The Dentist (1996)

Wissenswertes

The Dentist is a 1996 American slasher film directed by Brian Yuzna and written by Dennis Paoli, Stuart Gordon, and Charles Finch. It stars Corbin Bernsen, Linda Hoffman, Earl Boen and Ken Foree. It follows a successful but mentally unstable dentist in Los Angeles who begins committing murder. It is the first installment in The Dentist film series, followed by The Dentist 2.

Production

Trimark Pictures producer Mark Amin came up with the concept of a slasher film about a dentist while having lunch with Brian Yuzna. Brent V. Friedman wrote the film's first script, which was to be about an alien orthodontist. This script was rejected by Amin, who did not want any fantastical or paranormal elements in the film, instead having it be about the fear of sitting in a dental chair.

To create Alan's psychology and get the accuracy in dentistry, the filmmakers visited actual dentist offices as research, where they asked staff members if they thought that a dentist could "do something absolutely crazy". The staff described dentists as "crazier than you could ever think", saying that they "are a king in their office". The kill scenes were influenced by Alfred Hitchcock's films.

Principal photography began on September 25, 1995 and ended on October 21, 1995. The Dentist was shot by Dennis Maloney (later replaced with Levie Isaacks) on a budget of $700,000 in 18-20 days. The film's "slightly overexposed" photography was intended to give it a crisp texture to differentiate it from other horror films that were "dark, and smoky, and colors", and to articulate Alan's obsession with cleanliness and dislike of filth.

Yuzna initially wanted to avoid making a slasher film, stating that he had never made a film before that "took place in bright lights" and had a "body count", since his other films did not focus on kills. Because of the film's low production budget, Yuzna had to contribute his own car to production, and give his credit card to the art department, who purchased furniture to use as props during shooting.

Chevy Chase and Bruce Campbell were considered for the role of Dr. Alan Feinstone, but Corbin Bernsen was cast instead. Bernsen later called the film's script "brilliant", and described the role in a 2013 chat with The Dark Side Digital, "I went very deep into the zone, if you will, and I was not pleasant to be around. I was not good to go home to my family, and I sort of remember working with Brian [Yuzna] and having our arguments about it.

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