Movie review: Surgeon aka. Exquisite Tenderness

As a child, Julian witnesses the death of his brother at the hands of an inept and sadistic doctor and grows up to become a psychotic doctor who somehow justifies his killing of innocent people to further his research. Years later his girlfriend, Theresa has him fired for his illegal research and thinks that is the end. But Julian returns, more psychotic than ever and determined to make Theresa pay for what she has done to him.

Isabel Glasser (Dr. Theresa), James Remar (Dr. Benjamin), Sean Haberle (Dr. Julian Matar), Malcolm McDowell (Dr. Stein), Peter Boyle (Lt. McEllwaine).

Although the summary sounds good, I would place this one about the middle of the pack when it comes to horror / thrillers. Incidentally, the picture on the cover is nowhere to be found in the film. The plot was interesting if not wholly original but it just wasn’t delivered very well. The movie seemed jerky, with bursts of activity and plot advancement followed by a lull in which nothing very exciting happened. Toward the end of the movie Dr. Julian seemed to become almost supernatural, being stronger than everyone else, able to heal himself from critical injury, being smarter and more stealthy than anyone else, and getting lucky beyond belief. It was almost as if the plot got written into a corner and the only way out was to change the rules at the last second.

Acting was a mixed bag with Remar and Haberle doing a decent job and Glasser being just plain annoying and inept after a while. Camera work and sets were average as was sound and dialogue.

You could do worse than this one but you could also do much better.

There was some nudity in this one, foul language, and a healthy dose of violent gore. Save this one for older teens and above.

Released: 1995
Reviewed: 7.21.16
Star rating: 3 out of 5
Genre: Sci-Fi Horror, Horror, Slashers and Serial Killers, Thriller

copyright ©2016 Dave Riedel