Man's Best Friend (1993) User Reviews

Watch out for the camouflage scene.

[Fella_shibby · 6/10 · 24 May 2019]

What we have here is a cute lovable dog taken as a pet into a house by a news reporter Lori (Ally Sheedy) after she rescues him from a genetic research facility, unaware that Joseph Mengele's brother Jarret (Lance Henriksen) has genetically altered the dog performing vivisection giving him enhanced strength, speed, and senses. The dog can climb trees, understand different languages, he enjoys being a peeping Tom when couples get intimate, ( but we dont get to see any nudity), the dog can copulate n produce multiple puppies n most of all it can camouflage itself. Watch out for the camouflage scene man. The film has some nasty kills but mostly offscreen n it lacked tension apart from the poor cat scene. The tag line ridiculed Cujo but they forgot that Cujo is filled with genuine tension n suspense.

I first saw this in the mid 90s on a vhs. Revisited it few days back.

Not enough Henriksen is the biggest problem ...................

[merklekranz · 6/10 · 14 March 2011]

This mutated dog sci-fi/ horror / black comedy requires complete suspension of disbelief, and if you can live with that premise, you will find "Man's Best Friend" entertaining. Although Lance Henriksen receives second billing, his screen time is somewhat disappointing. The sci-fi element is never explored, giving way to "Cudjo"-like maulings and some moments of "dark comedy". There is a little too much cutesy stuff involving the genetically engineered dog, but overall other than the lack of Henriksen, this is a totally acceptable time waster. The dog is really the star, with the actors assuming a secondary role. - MERK

Man's Best Friend

[Scarecrow-88 · 5/10 · 24 January 2009]

From the "killer canine cannon" comes this mediocre horror outing, Man's Best Friend, regarding a genetically enhanced mutt with DNA of many dangerous animals injected into it making the dog particularly lethal towards those that tick it off. A journalist looking for her big break, is invited by a nervous employee at a scientific institute run by Dr. Jarret(Lance Henriksen)to peek inside the corrupt practices regarding the horrifying mistreatment on animal test subjects. This employee is attacked and killed by the powerful and unpredictable canine, Max 3000, who has been supplied a drug suppressing it's violent tendencies, but thanks in part to snooping kind-hearted journalist, Lori Tanner(Ally Sheedy, just adorable in the movie), it is released from the institute and Jarret is unable to coerce it back into the cage. Hopping into Lori's vehicle, Max will soon infiltrate her life, their bond keeping her temporarily alive as it poses a threat to suburbia and everything within it. Lori's beau, Perry(Fredric Lehne)doesn't find Max very comforting, particularly due to the canine's jealousy of anyone coming between dog and owner. Meanwhile, a very worried Jarret, who knows that the drug he administered to the dog will only last for a certain amount of time, confides reluctantly with police detectives in finding Max before it loses control and becomes completely volatile towards everyone/everything in it's path.

I imagine writer/director John Lafia had a field day coming up with ideas regarding Max and the damage he could inflict on people and animals. It actually climbs a tree after a cat and eats it. It can actually adapt to it's environment and blend in like a chameleon, doing so and frightening a couple of goofy dog-catchers away. After being sprayed in the eyes with pepper spray, Max actually hunts down and bites into the ankle and throat of a postal worker who had delivered mail to a home. A sadistic mechanic(..played by the surprisingly imposing William Sanderson, who rarely acts so cruel)assaults Max with a shovel across the head, even taking to it's face with a lit blow torch, before the canine clamps down ferociously onto his crotch! Max pisses acid into the face of a victim it doesn't like, and pretty much sexually molests a collie who attempts futilely to escape from the canine. Even an insulting parrot(..actually taught such naughty, inflammatory words by a neighborhood kid)makes the wrong gesture towards Max, getting eaten! I think Lafia, though, establishes right away that Max is a product of man's own engineering..it would in all likelihood be a very hospitable and loving pooch if Jarret hadn't injected the DNA of a rattlesnake and tiger into it. And, we are privy to what Jarret does to his animal test subjects with the footage recorded by Lori and her camerawoman, Annie(Trula M Marcus), so Max is a victim of unhealthy scientific experimentation. Henriksen, as Jarret, is often presented as desperate and scared, sweating and always urgent because he know what kind of killing machine has been released on the city. His whole career and well-being is centered on Max's protection and capture. Like many films of this nature in the 90's, punches are pulled(..we don't even get to see how Max killed a despicable thief who attempts to mug Lori's purse), with the scenes where Max attacks animals and humans not that gory as the camera immediately pulls away as it bites down or inflicts harm. This kind of film would probably be rated PG-13 and transition easily to cable television. Certainly maintains the Hollywood polish, often featuring cute comic scenes concerning Max's behavior within a normal suburban environment(..and it's reactions towards people and situations) where it doesn't truly belong.

