The Pack (1977)
8/10
Move over, Cujo
1 October 2006
"The Pack" is perhaps the best Killer Dog movie ever made. At first glance, it appears to be a simple enough story that we've seen a hundred times before. Assorted people trapped in a house, locking doors to keep something out. The Killer Shrews, Savage Harvest, Day of the Triffids, and a hundred other films all used this same premise, some with greater results than others.

"The Pack" is one of the better ones. The people are believable characters with lives that are interesting, not just cardboard cutouts with interchangeable dialogue whom the audience will remember only by their violent deaths. In fact, there's little blood in this film. But lots of menace, as a pack of dogs terrorize people on an island.

What makes "The Pack" a cut above other films in its genre is that the dogs aren't played as blood-thirsty monsters. They're simply pets who have been abandoned on an island, and they're just looking for food. In addition to a few genuine scares, this movie also has heart, and last scene will make you cry.

Joe Don Baker, Richard B. Shull, R.G. Armstrong and Bibi Besch are among the cast, and the performances are good, but the scene stealer is the lead dog, who's manic, vicious, lethal, and still an animal, a living creature, not just a monster.

"The Pack" was directed by Robert Clouse, who directed Bruce Lee in "Enter The Dragon.".
12 out of 14 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed