Saturday is Horror Day #12 - The Dentist 2

 The Dentist 2

Dr. Alan Feinstone (Corbin Bernsen), the murderous dentist committed to a mental hospital after committing a number of murders (not to mention tearing out his wife's tongue) has escaped, thanks to an inattentive psychiatrist. Deciding he's done with dentistry, and all that other stuff, Dr. Feinstone becomes Dr. Caine, and settles into the peaceful small town of Paradise, Missouri. But Fate is not done with our good doctor, not yet....

Upon his arrival, Dr. Caine goes to his bank to retrieve his false IDs (obviously he's thought ahead and

planned for this eventuality). He ends up renting a cottage behind the home of his very attractive landlady, Jamie (Jilliam McWhirter). Unfortunately, the doctor's cap falls off his tooth and he is forced to go to the only dentist in town. This dentist is sadly lacking in basic hygiene, to Dr. Caine's dismay, and he has to lecture him on such simple matters as using gloves and sterilizing his instruments. To make matters worse, Dr. Caine has barely left the man's office when the cap falls off! He can't let that stand, and he doesn't.

Now that the only dentist in town is dead, Dr. Caine finds himself pressured to pick up the late dentist's practice, which he is reluctant to do. His romance with Jamie is going well, until he spies her in town with another man, and she seems far too familiar with this man to his taste. All the old feelings come rushing back.

As if this isn't bad enough, there is a private investigator who has been hired by the doctor's ex-wife to find him. She wants payback for what he did to her and her lover. It's only a matter of time until the PI catches up to him. Meanwhile, a woman at the bank is suspicious of the new dentist and starts checking on him.

I actually think I liked the sequel to The Dentist better than the original. Maybe I'm just used to his particular brand of crazy. Or maybe it's just fun to see what he's going to do next.  He is at war with his own nature, wanting to do good but unable to control that little devil inside of him who enjoys inflicting pain. It doesn't help that he moves from LA to smalltown Missouri, and he doesn't really understand the people who live there. (There actually is a Paradise, Missouri, by the way, across the state and close to Kansas City).

There's something I'll never understand about people in horror films, the ones who figure out someone isn't who they claim to be. And the ones who figure out who they actually are (eg crazed dentist/killer). Why in the world would you let that person know you know who they are? That indicates some kind of a death wish, in my book. Personally, I'd just smile, never let them know I know, and get the hell away from them to alert the authorities. But of course that doesn't happen, does it? Look for Clint Howard in a small role in this film.

All in all, not a bad watch. I'll give it a solid 3.5 stars. Wonder if there will be a Dentist 3? Guess we'll have to wait and find out.