Even though Brian Yuzna's 1996 (almost) hit, The Dentist was a pretty good psychopath flick that excellently capitalised on the fact that dentistry is a much feared profession; what we really didn't need was a sequel. It's safe to say that this film is pretty pointless; but to its credit, it's not real bad. Perhaps not even as bad as you might think it will be. This sequel reunites original star Corbin Bernsen with director Brian Yuzna. Sequels are always better when the people involved in the original return; but unfortunately, people from the original aren't the only things making themselves at home in the sequel, as the first film's plot has been re-recruited as well. Just like the first time, we get to witness everyone's favourite dentist degenerate from slightly odd perfectionist to out and out nutcase. Like the first film; his psychosis is triggered off by infidelity, and the only real thing that's different is the dentist's surgery. The fact that he's just escaped from a mental hospital doesn't figure in the plot, as it's not long before Dr Feinstone is dishing out his own form of dental hygiene to the local population of a town called 'Paradise'.
Corbin Bernsen was the main reason why Yuzna's original was any kind of success. His sinister performance fits the character perfectly, and it's hard to imagine anyone else playing this role. His performance here is just about as good as it was in the first film; although it loses plaudits due to the fact that it's basically just a re-run. The scenes of gore are disgusting in that they mostly take place in the mouth, but the way that the film sets up these scenes doesn't work as well as it did in the original, as it's clear that the plot is only moving along so that the doctor can mess someone's mouth up. Yuzna has implemented a sub-plot, which harks back to the original and sees the dentist's long suffering, tongue-less wife hire a private detective to find him. Even this feels like it's just been thrown in to remind the audience of the better original, and although I found this film somewhat fun to watch on the whole; the fact that it's too much like the original never fails to bring it down. I can't really find a good reason to recommend this flick, as even if you really liked the original, it still isn't really worth seeing.
Corbin Bernsen was the main reason why Yuzna's original was any kind of success. His sinister performance fits the character perfectly, and it's hard to imagine anyone else playing this role. His performance here is just about as good as it was in the first film; although it loses plaudits due to the fact that it's basically just a re-run. The scenes of gore are disgusting in that they mostly take place in the mouth, but the way that the film sets up these scenes doesn't work as well as it did in the original, as it's clear that the plot is only moving along so that the doctor can mess someone's mouth up. Yuzna has implemented a sub-plot, which harks back to the original and sees the dentist's long suffering, tongue-less wife hire a private detective to find him. Even this feels like it's just been thrown in to remind the audience of the better original, and although I found this film somewhat fun to watch on the whole; the fact that it's too much like the original never fails to bring it down. I can't really find a good reason to recommend this flick, as even if you really liked the original, it still isn't really worth seeing.