Who knew that when Manny Coto wrote Dr. Giggles, he’d one day be both writing and executive producing the hit Fox drama, 24. That is exactly what happened though his writing style has vastly improved since the days when he was writing about a deranged doctor who had high pitched giggle fits. On September 25, 2007, this film was released in the Twisted Terror Collection Box Set along with five other movies. As a pack, the collection of movies is decent, though there are a few duds in the pack. Dr. Giggles will leave you either warm or cold, making it one of the few films that consumers of this Box Set will not be able to agree on when it comes to its quality and worth.

Release Information:
Dr. Giggles is one of six movies in the Twisted Terror Collection. The other movies include From Beyond the Grave, The Hand, Eyes of a Stranger, Someone’s Watching Me, and Deadly Friend. Dr. Giggles is the latest movie out of all of them to be released, having first made its debut with audiences in 1992. With all of the movies made between the late 70s and early 90s, the quality of the filmmaking appears to be similar. All of them are horror movies and most of them have a lower budget then the Blockbusters Hollywood is used to pumping out. Still, this collection of DVDs has promise.

The Dr. Giggles Plot:
A mental patient orphaned at the age of seven, whom they refer to as Dr. Giggles, escapes from the asylum where he has been staying, leaving a trail of carnage and death along the way. The true identity of Dr. Giggles was unknown so no one could warn the town he once lived in of his return.

Dr. Giggles (Larry Drake) was the son of a doctor who went mad when his wife developed a rare heart defect. The older Doctor Rendell trained his son to be his assistant and together they murdered a slew of people, in an attempt to use their hearts to save his wife and the mother of the boy (Dr. Giggles), whose name was Evan. When they discover the bodies, the doctor is killed, but the boy, at the mere age of 7, managed to escape somehow from the home and vanish into thin air. Now Evan has returned to town as Dr. Giggles, ready to cure the town of its ailments, by killing them. He got the nickname Dr. Giggles because he really believes he is a doctor and once his patients have died, he giggles maniacally in this very funny sounding high pitch. If nothing else, his giggling is contagious.

Along the way, Dr. Giggles discovers Jennifer Campbell (a young Holly Marie Combs), who has a heart defect. Wanting to continue his father’s work, he develops a soft spot for Jennifer and begins a quest to murder people for their hearts so Jennifer can have a new one. Adding to the cast are Jennifer’s father, Tom (Cliff De Young), her boyfriend, Max Anderson (Glenn Quinn), her dad’s either girlfriend or new wife, Tamara (Michelle Johnson) and police officers Joe Reitz (Keith Diamond) and Hank Magruder (Richard Bradford).

Audio & Visual Quality:
The audio quality on Dr. Giggles was fair. I’ve heard better sound, but it wasn’t as bad as Deadly Friend where I had my volume up on 40 just to hear the characters in the movie talk. The movie was transferred at an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 and was transferred to DVD in an anamorphic widescreen format. The sound was transferred in English as Dolby Digital surround sound. Dr. Giggles has English, Spanish, and French subtitles.

Bonus Features:
Dr. Giggles has no bonus features. Please check the reviews of the other DVDs in the Twisted Terror Collection to find out what bonus features are included in this box set.

Bottom Line:
Dr. Giggles is a silly movie. It is going to make you laugh and the performance by Drake is hilarious. However, this is meant to be a horror film, so in that genre it fails. There is no terror in this movie, but it does have humor. The movie was great as a “horror-based” comedy. It works like that and is so cheesy you cannot help but laugh at the premise. If you’re looking to be scared by Dr. Giggles you’re going to be disappointed. If you go into this wanting to see a comedic film, then this will be right up your alley.

Rating:

Technorati Tags: Dr. Giggles, Horror, Twisted Terror Collection, Holly Marie, Combs, Larry Drake, Warner Bros.

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