* *1/2 out of 4.

[brandonsites1981 · 9 September 2002]

Dog that has had genetic experiments conducted on it is saved by a news reporter investigating a sciene lab. However, the dogs genetics have been mixed with several other animals and it kills anything or anyone that gets in the way of him and his new owner. Fun premise with some creative moments goes down the path you would expect, but still is entertaining anyway. The cast is used to little effect as this is a showcase for the dog.

Rated R; Violence and Profanity.

Man's Best Friend (1993)

[fntstcplnt · 3/10 · 15 December 2019]

Directed by John Lafia. Starring Lance Henriksen, Ally Sheedy, Fredric Lehne, Robert Costanzo, John Cassini, Trula M. Marcus, William Sanderson, J.D. Daniels. (R)

Clumsy reporter Sheedy breaks into an animal testing lab and emancipates a Tibetan mastiff, which turns out to be a very special canine. How special? He can open doors, flush toilets, headbutt windshields, outrun and jump over speeding cars, swallow cats whole, urinate acid, that sort of thing (in one throwaway scene, he even disappears into the background like a chameleon, but never again after that). Dopey comedy disguised as a killer-animal horror movie is neither unwatchable nor remotely gratifying. Chief misstep is letting the dog appear cute and cuddly until the final reel; the threat level is about even with an unchained Beethoven, not Cujo. Only Henriksen as the scientist who "created" the enhanced pooch seems to realize just how ridiculous it all is and acts accordingly. One of the taglines reads: "His bark isn't half as bad...as his bite!" Oh, it bites, all right...

31/100

This one's a woofer !

[Phroggy · 1/10 · 24 March 1999]

"Beethoven" meets "Cujo" ? Anyway, this is one of the most manipulating movie I've seen in a long time. Since the producers doesn't want to alienate the "Beethoven" audience, of course, the dog kills only "bad guys", which is supposed to make everything alright ! The "cute" scenes and the "horror" scene never really mixed and, anyway, this one left me with the feeling of having been taken for a dope by the whole production. This one has got dog breath, and it stinks to high heaven.

A film so stupid it made me sick

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 24 August 2016]

This is a silly and nonsensical monster movie which mixes sci-fi elements in with plenty of tired and predictable clichés, rounded off by an unbelievable plot which bears little resemblance to real life. The intriguing possibilities of a killer dog movie are quickly dissipated when you realise that this is a family-orientated movie, complete with lame jokes and so much sweet talk and sentimentality that it'll make you physically sick (it certainly made ME sick). After the initial set-up, the film is merely content to go through the paces, introducing one-dimensional characters who are set up just to be killed off.

The many death scenes in this film are generally off screen and not very gory, although some of them will make you jump. Sadly they're shot in such a slick way that any suspense or terror emanating from them is destroyed, as they just look too unrealistic. There are so many plot discrepancies that it's impossible to list all of them, plot twists are based on contrivances and you begin to wonder if the story was written by a child.

The acting - well, if you can call it acting - from Ally Sheedy as the film's lead is terrible, her character a simpering idiot who fails to see what's going on right in front of her eyes. Incredibly, Sheedy continues to love the killer dog despite the fact that its eaten a cat whole, mutilated her boyfriend (via acid urine, go figure) and devoured half of the minor cast. The ever-reliable Lance Henriksen is on hand as a cruel scientist, and incredibly he's vilified as the film's chief villain - even though his only sin is to try and get his own property back! This is definitely a movie that makes no secret of its distaste for animal experimentation, as you get the morals shoved down your throat at every opportunity, the intelligent character Henriksen plays a mean-spirited and bad, bad person - despite the fact that he himself mentions that his research is being carried out for the good of mankind!

