AHOLDER-1 Bad acting makes this drivel even worse. Poor script and dialog. Bland story.

Aaron1375 I caught this 'Lassie' movie on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and suffice to say, it was unlike any other Lassie movie I had seen as a child. It is by far the darkest Lassie film I had seen and Lassie does not save the day simply by barking and people figuring out that Timmy has fallen into the well. However, it is not that good of a film, a bit of a slow starter with a pointless plot twist or two before the epic confrontation between Lassie or Shep as it were and her owner's killer! Granted, Lassie herself is a boy dog named Pal meaning the film is Shep played by Lassie, played by Pal.The story has a prospector who is close to striking gold; unfortunately, his old partner has died leaving the son crushed. Well, the prospector has a dog that he tries to give to the boy, but the dog does not care too much for the new arrangements and instead goes back to her old owner. Well a man who teams up with the prospector to find the ultimate vein of gold; unfortunately, the man is of course greedy beyond belief and it is not too long before the prospector knows of the man's ill intent. Well, not soon enough to save himself. Soon it is up to Shep the dog to avenge her owner as she must be poisoned, shot and chased into the frozen mountains to finally get revenge for her owner!This made for a pretty good episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. It did start off a bit weak, mind you, as I was thinking that the short that preceded this film about hygiene was going to be the highlight, but the film picks up greatly once Lassie's owner is killed and Lassie begins her quest for revenge. Once that begins the laughter and riffs are in high gear especially during the chase sequence as for reasons unknown the killer is more affected by the cold than is a dog that is soaking wet.So this 'Lassie' film gets points for being different I guess, but it is hardly a Lassie film when the dog in the film is called Shep and the dog that is supposedly Lassie is named Pal. These days you do not get many dog stars, but back in the day it was more normal. No stars would probably be caught dead having to have second billing to a dog these days including porno stars! The film had some dark elements to it so probably a bit rougher than what many parents were expecting from a Lassie film, but nothing that is all that extreme by today's standards. However, not a very good film either so they'd probably be better skipping this one all together.

Dextrousleftie Pretty bad. This film about a grizzled(and frankly rock stupid) old prospector and his dog'Shep' i.e., Lassie, as well as an annoying kid whose name I can't recall at the moment. At the beginning of the movie, the old prospector has DELIBERATELY buried himself in some sand so that the poor dog will have to dig him out. Why? Did he hate the dog? Anyhoo, somehow or other this idiot has managed to strike gold, and goes to tell his partner. But the man has died, and his sleazy other partner is happy to assist old Jonathan in digging up the gold. The geezer tries to leave is dog with the dead guy's son, but not even the retarded mutt wants to stay with this kid. There's quaint old preacher(for quaint read smelly), and the oily guy finished off the old guy(surprise, surprise) and tries to steal all the gold. Plus he poisons the dog and tries to kill the kid, too. So I suppose its okay that a devilish and crazy Lassie..err...SHEP does this the guy in at the end, although its pretty disturbing in what is basically a children's movie. There are extremely stereotypical(to the point of racial slur) 'Native Americans' who speak without using verbs(as in, Me Make Camp Fire type speech). And that's pretty much the extent of the cast, because apparently Lassie's salary was too big for them to hire anyone else. Kind of dull. not very interesting, and a tad too dark. Not a great movie in any way.

Paul Curtis Who wouldn't love a flick in which Lassie, compelled by burning hatred, tracks down the man who killed his beloved owner? It's not quite as bleak as all that, (if it had taken place in a city, it would have been the sole entry in the "Lassie-noir" genre) but it IS a startlingly dark work, for a 50's family-movie audience. As for the acting, it's pretty much what you would expect...but during those final scenes, where Lassie faces the killer...aren't you glad it's not YOU facing that implacable, growling, fang-faced beast?