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Mans Best Friend (1993) - John Lafia


Mans Best Friend is a horror (comedy?) movie that is filled with uber-ridiculousness from beginning to end. The movie has a 90's made-for-tv kind of feel to it with campy humor and bad graphics. The film is trying to be original and succeeds in its quest. I haven't seen a good dog-horror film since Cujo, but this movie is no Cujo.

The movie is about a dog that is "rescued" from a laboratory by two young twenty somethings that have something to prove to the world. This dog however isn't a big old cuddly doggy with rivers of slobber and a love that knows no boundaries. Nope, roll over Beethoven, this dog is a killing machine... literally. This dog has tons of genetically modified traits like expendable claws for climbing trees. Understands basic English and also understands the components of an Auto-mobile. This dog has metal eyes that probably do something cool, but the movie ran out of money. The dog can run upwards of 75 miles per hour. Finally, this dog pees pure acid.



Overall, this movie is horrible. The acting is terrible, the production, writing, set design, and the Acting. This movie is just plain terrible. I mean the biggest actor in the film is Lance Henriksen. Come on! However, there is something that makes me want to watch this movie over and over again. I think it's the nostalgia factor. I haven't really talked about 90's horror movies too much, and I don't think I've given them a fair shake. I really like the 90's feel to this movie, it makes me feel like I am watching an Alex Mack episode. I liked that show...

The movie really presses the issue of animal cruelty and if this movie ever saw a screening, i bet it was swamped with Sarah Mclachlan supporters that picketed... Well... probably not. This movie is pretty non-threatening and it is obvious that the animals harmed on screen are crude reproductions of what animals are supposed to look like. That and this movie is so far fetched (pun intended) that it doesn't matter when Lassie goes down.

Director: John Lafia
Country: USA
Style: Mad Scientist Creature Horror


Did ya know...
They used puppets and early CGI to create the killer Max. Max is a Tibetan Mastiff


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