Elsewhere, familiar faces like that of Robert Costanzo pop up but fail to make much of an impact, although I did like William Sanderson's bastard scrapyard owner whose first action upon receiving the dog is to club it with a spade! Whilst the first half of this film is schmaltzy, feel good stuff - you could be forgiven for thinking that you're watching BEETHOVEN, actually - packed with silly humour and obnoxious characters, the second half - a violent string of brutal murders - sits oddly with the beginning. Indeed some of this film's scenes border on the deeply unpleasant, like one character burning the dog's face with a blow torch as he is attacked! It's not really necessary, just a reason to give the dog an ugly look to make it more frightening. It's not. Kevin Yagher's usually reliable special effects work are also below par, the animatronics instantly recognisable from the real dog(s) used.

The final insult comes at the end of this movie. What an infantile, stupid, moronic way to end the film. Aside from the incidental pleasure of watching a dog rip a postman to shreds, MAN'S BEST FRIEND is an appalling and ugly film to watch, one that offended me deeply.

Good "B" movie about a girl who befriends a research dog.

[ElvesBrew · 7/10 · 21 November 2004]

This is one of those movies that can entertain you as long as you don't get too critical. The basic premise of the story line is a good one but as with many low budget Sci-Fi films there are flaws in the telling.

The biggest flaw is in the title itself. Being as this dog befriends Ally Sheedy's character and basically snarls at all the men it come across the film probably should have been called "Woman's Best Friend" or better yet "M.A.X.".

Other than the title though the movie is basically a good film and you have to get pretty picky to find any real problems with it. It's not a great movie but it has some good scares, moments of comic relief, and some cool special effects.

I don't know why this film has gotten such a low over-all rating. I know that IMDb ratings tend to average a bit on the low side but still this movie deserves a lot better than a 4.4. I have given the film a 7 and feel this movie is good enough to add to any one's DVD library if found at budget prices.

Definitely worth a rental if you haven't already seen it.

EB

acid urine

[punctate · 4/10 · 30 October 1999]

A reporter is befriended by a genetically engineered dog that can deceive human minds and has acid urine; a bit silly. Scientist who wants him back keeps getting on the bad side of the police. The plot of the movie runs too slow during almost the first hour of the film, then it suddenly speeds up during the last 30 or 40 minutes of the movie. The 40 minutes are entertaining and fun it's too bad the beginning wasn't as strong. Its lighthearted horror doesn't work that well, the story is weakly executed. The scare scenes are not that scary at all and I thought they could have been made gory. The ending makes us sad that the killing dog bites the bullet. The ending leads open for a sequel.

Who let the genetically manipulated psycho-dog out? W00F!

[Coventry · 7/10 · 27 June 2021]

It's the same old story... Girl rescues dog from test lab, girl wants to keep cute and heroic dog as her pet, dog turns out to be a genetically altered killing machine that wants to destroy girl's fiancée by peeing acid on his face. Hm, on second thought, it's not that common at all! In fact, with its absurdly ingenious plot, tongue-in-cheek humor and excessive gore, "Man's Best Friend" is one of the best horror movies of the overall disappointing 90s decade.

It's been approximately 25 years since I watched "Man's Best Friend" for the first and last time. I loved it instantly, but due to my youthful age at the time, I only had eyes for the virulent dog-attacks and thus never really realized that writer/director John Lafia delivered a pitch-black comedy. Lance Henriksen is exquisite as the mad scientist who turned an ordinary cuddly Tibetan Mastiff into the undefeatable and super-intelligent Max-3000. When TV anchor Ally Sheedy sets him free, she doesn't realize she activated a drooling time bomb.

