"The Dentist II: Brace Yourself" is a lot better than it should've been, but it's not without some problems.
**SPOILERS**
Breaking out of the insane asylum, Dr. Alan Feinstone, (Corbin Bernsen) changes his name, moves to a small town and gets a job with Jeremy Wilkes, (Jim Doucette) an old friend. Getting a place to stay with Jaime Devers, (Jillian McWhirter) also new in town. Offered the job of town's dentist, he overcomes his hallucinations and deranged visions from the past to accept the job. As the hallucinations start to come back, he flies off the handle and begins to torture his patients again, trying to keep it from getting out. When he's finally discovered by several residents of the town, he goes on a rampage to keep it a secret from getting out.
The Good News: This is pretty good and was better than it should've been. The film plays on everybody's fear of the dentist quite effectively, and the dental torture scenes play out with a large amount of dread. Those torture scenes get pretty violent and nasty at times, with unnerving in-the-mouth closeups of teeth being injected and drilled, cockroach-filled mouths, giant tongues and the like. This also benefits from including the trademark nasty scene where he deliberately ties up and tortures a patient in the dentist's chair to reveal the truth by probing an exposed nerve. The fact that this remarkably cruel set-piece is conducted with real gusto and is incredibly disturbing is a great touch, adding even more to the fear of the dentists that this exploits very well. The other great part of the film is the spectacular conclusion, which is highly over-the-top and features plenty of good gore as well. The fact that it's also pretty suspenseful, with some wonderful stalking through a hallway with power tools and some other objects found in the area makes some extra feeling for the scene and it plays out wonderfully. The final resolution isn't anything to dismiss, being a great comedic shot and one that's pretty disturbing when taken into account what had just happened on-screen. It's campy enough to work without it seeming like overkill. The movie also has some other great gore despite the dental torture, and there is some nice deaths. There's a hammer-claw to the back, nails from a nail gun shot into the face, an anesthesia needle stabbed into the ear, a golf club to the head and more, in addition to the great kills through the dental torture. This one wasn't all that bad.
The Bad News: There are some problems with this one. The main one is that the film has a few too many plot-lines going on. There's the revenge story from the first one, the new town dentist angle, the secrecy and then the different love angles that come into play, and it's quite taxing that a little sequel has that many plots to keep track of. It could've thrown a couple of them out and not damaged the film at all. The film also suffers from the fact that the beginning two-thirds are also pretty action-less. Hardly anything of real value happens until the very end, and while there are some nice scenes spread throughout, the fact that the majority of them are restricted until the end allows for the first half to be a chore to sit through. The fact that the film is in essence the exact same as the first one in general overview may be cause for concern among some, as the fact that the film isn't trying anything original may be a hurdle to get over for some out there. Overall, though, the film isn't all that bad.
The Final Verdict: This wasn't all that bad, and was an improvement over the original in the areas where it mattered. There's still some problems with it, but it's watchable, and should at least be given a shot by those who enjoyed the original or those who just want to see a bunch of patients tortured in a dentists chair.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, scenes of severe torture, Nudity and a mild sex scene
**SPOILERS**
Breaking out of the insane asylum, Dr. Alan Feinstone, (Corbin Bernsen) changes his name, moves to a small town and gets a job with Jeremy Wilkes, (Jim Doucette) an old friend. Getting a place to stay with Jaime Devers, (Jillian McWhirter) also new in town. Offered the job of town's dentist, he overcomes his hallucinations and deranged visions from the past to accept the job. As the hallucinations start to come back, he flies off the handle and begins to torture his patients again, trying to keep it from getting out. When he's finally discovered by several residents of the town, he goes on a rampage to keep it a secret from getting out.
The Good News: This is pretty good and was better than it should've been. The film plays on everybody's fear of the dentist quite effectively, and the dental torture scenes play out with a large amount of dread. Those torture scenes get pretty violent and nasty at times, with unnerving in-the-mouth closeups of teeth being injected and drilled, cockroach-filled mouths, giant tongues and the like. This also benefits from including the trademark nasty scene where he deliberately ties up and tortures a patient in the dentist's chair to reveal the truth by probing an exposed nerve. The fact that this remarkably cruel set-piece is conducted with real gusto and is incredibly disturbing is a great touch, adding even more to the fear of the dentists that this exploits very well. The other great part of the film is the spectacular conclusion, which is highly over-the-top and features plenty of good gore as well. The fact that it's also pretty suspenseful, with some wonderful stalking through a hallway with power tools and some other objects found in the area makes some extra feeling for the scene and it plays out wonderfully. The final resolution isn't anything to dismiss, being a great comedic shot and one that's pretty disturbing when taken into account what had just happened on-screen. It's campy enough to work without it seeming like overkill. The movie also has some other great gore despite the dental torture, and there is some nice deaths. There's a hammer-claw to the back, nails from a nail gun shot into the face, an anesthesia needle stabbed into the ear, a golf club to the head and more, in addition to the great kills through the dental torture. This one wasn't all that bad.
The Bad News: There are some problems with this one. The main one is that the film has a few too many plot-lines going on. There's the revenge story from the first one, the new town dentist angle, the secrecy and then the different love angles that come into play, and it's quite taxing that a little sequel has that many plots to keep track of. It could've thrown a couple of them out and not damaged the film at all. The film also suffers from the fact that the beginning two-thirds are also pretty action-less. Hardly anything of real value happens until the very end, and while there are some nice scenes spread throughout, the fact that the majority of them are restricted until the end allows for the first half to be a chore to sit through. The fact that the film is in essence the exact same as the first one in general overview may be cause for concern among some, as the fact that the film isn't trying anything original may be a hurdle to get over for some out there. Overall, though, the film isn't all that bad.
The Final Verdict: This wasn't all that bad, and was an improvement over the original in the areas where it mattered. There's still some problems with it, but it's watchable, and should at least be given a shot by those who enjoyed the original or those who just want to see a bunch of patients tortured in a dentists chair.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, scenes of severe torture, Nudity and a mild sex scene