White Dog (1982)
Studio: Criterion          
DVD Release Date: December 2, 2008
Directed By: Samuel Fuller
Cast: Kristy McNichol, Paul Winfield, Burl Ives, Jameson Parker, Paul Bartel
Deadly DVD Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 stars
Review By: Rod Schroeder

Julie (McNichol) is driving through the winding Hollywood hills one night and hits a German Shepard. She promptly takes him to a veterinarian & $200+ later; she’s nursing him back to health at her home. She begins posting ‘found dog’ signs around, but no one calls to claim him. An intruder breaks in with sexual intent, and after a few minutes the dog comes to her rescue. Thus begins a loving relationship. Not all is right with this dog, though.

The dog disappears for a couple days only to return to her battle scarred & bloodied. What Julie doesn’t know is that while initially he set out to hunt some wabbit, he gets into a scuffle with a street cleaner, who happens to be of African-American ethnicity. Then at a film shoot, the dog attacks Julie’s scene co-star, who also happens to be black. Coincidence? Julie’s friend Roland sees the dog for what it is (an attack dog), but at the suggestion of having it euthanized, Julie has none of it. She takes the dog to a joint run by Ives & Winfield, called ‘Noah’s Ark’. The place is a training ground for animal actors. When she’s shown the door with a promise that the dog needs to be put down, it attacks one of the black men working there. This is when she finds out that she’s the proud owner of a ‘White’ dog- not just the color of its fur, but a dog trained to attack only black people. Before the guy can get the cops, Key’s (Winfield) steps in and offers to break & retrain the dog. This is when we see the dog in all its ferocious glory. The dog makes a daring escape from the facility one night and finds prey, killing him in a church of all places. This was really kind of silly scene to me, as I wasn’t sure what Fuller was trying to convey. The killing is one thing, but why in a church? Maybe I was looking at it to deeply. Key’s gets hold of the situation, tranquilizes Mr. Hyde, the dog’s new name, and returns it to the facility in hopes to continue the reconditioning effort.

Let it be known that this movie isn’t without a lighthearted moment: a dinner scene with Ives, Winfield & McNichol- Ives is shown gulping wine and spooning sour cream on his plate- “Sour Cream. I love it.” McNichol fires back with, and this is no shit, “it’s fattening.” She knows who she’s talking to, doesn’t she? That’s not a knock against Ives, that’s comedy.

You know, I really liked this production. From the camerawork, Fuller’s direction, the acting, pretty much everything. I think it’s a bit of a throwback to filmmaking of the best type of director. Nice tight shots, zoom-ins, aerial shots, locations. Just a nice package. Criterion does another great transfer and throws in some nice extras including an interview with co-writer Curtis Hanson, Fuller’s widow Christa & producer Jon Davison. Last but not least, there’s an appearance by Dick Miller, who has seemingly been in thousands of movies in his career.