"You just couldn't have your tooth ache somewhere else could ya." Similar to the first, but still very good.
The Dentist 2 starts in the Los Angeles mental institution that the crazy dentist Dr. Alan Feinstone (Corbin Bernsen, returning from The Dentist (1996) to reprise his role) is currently locked up inside. As he discusses his mental state with Dr. Cussler (Rende Rae Norman) he pulls a weapon out of a wound on his leg, holds it to her throat & makes his escape... Feinstone heads for a small rural town in Missouri called Paradise where he has stashed a load of cash under the name Dr. Lawrence Caine in one of the banks safety deposit boxes. He claims the money & is introduced by the bank manager Jeremy Wilkes (Jeff Doucette) to his attractive niece Jamie Devers (Jillian McWhirter) who offers him the opportunity to rent a small cottage she owns, Feinstone accepts. Shortly after one of Feinstone's caps in his teeth falls out & has to visit the local dentist Dr. Burns (Jim Antonio) who does a less than satisfactory job, in a fit of rage Feinstone kills Burns & makes it look like an accident. Feinstone is offered the opportunity of becoming Paradise's new dentist, he accepts. However he starts to lose his mind again in fits of jealousy over Jamie whom he has fallen in love with, one of the banks employees Bev (Susanne Wright) becomes suspicious & a private eye (Ralph Martin) hired by his tongueless vengeful wife Brooke (Linda Hoffman) discovers his whereabouts as his cosy new existence is threatened & begins to fall apart...Directed by Brian Yuzna The Dentist 2 plays a lot like the original. The script by Richard Dana Smith once again contains infidelity, moral decay, low dental hygiene standards & Feinstone taking his frustrations out on his unlucky patients as he slowly starts to lose his marbles, again. The main difference is that the film takes place in a rural setting rather than a big city, maybe The Dentist 2 is trying to say that decay eventually spreads everywhere? It moves along at a fair pace although the varying story threads do take a while to come together & it doesn't really kick into gear until about the hour mark. Again like the original anyone who is afraid of going to the dentist may want to give this film a miss as it features some cool, but maybe disturbing to some, dental torture scenes as Dr. Feinstone is a man who enjoys his job... The Dentist 2 is more of a character study of the mental breakdown of a man rather than a teenage slasher film that have proved so popular, it's as much a psycho thriller as a horror. The character's are well developed & fleshed out which is unusual in a low budget horror such as this & I have to give it credit for being different & making an effort.
Director Yuzna again delights in forcing the viewer to witness all sorts of dental torture & it's pretty strong stuff, scenes of plaque removers sticking into people's gums, dentist's drills destroying teeth & gums, exposed nerves, cut off tongues, a dream sequence which features a mouth full of crawling cockroaches, teeth mercilessly being pulled out, a hammer in someone's head, a needle stuck in someone's ear & a nasty torture scene when Bev really gets it...
With a budget of about $1,800,000 The Dentist 2 is a very well made film throughout. The special effects are good & the acting is too with Bernsen really getting into the spirit of things, the now silent Linda Hoffman returns & she's still a bit of a babe.
The Dentist 2 is a worthy sequel & a good film although I couldn't help but think it was very similar to the original, which in itself isn't a particularly bad thing. Well worth watching especially if you have a phobia about the dentist, it'll leave mental scars...
score 7/10
poolandrews 30 December 2005
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1250693/35957
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