-crawling spot. An enjoyably warped treat.

A dentist (Corbin Bernsen) goes mad when he discovers his wife is cheating on him with the pool boy. Of course, it doesn't help that he already had an unnatural obsession with cleanliness. But he's being tracked by both the IRS and two detectives, including one played by the genre favorite Ken Foree.

This film attracted my attention by being brought to us by the creators of "Re-Animator". Brian Yuzna and Stuart Gordon are a pretty incredible team, and I've thoroughly enjoyed their body of work. Sadly, I think this one falls short of their other projects. Aside from the girl who plays Sarah, the acting is cheesy and over-the-top, the film quality is poor, and the general plot is just weak, with some sort of opera tie-in that doesn't really make sense.

The real strength of this film is in the special effects and makeup. While some of the scenes aren't exactly realistic (such as the molar destruction scene),the effects crew went out of their way to be disgusting and gory, which is what makes this film memorable at all. Many people dislike tooth trauma in horror films, so this is going to leave them feeling very uncomfortable. I don't like teeth being pulled or knocked out with hammers, but the way this film presented it, I found the gore more enjoyable than disturbing.

For the most part, "The Dentist" is a forgettable film and not something you need to see or own. I haven't seen "The Dentist 2" yet, but I suspect that one isn't much better. Perhaps you'd be better off with "Dr. Giggles" or "Novocaine".

An outrageously over-the-top black comedy, this is Brian Yuzna at his absolute best. THE DENTIST is quite simply one of the most wince-inducing films ever made, and also one of the best blends of horror and comedy there is. It might be a little too strange and extreme for some tastes, but there's no denying the originality and spirit prevalent in this film. Written by long-term Yuzna collaborator Stuart Gordon, this film chronicles the mental breakdown of a once-respected man, and has a twist ending which harks back to the one in THE CREEPING FLESH.

This isn't a perfect film by any means, but Yuzna has been making horror films for a long time and he knows exactly how to extract the most from his rather limited budgets. You won't believe that this is a low budget film, as the camera-work, acting, and effects are all pretty good. And then, of course, there's that sick humour that Yuzna is famed for, and he doesn't disappoint here either. Lots of people get killed in lots of different ways, from an unlucky pool cleaner who suffers one of the bloodiest stabbings imaginable, to Earl Boen, a taxman who gets a clamp rammed into his mouth and opened very wide indeed. Close-up scenes showing teeth being extracted, drilled and abused in various ways are very hard to watch and it's frequently tempting to look away.

Corbin Bernsen is excellent as the lead; physically he's very menacing, yet he also hooks us with his performance in a way that we can understand why he does what he does in the film. In Bernsen's eyes, everybody deserves to be killed, and it's not surprising seeing as the rest of the cast is populated by stubborn, pushy, selfish people who really do deserve just what they eventually get. Linda Hoffman goes through an excruciating transformation from a beautiful woman to something much worse, while it's good to see DAWN OF THE DEAD's Ken Foree back on screen again, even if it is only in the wasted role of a detective.

THE DENTIST is a creative, imaginative film which never takes itself too seriously. I mean, how many films have a dentist surgery as their chief location? A low-budget gem of a movie, this is eminently rewatchable and rewarding viewing, and I had a lot of fun with it. One of the most enjoyable films I've seen of the past few years.