Lifetime Review: 'The Doctor Will Kill You Now'

When a skiing accident lands Sarah Crenshaw (Gina Vitori) in the hospital, it initially appears the young woman is at the risk of losing her leg. But thanks to the work of skilled surgeon Gary Vincent (Anthony Jensen), Sarah's leg is saved and he is lauded by his staff and by Sarah herself for his incredible work. During her stay at the hospital, Sarah also becomes friendly with her physical therapist Jake (Matthew Pohlkamp), with their sessions together sparking a whirlwind romance--with the sweet and encouraging Jake being just what Sarah needs after her last relationship.

But what Sarah doesn't realize is that Dr. Vincent has also taken a liking to her — though his interest quickly becomes an intense obsession. After Sarah leaves the hospital and begins trying to heal and go forward with her new relationship, Dr. Vincent proves that he will go to insane lengths to have Sarah as his own. Can Sarah see the truth before her doctor's bedside manner turns deadly?

Given that The Doctor Will Kill You Now (originally titled Nightmare Doctor) comes courtesy of The Asylum, there is no way to convince me that my theory is untrue: The Doctor Will Kill You Now is The Asylum's mockbuster for Stalked By My Doctor. Given that the Eric Roberts helmed obsession thriller became a sleeper hit for Lifetime, it's understandable that the notorious mockbuster company would want to capitalize on the franchise's success. While their efforts suffer a few bungles and overall rarely reaches the same heights set by Roberts and Dr. Albert Beck, The Doctor Will Kill You Now still stands as a solid Lifetime obsession thriller.

Stepping into the shoes of an actor like Eric Roberts is a daunting task, but one that Anthony Jensen does well with in the role of Dr. Gary Vincent. Much like Dr. Beck, Vincent is established as a highly skilled and revered surgeon — something that provides him with a mask to hide his arrogant God complex and quickly degenerating mental stability. Vincent is also defined by his histrionic moments of psychosis, and while they are much more spaced apart than Dr. Beck's, they pack a punch when they kick in and give Jensen the space to cut loose and truly throw himself into the nutty doctor — particularly during the climax, which differs from how Lifetime usually wraps up its action and has Dr. Vincent at his most deranged.

A problem emerges, however, from this restraint given to Dr. Vincent, as outside of his moments when the doctor goes full-blown mad, Vincent's actions are kept to the standard "Lifetime Obsession Thriller" beats with little deviation. This problem is exacerbated by Jensen's performance during these flatter story beats, as while Eric Roberts brought to Dr. Beck a perverted and lustful zeal to standard acts of stalking his victim and sabotaging her relationships, Jensen does little to bring personality to Vincent's more routine acts of villainy.

WARNING: Spoilers Below

(Though on the note of routine acts of villainy, I must point out that The Doctor Will Kill You Now does deserve credits for throwing me a few curveballs in regards to Vincent's actions. Some of these include Jake's unexpected murder--given how the film appeared to be setting him up as the surprise hero--and the unexpectedly extended climax that becomes more intense the longer it goes on)

Spoilers Over

Playing the film's equivalent to Stalked By My Doctor's Sophie Green, Gina Vitori is sympathetic as Sarah Crenshaw, bringing a charm to the young woman as Sarah struggles to recuperate from her accident and finds herself an unwitting victim of her obsessed doctor. Like Sophie, unfortunately, Sarah is also something of an inactive protagonist, though she (unlike Sophie) has the advantage of being mostly in the dark about Vincent's obsession until the finale. Acting as a disadvantage, however, is the fact that Sarah in fact does have some blatant warning signs to Dr. Vincent's true nature, with one being so blatant that Sarah looks like an idiot for not noticing it. Thankfully, Vitori's charming performance and boost in proactiveness during the third act helps to alleviate the frustration from this momentary intelligence lapse.

Matthew Pohlkamp is incredibly likable and charming as Sarah's physical therapist turned boyfriend Jake, with Pohlkamp and Vitori sharing enough chemistry to make their rushed relationship something to root for. Rounding out the primary cast is Psycho BFF's Kate Watson as Sarah's suspicious roommate Rosaland, with Watson bringing charm in buckets to the witty Rosaland and (like Pohlkamp) sharing chemistry with Vitori to bring authenticity to Rosaland and Sarah's fast friendship.

As a film seemingly taking inspiration from one of the Greats in Lifetime's collection, The Doctor Will Kill You Now has its share of blunders. The titular doctor becomes somewhat lifeless in the more routine parts of the story (something that can not be said about the doctor of the films which this one takes inspiration from), and Sarah's lapse in judgement is sure to stick in some viewer's minds. But with a solid plot that holds a few surprises and a charming cast, The Doctor Will Kill You Now stands up as a fairly well-done pseudo-follow-up to the Stalked By My Doctor saga.

Score: 7 out of 10 anesthesia masks.