Dogs (1976)

A pack of dogs go on a killing spree.

Director:

Burt Brinckerhoff

Writer:

O'Brian Tomalin

Stars:

David McCallum, Sandra McCabe, George Wyner

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David McCallum	...	Harlan Thompson
Sandra McCabe	...	Caroline Donoghue
George Wyner	...	Michael Fitzgerald
Eric Server	...	Jimmy Goodman
Linda Gray	...	Miss Engle
Dean Santoro	...	Aintry
Holly Harris	...	Mrs. Koppelman
Sterling Swanson	...	Dr. Martin Koppelman
Barry Greenberg	...	Howard Kaplan
Michael Davis	...	Nichols
Russ Grieve	...	Homer
Cathy Austin	...	Annie Watson
Paul Paolasso	...	Carl
Elizabeth Kerr	...	Mrs. Mary McDougal
Lance Hool	...	Robbie Pulaski

Storyline

On the quiet campus of the remotely-located SouthWestern University, something strange is happening. All of the dogs in the area, once loyal, gentle pets, are now banding together in wild packs and hunting down their former masters. Could the strange transformation have anything to do with the secret government experiements being conducted in the school's physics laboratory? More importantly, can the dogs be stopped before it's too late?

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Plot Keywords:

dog attack | dog | animal attack | shower | scientist | 

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Taglines:

Don't Pet Them ... Fear Them!

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

French English

Release Date:

1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Slaughter

Filming Locations:

San Diego, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mar Vista Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There was to be a sequel, appropriately entitled "Cats". But when "Dogs" failed at the box office, production was canceled.

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Connections

Referenced in Night of the Wild (2015)

User Reviews

Man's worst friend

Pheramones are responsible for transforming ordinary domestic pet dogs into a pack of wild beasts, roaming the countryside attacking anyone and anything in their path. Local university professor, alcoholic, playboy and dyed-in-the-wall cynic (McCallum, sporting a beatnik hairstyle and resembling Bill Oddie of "The Goodies") tag teams with new kid on the block Wyner to convince the local authorities that dogs are in fact responsible for the rash of brutal mutilations committed on both livestock, and the locals. Borrowing heavily from "Jaws", the stage is set for a hunt or perish climax where the pack hyper-excite their pheromones to dangerously high levels, and unleash hell on the residents, including sultry Linda Gray (top-billed on the dust cover, but only featuring in two scenes).

The only motif missing from McCallum's sage, neo-liberal, academic stereotype is the corduroy jacket with leather elbow patches. Not content to let the dogs do their own rampaging, Wyner's character helps them out, by managing to herd a bunch of students into a facility for safety, only for them to be torn to shreds by the marauding pack once inside. It's almost satirical, but then Wyner is more suited to comedy as his subsequent film career affirmed. After all the postulating, hypothesizing and gesticulating, the final fifteen minutes is a slaughter-fest, as the pack raid and pillage their way from one casualty to the next.

Aside from the frequent physics and social science dissertations delivered by the cast, the action sequences stand apart from other films of the ilk (perhaps with the exception of Robert Clouse's "The Pack"), even if the body count is unrealistically abundant; when McCallum and McCabe survey the damage late in the film, almost everyone in town appears to have been slain. And proving that filmmakers have a keen observation for potential in almost any situation, there's even a hint at a sequel. The film fades out on a somewhat docile looking ginger cat, expelling a yawn (audio overlaid by a fearsome growl), not too keen on the sequel idea.