Name any cliché involving dogs in the movies; - "Man's Best Friend" features it! Max runs after paperboys on bikes, chases kittens up trees, bites sadist dog abusers in the crotch, fools around with dog catchers and fanatically grabs arrogant mailmen by the throat. The difference with Max is that everything is just a tad bit ...bloodier! For the skeptical viewers who then still don't believe "Man's Best Friend" is a parody, just look at the sequence where our furry anti-hero Max spots a cute blond Lassie, and a cover of Paul Anka's "Puppy Love" spontaneously begins to play. Delicious!

Pretty Stupid

[gavin6942 · 5/10 · 1 July 2016]

A dog turns from man's best friend into man's worst nightmare as he attacks everything that moves.

John Lafia co-wrote the screenplay for "Child's Play" (1988). He went on to direct "Child's Play 2" (1990). These two hits under his belt, he was given directing duties on "Man's Best Friend". Unfortunately, third time was not the charm, because this amounts to a rather forgettable "killer dog" movie that cannot hold a candle to "Cujo".

Lance Henriksen is a great genre icon, and Ally Sheedy is one of the most under-appreciated actresses of the last thirty years. Unfortunately, they are both wasted because this film is just stupid. We might expect that from Henriksen, who has such a long list of credits you have to expect a few duds. But Sheedy has just had bad luck. This should have been better, just as "Only the Lonely" should have been better.

get this film

[ox2382 · 9/10 · 1 October 2006]

This film is great, its just a shame its so hard to get. its wickedly gory and some awesome ideas make this a classic. I'm a big horror fan and it takes a lot to please me, and believe me this film does it. Before i watched this i wanted a rot now i think i've changed my mind. This film is great and i think every one should see it, well adults anyway, this is definitely not for kids. some of the kill scenes are a bit far fetched but i think that adds to the fun. Ignore the others and listen to me you want this film. i only gave it a 9 because its so hard to get. Get this film it will make you laugh, cry, scream and go running for mommy.

Pure Doggie Do-Do

[strong-122-478885 · 1/10 · 20 September 2014]

Man's Best Friend is an utterly despicable Sci-Fi/Horror flick about a stinking, lousy, low-life TV News Reporter named Lori who, pretty much, stoops to anything (just as long as she can worm her way out of taking any blame for it, afterwards, if anything goes wrong) simply for the sake of getting a crummy, goddamn 'News' story out of whatever the hell it is.

Lori is such an arrogant, little witch (in constant search of a goddamn News story) that she actually has the bloody gall to break and enter onto private property (a genetic research facility) and then, once inside, she carelessly releases (from one of the many cages) the lab's most dangerous experiment : Max - a genetically enhanced guard dog with vicious killer instincts.

One of Max's most charming talents, as a super-canine, is that he can (get this) pee acid, of all things. This 'fascinating' ability of Max's to pee acid is used 3 times in this dismal flick to generate some much needed humour into its totally awful story.

But - Acid-Pee, like Acid-Blood, like Acid-Rain is not a laughing matter. And so it fails to generate anything but pure boredom, which, pretty much, just goes along with the rest of this flick.

Man's Best Friend is continually marred by - Terrible performances - Idiotic special effects - Revolting characters - And - Obnoxious children. This flick is truly one rotten movie-experience from its ridiculous start to its wimpy, sucky-baby finish.

Actor Lance Henriksen, as Dr. Jerrot of E-Max Research Labs, carries on in this flick like an utter moron. But, then again, so does everyone else carry on in the exact, same way, too.

*Special Note* - Please be very, very sure to put Man's Best Friend at the absolute top of your "Mustn't See" list. This one's a real 'doggie do-do' stinker! P.U. !!

With "best friends" like Max, who needs enemies??

Doggone it!

[lee_eisenberg · 7 October 2011]

"Man's Best Friend", about a genetically altered dog that kills any perceived threat, is pretty much what you'd expect. Ally Sheedy really chews the scenery as the reporter investigating cruelty to animals and inadvertently releasing the bloodthirsty pooch. But no matter, the movie still is pretty fun to watch, with the full understanding that it's basically a totally dumb flick. Lance Henriksen, playing the scientist who created the murderous hound, lets his face do the acting.

