Search - Dogs on DVD

Four-legged "Jaws"

J. B. Hoyos | Chesapeake, VA | 01/18/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"In "Dogs," man's best friend has become his worst enemy. At a small California college town, domesticated dogs are mauling cattle. Soon, a rancher is found dead. Later, a motorcyclist and an elderly woman are attacked by dogs and dragged away, torn and bleeding. The bodies begin piling up, but the mayor refuses to believe that domesticated dogs are packing together and killing. Before the night is over, many people will die. Linda Gray of "Dallas" fame stars in this cult classic 70's thriller. Her death is reminiscent of the shower scene in "Psycho." Overall, the acting could've been better. I would've given "Dogs" another star if the presentation had been in widescreen in lieu of full. The film and audio quality were better than expected but there are no subtitle or captions as given in Amazon's advertisement. If you love nature gone wild fims, such as "The Swarm," "Ants," "Killer Bees," "Birds," and "Frogs," then this film is perfect for you. The alternate title is "Slaughter." When you see the gruesome ending at the college library, you will understand why."

Still one of my all time favorite nature-gone-bad horror mov

Sylvia T. Bosarge | Mobile,AL. USA | 07/28/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Though one of the reviewers knocked this movie by saying what's so
terrifying about a cockerspaniel and a terrier running about and
chasing people down and pretty much advised other Amazon.com buyers
to literally skip this one because it's strictly for the dogs obviously didn't notice that this particular brand of horror film
is extremely unique and was quite popular during the 1970's.Besides,the movie--"DOGS",was part of the whole nature gone
bad genre that started off with STEVEN SPEILBERG'S film,"JAWS",and
then continued on with films like "GRIZZLY","THE DAY OF THE ANIMALS","ANTS","THE SAVAGE BEES","TERROR OUT OF THE SKY","TARANTULAS:THE DEADLY CARGO",and "RATTLERS"!DOGS is also reminiscent in many ways of ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S classic,"THE BIRDS",
and,in classic Alfred Hitchcock fashion,really gives you food for
thought.Though some of the other reviewrs of this movie have stated
that what is really making all the different dogs: dobermins,labradors,german shephards,sheep dogs,terriers,cockerspaniels,and french poodles go bonkers and literally go into a killing frenzy against the townspeople has something to do with their pheromones or a hush-hush secret government facility is really inaccurate,because,even though
both DAVID McCALLUM'S and GEORGE WYNER'S scientist-characters
do state their theory during the film that it could be related to
pheremones,the theory is proven wrong when they try an experiment
on the president of the university's dog after a bunch of domesticated dogs have already gone berserk and killed not just
livestock but people as well!They conduct the experiment on the
dog to see if the pheromones are really the main important factor
behind the attacks and killings,and if they can be contained.But
when the experiment ends in failure,and the dog turns vicious again
and breaks loose it's quite obvious that the pheromone theory was
incorrect on the scietists' part.And as far as the hush-hush secret
facility,it is mentioned briefly in a few scenes but then never again.But all in all,in those few scenes in which it was mentioned
there was no talk whatsoever of any actual experiments on domestic
dogs.So,that is the actual BRILLIANCE of director BURT BRICKERHOFF
who directed this unique entry in the horror genre and pulled it off
with the same class like I honestly believe ALFRED HITCHOCK would
have.Had he been handed the assignment.
"

DOGS, even without CGI...still delivers!

R. Loveren | Hollywood, CA USA | 05/14/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As today's films get more boring due to the overload of CGI used...this honest little film from the early 70's needs to be given a few deserving stars for integrity. It's not an easy task for a director to try and present packs of domestic dogs (Irish Setters, Poodles, etc) as blood thirsty man killers!! Today...a few taps on the computer and man's best friend can do anything the director wants...even to sell pet products! Don't get me wrong...this film isn't for everybody. If you can get beyond the somewhat shallow storyline, and not be too judgemental of the B-level acting...you might find this film to be quite unique. For you "Gore-hounds" like myself, it's got enough blood to satisfy (even for the 70's). A cool little bonus is the "Making Of" segment of the DVD including interviews with the director and cast. When this film was released in the early 70's, I was a 3rd grader obssesed with horror films. I finally persuaded my father into taking me to see it at our local drive in (against my mother's wishes!). Now, Dogs on DVD is another great addition to my horror film collection. Who needs Cujo?"

A little piece of cultish memory...

Jake Kincaid | Intellectually Underrated Deep South, USA | 10/30/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've said before that watching this movie on late-night TV as a kid is one of the reasons I think I became a horror movie fan. I can tell you, I remember being very wary of the neighborhood mutts for weeks after seeing this, and hearing a dog howl or bark in the night gave my eight to ten year old self new meaning to terror.

Upon watching it recently (some thirty years of maturity and experience later), it's easy to see the flaws...low budget, overall mediocre acting (in it's defense, all but the four or so principals were local college students, although a standout is to see David McCallum in those post U.N.C.L.E., pre-NCIS years), and sometimes much-too-dark camera work. Still, besides the nostalgic value, it's still fun to watch. It's amazing to me still that the filmmakers were able to get that many different breeds of dog to act in concert, and hats off to the trainers that would get the dogs whipped up into the frenzies that they were in...the sounds of the enraged, attacking dogs is terrifying even still (however, their "pack howling" that is heard far too often kind of reminds me of tornado sirens). It's also a surprisingly gory picture all things considered.

The video and audio transfers were much better than I expected, although it would have been nice to see in a widescreen format, or a 5.1 Dolby remix (or BOTH, if I'm going to wish).

All in all, if you're a die-hard horror/cult film fan, really into the 70's "Nature Gone Nuts" genre, or just an old-timer like me that recalls this from your youth, this one is not a bad investment for the price. It's a three star movie for the former, and a four star movie for the latter."