A Boy and His Dog


Posted on Jun 9, 2008
By Julia Szabo

First Run Features, 1975, 90 minutes
 
Add this title to your Netflix queue
 
This movie is in the FetchDog Top 20
 
We've had occasion to blog about this cult classic of the canine cinema before - read about it here and here - but somehow we've managed not to review it until now.
 
Starring Don Johnson, Jason Robards, and Tiger, the shaggy dog of Brady Bunch fame, this is the film adaptation of a short story called "Vic and Blood," a post-apocalyptic sci-fi tale of a young guy (Vic) whose mutt (Blood) communicates with him telepathically. The story was first published in 1969, then later became a graphic novel.
 
Attention, parents: The title is ironic - this movie is adults-only fare. In fact, it was distributed at one point under the title "Psycho Boy and His Killer Dog." The tag line on the movie poster reads "A rather kinky tale of survival." That's because the "boy" and his dog are on the prowl, scavenging for food and sex in a bombed-out waste land of desert. And boy, do they ever find it - and more than they bargained for, besides.
 
It's all very strange - and strangely, very entertaining, like a raunchy, dark-comic cross between Star Trek and The Day After. And it's especially timely now, because the story's author, Harlan Ellison, is the subject of a new documentary, Dreams With Sharp Teeth, that's been getting rave reviews (its run at Film Forum in New York City ends tomorrow).
 
Tellingly, in the doc, Ellison compares himself to a dog - and we suspect he's channeling Blood when he says, "I was a mean little dog - I just wouldn't go down." 


Presence of dogs: reelreelreelreel
Respect for dogs: reelreelreelreel
Canine star quality: reelreelreelreel
Family friendly: reelreelreelreel


 

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