20 Films That Prove The 1990s Was The Worst Decade For Horror

As the great slasher movies of the 80s either went on hiatus or ran out of steam, there appeared to be a gap in the market which various savvy horror filmmakers made efforts to fill. One among these was Brian Yuzna, often dependable producer and director behind the Re-Animator movies and more. However, while this 1996 horror may have succeeded in kick-starting a short-lived series (a sequel followed in 1998), it can hardly be regarded a success in any other respect.

Corbin Bernsen stars as the dentist of the title, a wealthy man running a successful practice - but hanging on to his sanity by a very thin thread. After he discovers his wife is cheating on him, he loses grip altogether, and takes out his rage by doing rather more extensive work on his patients than is strictly necessary.

Again, all well and good in theory - after all, fear of getting dental work done is commonplace - but in execution, The Dentist is dull, dull, dull. Bernsen just doesn't have the charisma to be the great iconic horror star the film needed him to be, and in any case Yuzna never finds a way to make his dirty deeds gripping.

As with so many horror movies, this is now merely an amusing footnote on the CV of a now famous actor, in this case Mark Ruffallo, who makes an early appearance here.