Dr. Giggles (1992)

Director:

Manny Coto

Writers (WGA):

Manny Coto (written by) and
Graeme Whifler (written by)

Release Date:

23 October 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Sorry...the Doctor is in...sane

Plot:

The psychopathic son of a mass-murdering doctor, escapes from his mental institution to seek revenge on the town where his father was caught...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Heart Transplantation | Serial Killer | Heart | Surgery

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Larry Drake	...	Doctor Evan Rendell
Holly Marie Combs	...	Jennifer Campbell
Cliff De Young	...	Tom Campbell
Glenn Quinn	...	Max Anderson
Keith Diamond	...	Officer Joe Reitz
Richard Bradford	...	Officer Hank Magruder
Michelle Johnson	...	Tamara
John Vickery	...	Dr. Chamberlain
Nancy Fish	...	Elaine Henderson
Sara Melson	...	Coreen
Zoe Trilling	...	Normi
Darin Heames	...	Stu
Deborah Tucker	...	Dianne
Doug E. Doug	...	Trotter
Denise Barnes	...	Leigh
Patrick Cronin	...	Sheriff Harper
Joshua Nielsen	...	Danny Atchley
William Dennis Hunt	...	Evan's Father
Nicholas Mastandrea	...	Young Evan
William Earl Ray	...	Psychiatrist
Danny Perkin	...	Specks
Pieter Dawson	...	Doctor
Todd Tolces	...	Security Guard #1
Mario DePriest	...	Orderly #1
Jerry Counsil	...	Surgeon #1
Mark C. Vincent	...	Surgeon #2
Britt Magnuson	...	Nurse #1
Annie Wanberg	...	Nurse #2
Russ Fast	...	Anesthesiologist
Troy Barron	...	Young Magruder
Marianne Doherty	...	O.R. Nurse
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
J.W. Crawford	...	Carnival Worker (uncredited)
Heather Wakehouse	...	High School Student (uncredited)

Directed by
Manny Coto

Writing credits (WGA)
Manny Coto		(written by) and
Graeme Whifler		(written by)

Produced by
Stuart M. Besser	....	producer
Mike Richardson	....	co-producer
Jack Roe	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Brian May

Cinematography by
Robert Draper

Film Editing by
Debra Neil-Fisher		(as Debra Neil)

Production Design by
Bill Malley

Art Direction by
Alan Locke

Set Decoration by
Cecilia Rodarte		(as C.C. Rodarte)

Costume Design by
Sandra Culotta

Makeup Department
E. Larry Day	....	key makeup artist
Martin 'Vinnie' Hagood	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Jack Roe	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard Espinoza	....	first assistant director (as Richard E. Espinoza)
Mark Lyon	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Philip Mayor	....	storyboard artist

Sound Department
Gregg Barbanell	....	foley artist
Paul B. Clay	....	supervising sound editor (as Paul Clay)
Roberta Doheny	....	sound re-recording mixer
Cameron Frankley	....	sound effects editor
Alan Holly	....	adr mixer
David Jansen	....	sound assistant
Susan Kurtz	....	sound effects editor
Peter Reale	....	sound re-recording mixer
Carin Rogers	....	dialogue editor
Joe Schwartz	....	sound assistant
John Sisti	....	sound editor
Pat Somerset	....	adr editor
Marty Stein	....	dialogue editor (as Martin Stein)
Dean St. John	....	adr recordist
Jim Stuebe	....	sound mixer
Mike Szakmeister	....	dialogue editor
Howard Wilmartin	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Karrie Aubuchon	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Howard Berger	....	special makeup effects supervisor
Gino Crognale	....	key makeup artist: K.N.B. EFX Group
Robert Kurtzman	....	special makeup effects supervisor
Susan Mallon	....	effects coordinator: K.N.B. EFX Group
Gregory Nicotero	....	special makeup effects supervisor
Ron Pipes	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group (as Ron Pipes II)
Timothy Ralston	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group (as Tim Ralston)
David Smith	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Mark Tavares	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group
Melanie Tooker	....	effects crew: K.N.B. EFX Group

Visual Effects by
Leslie Huntley	....	computer imaging executive producer
Damian Klaus	....	computer imaging supervisor
Steve Rein	....	computer imaging supervisor
Gene Warren Jr.	....	computer imaging supervisor

