Entry 85: Devil Dog-the Hound of Hell (1978)

Devil Dog-the Hound of Hell (1978)

Dir: Curtis Harrington

 

 Revolt-of-nature/killer animal movies, demonic possession movies and real-life "satanic panic" were all big in the 70's, but I can think of only one movie that tossed all three into a blender and added the legendary Richard goddamn Crenna (First Blood, Leviathan) to boot...join me down in the Basement as I attempt to tame Devil Dog-the Hound of Hell!

So, stop me if you've heard this one...A group of suburban satanists purchase a German Shepard and place her in the middle of a satanic ritual (complete with red candles, howl-inducing "sinister" purple bathrobes and sunglasses and an oil painting of Old Scratch himself).  Over the main credits, the bitch gives birth to a litter of pups, each one apparently imbued with satanic power!  Meanwhile, Richard Crenna's family dog buys it in a hit-and-run and, despite his daughter(Kim Richards, The Car, Black Snake Moan)'s awesomely overwrought protestations ("If something happened to me, would you just get another daughter?!"), Crenna resolves to replace the corpsified canine.  R.G. Armstrong (Children of the Corn, Predator) shows up as a traveling fruit salesman (!), who is actually one of the satanists in disguise!  His mission?  To disperse the cursed canines (born in the intro) to as many suburban homes as possible!  As luck would have it, one of the pups ends up with Crenna, and soon strange things begin to occur while the pup is nearby-Crenna's loving daughter turns into a total cunt, dishes fly off the table and break with no provocation, our hero almost loses a hand to an errant lawnmower blade and, in one sanity-doubting sequence, the cute lil' pooch's eyes glow red while ominous music plays and he makes the Catholic housekeeper BURST INTO FUCKING FLAMES!  As the devil dog becomes increasingly encroached in the home, Crenna's wife (Yvette Mimieux, Snowbeast, The Black Hole) begins an affair, his children become aloof and distant and anyone who tries to interfere in their lives turns up dead.  Well, if you think the man who trained John Rambo to both survive and become war is going to take this bullshit laying down, you've got another thing coming.  Once our hero discovers evidence of satanic rituals happening in his attic, he heads out into the desert to shoot the possessed puppy, but the beast mystically dodges every shot.  After consulting with mediums of various (and ridiculously stereotyped) ethnicities, Crenna prepares a good supply of body bags and heads into an abandoned warehouse to confront the dog, who's grown into a (ridiculous) dinosaur-like monster.

Devil Dog-the Hound of Hell started with a goofy conceit rendered ridiculous by focusing too long on a cute puppy as the agent of ultimate evil, casting a particularly dopey-looking German Shepard as the adult dog (he actually looks a good deal like my own Shepard, Sheriff; he's a good boy, but likely the least intimidating large dog you'll ever meet) and visual effects on the level of a mediocre episode of The Incredible Hulk.  I had fond memories of watching this TV movie as part of the regular TBS rotation in my youth in the late 80s, but it doesn't really hold up.  Crenna and Mimieux give better performances than the film deserves.  It might make for fun viewing for problem-dog owners...