Michael Kelleher
A trio of satanists, led by a beautiful ex-Bond girl, buy a best-in-class mutt named Lady for their devilish breeding program. After a ludicrous sabbat with dubious acolytes mumbling their mistresses mumbo jumbo, the coven vacate the shed they are in and the evil one (literally, and thankfully off-screen) enters.Switch to the Barry family. Richard Crenna and Yvette Mimieux discover their dog Skipper has been the victim of a satanic hit and run. You know the satanists are responsible because a neighbour saw the BLACK station wagon responsible. Daughter Kim Richards is heartbroken and vows never to own another dog ever. Her resolve lasts all of 5 minutes as soon a fruit and vegetable selling satanist turns up with Lady (happily recovered from her ordeal) and her cute-as-buttons brood of hell hounds... And so the Devil's evil plan is set in motion.Lucky quickly dispatches by fire the Spanish maid who sees through his fluffy cuteness, and brainwashes the children. He then brutally murders next doors dog, then the neighbour himself.Despite its overall atmosphere of tedium, this film does have one effective scene and another which tips the beastliness over into bestiality. The former has the by-now-full- grown pooch mesmerise Crenna into almost jamming his fist into the whirring blades of a lawn mower, whilst the latter sees him lure Yvette into the bedroom (Lucky is well named). What happens in there is left to the imagination but afterwards she is transformed into a lusty slut only too willing to carry out her masters bidding.So there is plenty too laugh at for bad movie lovers, but sadly the second half of the film drags on its lead like an enthusiastic untrained 1 year old. Crenna consults a range of needless stock characters (a doctor, a supernatural bookshop owner and a ridiculous old shaman played by Victor Jory), all of whom could have been condensed into one, before eventually vanquishing his canine foe in an equally senseless encounter with sub par special effects in an abandoned factory.I seriously doubt whether this mixture of comedy devil worship and its entirely unthreatening doggy villain will raise anyone's hackles. Although I've given this a very low score, I have to admit that I quite enjoyed watching it, it just should have been about twenty minutes shorter.
kapelusznik18
***SPOILERS*** Purposely, I would assume, released or broadcast on__ Halloween 1978 the made for TV movie "Devil Dog: The Hound from Hell" has to do with this Devil Cult in Southern California who uses dogs to infiltrate unsuspecting people's homes. That's after their pet dogs are killed and turn the inhabitants into Devil worshiping zombies. Ther movie has to do with the Barry family dog Skippy who was run over just in time, this all happens in less then one hour, for Devil cult member fruit & vegetable man Dunworth, R. G Armstrong, to drive up and offer's the grieving family this cute German Sheppard puppy whom they affectingly name Lucky. It's not long when Lucky shows his teeth or real identity as the "Dog from Hell" who ends up killing any one, human or animal , who stands in his way by exposing him for what he is and what he's up to. It the man of the house Mike Barry, Richard Crenna, who seems to be immune, because he has a heart of gold, to the dog's hypnotic spell that turned his entire family his wife Betty, Yvette Mimieux, and children Bonnie & Charlie, Kim Richards & Ike Eisenmann, into unfeeling and emotionless robots. Despite all the evidence that his family is possessed by the Devil, as the results of his Devil Dog Lucky, Mike still thinks it's his mind that's playing tricks on him instead of what he sees, a family of Devil worshipers, with his own two eyes!***SPOILERS*** Finally realizing the situation that he's facing Mike goes to this expert on the occult ,Martine Beswick, who clues him in on what he's up against: The Devil himself! Told to take a trip to Ecuador in Central America the see the wise old man on the hill, Victor Jory, who can help him put an end to all this horror Mike finds out from the old guy that because he, unlike his family, can't be controlled by the family dog he's got the power to send it back to hell from which it came. But the rub is that he may well lose his soul in doing itWorth waiting for the ending sequence when Lucky the Devil Dog shows his true colors, jet black, and confronts Mike in a battles between Good & Evil. Lucky now in full battle gear looking like the demon in the movie "Curse of the Demon" with horns and foot long canine nine fangs, and about the size of a full grown elephant, the end makes up for all the boring and in many cases confusing scenes that lead up to it. But in the end the end of the Devil Dog ain't really over with the mysterious and evil fruit & vegetable man Dunworth still having a couple of aces or puppies up his sleeve and ready to lay them on the table!
ctomvelu1
Standard ABC Movie of the Week type meant as filler around commercials, with TV stalwart Richard Crenna as a dad whose family becomes possessed by a demon dog. No blood, no suspense, and way too much screen time for Crenna, who was always a competent but dull leading man. Yvette Mimieux plays his wife, who interestingly enough turns into quite the nymphomaniac after the dog gets hold of her. It's all talk, however. The dog itself is also dull, mainly sitting around and staring. All murders are committed off-screen. Worth a watch for the silly hairdos and clothing, especially the daughter's initial sailor-style outfit that might have looked better on someone half her age. And as for Mimieux, at one point, Crenna asks he about a dress she's wearing to visit a male friend, as if it were too sexy. By today's standards, it looks like something a granny would wear. Oh, and then there's the 1970s cars, big ugly tanks that you would have thought the American auto industry had given up on with Toyota and VW and others gaining ground quickly with much smaller, more maneuverable and efficient vehicles. Crenna's two vehicles in this movie are so massive, you have to wonder how they managed to fit in his backlot driveway. Anyhow, be prepared to snooze. Some gory murders or special effects might have helped.
The_Void
I went into this expecting something along the lines of a dog version of The Omen; but got only silly schlock in what can only be described as a really dull seventies horror TV movie; this fact made even worse considering how many great horror films were stemmed from TV in the seventies. The plot is extremely simple and focuses on a family who take in a German Shepherd after accidentally running it over. However, the dog turns out to be a minion of Satan and starts causing trouble for the family. The film is directed by Curtis Harrington who directed a string of trashy horror movies; including Queen of Blood and The Killing Kind, takes up the directorial reins here and isn't able to make anything out of the incredibly weak material. The plot is a mixture of complete stupidity and total boredom, and for the first half of the film barely anything happens. The special effects are also horrible; and don't get any slack for the fact that the film is a TV movie as I've seen TV movies with better effects than this before! The dog itself has its own little subplot but even that doesn't add any credibility to the film. I don't doubt something decent could have been made out of this material; but there was nothing decent on this occasion and Devil Dog is a terrible movie.