Brian T. Whitlock (GOWBTW) Yvonne De Carlo of "The Munsters" fame star in this horror about a very bitter heiress who former lover falls for her sister. Because of this, she would take matters in a supernatural way. The former lover has a child, who is now grown, loses her mother in a tragic accident. Animosity and resentment gets involved in the reunion. Trying to make peace with the family, the aunt wants to move forward. But there's another thing, she has a Rottweiler from Europe that seems docile, but the appearance can be a ploy. Not only is the aunt is wealthy, she's involved in sinister black magic. She used that hulking dog to exact revenge on the lover and her sister. And turns it loose on the siblings as well. Driving the niece out of her mind, and causing much mayhem. This dog is so smart, it can throw off the brightest of detectives. Especially, when he put that drain cleaner along with the seltzer. Can't tell which is which. This movie was not well made. A little spoiler from the crew was spotted during the love scenes. In fact, I was wrong about "Dogs" in 1976, this movie really was barking up the wrong tree. 1 star!

RacerX-23 Right off, I have to explain why I've given this film ten stars.Bad films are something of an art form in themselves. Think Ed Wood, think Brian DePalma (come on... be honest, he s*cks, and you know it.) Play Dead has no pretensions. It knows it's a pile of crap, and it revels in it (in as much as a film can do anything more than just exist, but bear with me, I've got this theory...) Look, the dog, while a bit underbitten and mopish looking, just excludes sweetness. She's a Serious Canine Actress, and a God Dog, and she's trying -- for God's sake. Can't say much for Lily Munster though, except, for a husky old broad, she still looks pretty good.Come on -- it's a film about a Satan-inspired Rottweiler serial killer, what did you expect? Straw Dogs? Mystic River? Hell Comes to Frog Town? Hand me another Heinekin and I'll shut up, serious.And come on -- the dog was cute.

Coventry Yvonne De Carlo (everyone's favorite Munster) gives away quite a scary and praiseworthy performance as Hester Ramsey, a rancorous and slightly deranged elderly lady who lives alone in a large mansion with her harshly trained Rottweiler Greta. She holds a *slight* grudge against her family because she's convinced that her sister stole the one true love of her life and now she developed the fiendish plan to use Greta's killing capacities to get revenge. It's a fairly interesting and original concept for an 80's creature feature, but the film lacks tension and there's too little gore and bloodshed. Greta is an astonishingly trained dog, but her skills are still underused and the script at one point even reveals that black magic is responsible for her turning into a merciless killing machine. Why the hell was that necessary? Who needs voodoo to explain the aggression of a Rottweiler? There's nothing as pathetic as wanting to make a horror movie about a dangerous killer dog and then cowardly blame his action and behavior on the black magic powers of his owner. Greta also has voyeuristic tendencies, because she observes a young couple having (overlong) sex not once but twice. Instead of doing that, or instead of electrocuting people in their bathtubs, she ought to rip out throats, dammit! The character of the police inspector provides some comical relief, with his witty remarks and arrogant behavior towards his younger colleagues, but it's just a small positive detail in an overall extremely dull and forgettable movie. Good horrors revolving on murderous dogs are quite a rarity. Top of my head I can only think of "The Pack" and "White Dog". "Play Dead" belongs in the mediocre-to-awful section, alongside "Rottweiler", "Devil Dog", "Dogs of Hell" and "Monster Dog".

drhackenstine Trashy looking horror movie about an angry old woman (Lily from The Munsters) who uses her devil worship on a dog to get even with her family members. The dog stalks the family members and many 'accidents' occur. Sluggish in many spots, and never really entertaining. It looks like it was slickly produced at times, but also seems like maybe the production was rushed. The horror scenes are pretty bland and the most exciting come when Lily Munster holds demonic séances. The horror scenes with the dog are pretty much forgettable. Features some nudity, some violence, a woman electrocuted in a bath tub, and that's about it. One Star.