Stunts
Kerrie Cullen	....	stunts
Phil Culotta	....	stunts
Robert Elmore	....	stunts (as Bob Elmore)
Corey Michael Eubanks	....	stunts (as Corey Eubanks)
Bill Hart	....	stunts
Julius LeFlore	....	stunts (as Julius Le Flore)
John Moio	....	stunt coordinator
George P. Wilbur	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Bob Gorelick	....	steadicam operator
Jeff Graham	....	second assistant camera
Joe Ritter	....	steadicam focus
George Santo Pietro	....	dolly grip
Jeffrey P. Soderberg	....	assistant chief lighting technician
Scott Watkins	....	best boy grip

Casting Department
Megann Ratzow	....	casting: Portland

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ann Culotta	....	assistant to costume designer
Christine Richardson	....	set costumer/seamstress

Editorial Department
John Ganem	....	additional editor
Dawn Hoggatt	....	second assistant editor
Karen Whipple	....	first assistant editor
Tim Wilson	....	apprentice editor

Music Department
Bill Abbott	....	music editor
Karyn Rachtman	....	music supervisor
Mary Ramos	....	assistant music supervisor

Transportation Department
Nick Edgerton	....	transportation

Other crew
Cherie Currie	....	adr voice
Terry J. Erdmann	....	unit publicist
Jan Garner	....	production accountant
Joy Harmon	....	adr voice
Marabina Jaimes	....	adr voice
Valerie Mickaelian Kucera	....	production coordinator (as Val Mickaelian Kucera)
Anna Mathias	....	adr voice
Oliver Muirhead	....	adr voice
Chris Pfeifer	....	set production assistant
Jim Piper	....	adr voice
Paula Ratoza	....	animal wrangler
Jacobus Rose	....	production executive
Ron Shipp	....	adr voice
Jay Sloat	....	senior software development engineer
W.K. Stratton	....	adr voice
Heidi Sturdevant	....	script supervisor
Crystal Weaver	....	assistant production coordinator

Production Companies

• Dark Horse Entertainment
• JVC Entertainment
• Largo Entertainment

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1992) (USA) (theatrical)
• CIC Video (1993) (France) (VHS)
• GoodTimes Home Video (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1993) (USA) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Fantasy II Film Effects (visual effects)
• K.N.B. Effects Group (special makeup effects)
• Paul Cary Special Effects

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | Iceland:16 | USA:R (certificate #32082) | France:-12 | Australia:M | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Portland, Oregon, USA

Company:

Dark Horse Entertainment

Trivia:

Body Count: 18

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In Dr. Giggles waiting room full of his victims, the blonde corpse blinks her eyes.

Quotes:

Officer Hank Magruder: You owe me 35 years of sleep you sick son of a bitch.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Lost: S.O.S. (#2.19)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Locust Mind

Everything Including the Kitchen Sink!

I believe every medical/doctor related cliche found its way into this movie. Is there a doctor in the house? Take two and call me in the morning. A house call crack. And the list goes on and on and on and on. Dr. Giggles opens with a doctor/slash real mental patient performing a heart removal in front of a host of crazies. Soon he finds his way back to his old town and house, still intact underneath the facade of decay where his father once practiced medicine but some terrible thing happened. Naturally a group of teenagers out to have fun go in the condemned house at just that time. No big surprise what happens. Larry Drake plays the lead role, and although he is working with rubbish really, I thought his obvious zeal for the part was interesting to say the least. Make no mistake here, Dr. Giggles is a routine-routine slasher film from the late seventies/early eighties vein. A sick individual traumatized from something in his past goes back to the scene of the crime so to speak, where he can exact revenge on all those that had something or nothing to do with him and his tragedy. What separates the film for me a bit is that it has a darkly humorous side - we really are not meant to take anything serious at all - and yet is very mean-spirited with the hyperbolic death rate. Roughly 15-20 people are savagely killed on-screen or off. We have death by blood pressure cuff, death by humongous stainless steel surgical instruments, suffocation from a big bandage(?), poisoning, needle injection, some kind of spinning drill that takes a woman's breath away literally, and so on and on and on and on. For me it was just too much callousness. The ending is also more than far-fetched. It is plum ridiculous! As for the rest of the cast, well, certainly this was not a huge stepping stone to great things to come. Holly Marie Combs; however, did a decent job and has faired relatively well. Some familiar faces minus notable names are thrown in as well.