Like I said, it's mostly just a fun movie to watch. Definitely nothing special about it. Although I should admit that I'd never heard of a Tibetan mastiff until I read a description of the movie.

Bad Sci-Fi for your mind

[Balto-2 · 3/10 · 1 January 1999]

This is your basic something-gets-loose-and-kills-everyone movie. The acting is bad, the effects are bad and the music is bad. Why does composer Jerry Goldsmith do this to himself? The Sci-Fi concept in this movie is horrid and stupid. It makes no sense at trying to be real. The only thing that kept me watching this crude trash was to watch the cute looking dog perform tricks.

the worst

[eulchen5 · 1/10 · 16 October 2017]

This was on TV last night and I gave it a shot when I read Lance Henkrisen is a lead. Boy was I wrong to do so. This must have been one of the most stupid movies I have ever seen. What annoyed me the most was the totally incorrect show of dog behaviour, and no, I don't mean when that dog turned mutated bad, I mean before. The female lead acts outrageously stupid as well, keeping a really big dog she saw attacking her boyfriend and like it was nothing, naively giving it to be taken for a walk to a 6 year-old small boy. Great idea. This boy though and his friend are real ahoes and get the dog to chase and kill and eat a poor cat in the worst ever monster swallowing scene in film history. Oh yeah, and when mutant dog turns crazy he just kill for the sake of it, and no, not only the bad guys, also the postman who was just there at the wrong time.

It all ends with muti-dog being killed, his evil experimenting professor being electrocuted in another surreal stupid scene where another baby dog pulls the electrocuting trigger. Next scene, some months later, the female collie mutant dog impregnated has babies, they all look like collies but aha, there is one which looks like a Rottweiler mix. Yeah, that is not how genetics work in procreation.

Terrible story line, terrible special effects, the producers had absolutely no clue about dog behaviour whatsoever, and these kind of stupid movies do absolutely nothing for the already and wrongly bad reputation of wonderful breeds like the Rottweiler for example. So yeah, total trash, couldn't loathe it more.

I love horrible movies, and this is one of them

[satchelbrothers · 1/10 · 10 November 2021]

Would have given this a much higher score due to Ally Sheedy's incredibly bad acting, but her character (who caused all of the mayhem) deserved to be slowly and excruciatingly painfully maimed...

So many innocent people killed, except for the only one who truly deserved it.

Amusing one-joke black comedy...

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 25 January 2006]

Ambitious television reporter Ally Sheedy (spunky and looking terrific) does an unauthorized news piece on lab-animal conditions, inadvertently freeing a seemingly lovable mutt who is actually a ticking time bomb with a wagging tail! Critically-drubbed film (Entertainment Weekly still takes potshots at it) plays like a Disney movie on acid. It has a few gory scenes, but is actually a lot of fun. The script, while nothing spectacular, is quite sharp and morbidly funny, and the performances by Sheedy and Lance Henriksen are very good. A keen, entertaining sleeper which could become a cult item. **1/2 from ****

Good dog

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 17 October 2023]

John Lafia also made The Blue Iguana and co-wrote Child's Play and directed the sequel. He also made The Rats, the American made-for-TV movie adaptation of the books of James Herbert.

It starts with the death of Judy Sanders (Robin Frates), an employee of the EMAX genetic research facility. She has been talking to television personality and animal activist Lori Tanner (Ally Sheedy) about the abuse she's seen at her lab. Before Lori can get to their meeting, an animal under the control of the company's owner, Dr. Jarret (Lance Henriksen). Nonetheless, Lori and her camerawoman Annie (Trula M. Marcus) break in and free one of the dogs, Max.

Max becomes Lori's protector - he goes a bit far, chasing down and killing a mugger - and the nemesis of her boyfriend Perry (Fredric Lehne).

Jarret tells the cops that Max is a genetically altered dog that has the DNA of big cats, snakes, chameleons and birds of prey. He's also given to berserk freakouts, which means that he needs to be on drugs that he hasn't received in some time. Max is, however, super rad. He does all sorts of insane things like bite through Perry's brake lines, kill a mailman, eat a parakeet and make sweet love to a collie, knocking her up with the puppy that Lori will adopt when this is all over.

He also gets sold out because Perry wants her to get rid of him. She finds who she thinks is a kind junkyard guy (William Sanderson) but that weirdo is soon hitting Max with shovels and burning his face with a blowtorch. Max does what you hope he does. He decimates that guy and then comes back home to a new dog taking his place. He responds by pissing acidic urine all over Perry.

Max forgives Lori and comes to rescue her from Jarret, giving up his life in the process. I hate this. I am all for Max and none of the humans in this movie. He's a good boy all the way to the end, even if he does eat a cat.

Here doggy!

[gridoon · 7/10 · 31 October 2001]

Entertaining horror thriller that gets pretty gruesome at times, but maintains a humorous edge, which helps us overlook some of its less-than-believable moments. This could be billed as a "lighter" version of "Cujo", and it's so fast-paced that it goes by very quickly. Nothing great, but no dog, either (if you'll excuse the crude pun). (**1/2)

And they call it puppy love

[Bernie4444 · 5/10 · 26 December 2023]

Lori Tanner (Ally Sheedy) a mediocre reporter who dreams of big-time. She gets her big break as she sneaks into a laboratory that is accused of having animal cruelty. She unwittingly releases poor pitiful Max, a lab experiment hound, in her pursuit for justice and a great story.

Max returns the favor by protecting her from a mugger. They soon bond and Lori is oblivious to Max's potential for good or evil.

The fun part of the movie is that we get to see Max's potential for good or evil. The situation makes us cheer for Max and overlook his few foibles. We also suspect and look forward to our local authorities (Robert Costanzo, and John Cassini) becoming dog chow.

It was a nice touch having the comic relief of dog catchers in this presentation.

It's not the best film or the worst or the best story or the worst but it is worth watching.

Guilty pleasure of the highest order

[slayrrr666 · 8/10 · 1 November 2008]

"Man's Best Friend" is a decent enough killer dog film.

**SPOILERS**

Attempting to do a serious story, Lori Tanner, (Ally Sheedy) and her camerawoman Annie, (Trula M. Marcus) sneak into a testing facility and find a wealth of caged animals undergoing illegal treatments. Discovered by Dr. Jarrett, (Lance Henriksen) they flee the scene and inadvertently free a dog from the lab's testing area. Bonding with him despite what her boyfriend Perry, (Fredric Lehne) says, she refuses to part with him and decides to keep him. When he discovers what is missing, he goes after the dog when she realizes that he's a genetically-modified killer dog possessing the traits of several animal species mixed together into a perfect killing machine and is out on the loose, forcing them all to come together in a showdown to stop the dog's rampage.

The Good News: This one wasn't that bad and actually had some decent stuff to it. The fact that the silly premise is allowed to be so silly and entertaining is a true plus here. It's hard to really get more goofy than this premise, but the fact that the film never once feels dull or boring is a huge plus and is partly due to what all it includes within. The first issue is the attacks on display, which are really cool and really enjoyable. Though it's to be expected, the mailman encounter turns out incredibly well and satisfies due to the effective conclusion, the police chase away from the house is pretty thrilling, as it takes the place of a normal car chase complete with the crashing cars and the escape of the target away from them, and of course the encounter at the junkyard is great as it's a retribution murder that is nicely, and cruelly set-up well with the treatment of the dog that results in some admittedly-cool effects before the deadly resolution. The main one, though, is the sequence of attacks at the end, where it leads from a short but effective car chase to a cool crash and into a fun and incredibly tense stalking through the lab, and with the majority done through the dog's vision so that we're low to the ground, it adds a little more tension to it than it already has. The blood and gore isn't that spectacular, mostly concentrating on bites to tons of areas around the body, including the legs, crotch, throat and more, but there's also a decent-looking chest mauling, and a cool scene where it urinates acid on a guy's face and it melts away in a pretty nice effect, and it's an acceptable film in the gore department overall. The last good plus here is the fact that the film builds up to the dog's violent tendencies. It's going to be pretty obvious that the dog will be a raving maniac, but the way it's built up with the home-environment and it's different scenes showing off the dogs' abilities around the neighborhood illustrate the great build to how the killer's abilities come out. All of these here are what make the film enjoyable.

The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot here that didn't work. The main issue is that there's not a lot of time in here dealing with the dog actually going out and killing, which is the main thing that a film like this is built upon. The beginning to this, where he terrorizes the neighborhoods' animals, including an admittedly cool scene where it climbs to the top of a tree and devours a fleeing cat, are just not that interesting or exciting and are diverts away from the shots of the dog going after it's victims. The film also clearly has no idea of what it is talking about when it gets to genetic engineering. It seems to regard chameleon-like skin-changing ability and tree-climbing as instant abilities that one can just snip from another animal and graft onto dog genes, when it's widely known that the musculature in their legs renders them unable to use that particular trait, and with the relative size of the dog, becomes just plain impossible. The enhanced intelligence and strength bits were done right, but unfortunately genetically enhancing animals to turn them into chameleons is just taking it too far, as it's impossible believe the fact that a dog can blend into the background, especially when the background is a garage full of boxes and rusty metal. It really takes the viewer right out of the scene. The first flaw here is the love-scene on display. As a terrible, though appropriately titled love-song blares across the scene, the two dogs perform a pathetic people-pantomime sequence, such as looking shy while laying back in the bed or a ludicrous chase where she leads him into the bedroom, which is just overall atrocious. Then, as a neighbor woman searches for her cat, we hear the sonic resonance of her orgasm blaring through the neighborhood. It's just a totally unnecessary scene and serves just so as to provide something that makes the film's twist ending believable. These are what work against the film.

The Final Verdict: Even though it's not exactly a bad film, nothing of real importance sticks out enough for it to be anything more than watchable. Give this a shot if it appeals to you or you find these kinds of films interesting, otherwise this one isn't all to special and won't be a big thing if it's skipped.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and a clothed sex scene

A lab-bred monster dog is let loose.

[ltlacey · 7/10 · 10 February 2009]

Sometimes, a movie is so bad it's good. Anaconda, Lake Placid, and Man's Best Friend. Go figure. There was a book out eons ago that I read with the same title, and this story seems to be loosely based on the book. What we have is a mixed breed (sorry) between Cujo, Electric Dreams, and Short Circuit; the last 2 dealing with Sheedy's character. She seems to be repeating her performance in Short Circuit. Anyway, she's a reporter and she and her camera woman get into a secret lab to film the atrocities done against the animals inside. They come across Max, who is the most loving, and large, dog ever, and since he's smarter than anyone else (probably negotiated for more pay too since his performance was outstanding) he hops a ride with the girls and escapes from the evil clutches of the ever-popular mad scientist. Max then goes to live with Lori, but a boyfriend gets in the way. You see, Max loves Lori, and will do anything to stay with her. Of course we get to see Max in action, knowing what a brake line is, and of course the first time he sees Heidi. Though the music playing for any scene with Heidi (Puppy Love) was about as corny as it gets, the scene where Max closed the bedroom door, as Heidi tries to hide under a pillow, is pure Cary Grant. And then, of course, we have the rape of Heidi. How Heidi gets pregnant, since we do not think that she's in heat, plus the fact for some scenes it's kind of obvious that Max does not have all his "boy" parts, remains a mystery, but we let it go. We're all focused entirely on Max, the real star of this movie, and one of the best performances by a canine I have ever seen. Shoot. One of the best performances of a lot of human actors out there now. Try and find this one at your local movie rental place, or on Netflix. Well worth the watch.

I want that dog!

[Katie-33 · 13 October 1999]

I was highly disappointed to see that the dog who plays Max in this film is not credited anywhere on the IMDB page - and he was the best actor in the whole darn movie! The whole half-dog/half-human brain thing (at least I think that's what it was supposed to be) was pulled off incredibly well by this pooch. I mean, he had EXPRESSIONS! When he looked up at Ally Sheedy's boyfriend after he tried to slip him some spiked dog chow - that LOOK! GRRRR!!! It was great! That dog should get an Oscar! ;-)