Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

That was an excellent one.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Curtis Harrington directed this made-for-television horror movie about a group of Satan worshipers who get a dog, which eventually gives birth to a litter of puppies. One such puppy is taken in by a family and soon the husband (Richard Crenna) realizes that something isn't quite right with the dog. Before long his wife, daughter and son are possessed and strange things are happening around the neighborhood including murder.DEVIL DOG: THE HOUND OF HELL is a fairly entertaining movie, which could have been even better had it not ran for 95-minutes. The film really starts to drag towards the end and I couldn't help but think it would have been much better had it had a 75-minute running time. WIth that said, there's enough going on here to make it worth sitting through and especially if you enjoy these 70's television movies.I honestly thought the best part of the movie were the performances with Crenna delivers a very strong one as the father who starts to see everything around him fall apart.. Yvette Mimieux is also very good in the role of the wife and I especially liked how she played the possessed character. Both Kim Richards and Ike Eisenman are good in their roles as the children. As I said, everyone does a very good job playing "normal" as well as the possessed parts and this adds to the film's charm.The demonic dog is rather laughable but at the same time it looks just right for this type of 70's horror film. There's a nice music score and there's no doubt that Harrington delivers a well-made movie. One just wishes that the running time had been shorter or that the screenplay had gotten to the point of the dog a lot quicker. Still, DEVIL DOG: THE HOUND OF HELL is an entertaining movie.

Devil Dog, Hound of Hell- ReviewRichard Crenna really pulls this television movie together with his portrayal of a Husband/Father trying to save his family from the Devil Dog. The whole time I was watching this movie, I kept wondering why Richard Crenna looked so familiar. It turns out Richard Crenna played Colonel Trautman in the first three Rambo movies.As a quick synopsis this movie has what appears at first to be a simple plot: A family gets a new dog; the dog is evil; the dog mind controls the kids and wife and makes them worship the devil; and, then the father vanquishes the evil dog and saves his family.But is this really a movie about a Devil Dog? Or, does it contain a hidden M. Night Shyamalan-like twist, making this movie really about Richard Crenna's character's mid-life crisis, in which a man loses touch with and control over his family? This might seem like a bit of a stretch but bear with me and my analysis. The movie opens with Richard Crenna, who is a man working later and later hours at work and who drives home to discover that the beloved family dog has been run over. Later his kids unilaterally choose to bring a new dog into the household. His long serving house maid begs him to get rid of the new dog. The man ignores his house maid and she later dies. His friend/neighbor of 15 years begs him to get rid of the new dog. The man ignores his neighbor and the neighbor later dies. The man even contemplates hurting himself with a lawnmower while the dog watches.Later in the movie, Richard Crenna is working late again and his wife calls him and tells him that the kids are acting strange and begs him to come home. Richard Crenna ignores his wife (as he likely has ignored similar requests in the past). As a result he finds out that his kids have been changing under his nose, they have been having behavioral problems at school. His wife is changing under his nose, she becomes sexually promiscuous and tries seducing his friends. Later his wife and kids start living a "new life" without him. They spend all hours of the night engaging in weird paintings and activities. Richard Crenna blames the dog for his estrangement from his family and tries to get rid of the dog. His family screams that they hate the father/husband. Ultimately the family won't let him get rid of the dog.Richard Crenna fears that something is wrong with him so he seeks medical advice. Physically he is healthy, but he is diagnosed with potential mental problems. Richard Crenna rejects psychological help and tells his wife that there is nothing wrong with him and instead fixates on the "evil dog". Ultimately, Richard Crenna's mid-life crisis reaches its climax and he flees the country and sits out in the South American wilderness contemplating his problem and seeking help from a native spiritual adviser.Returning home to "face his demons", Richard Crenna encounters the Devil Dog. Richard Crenna says" I'll choose the location of our battle". The location he chooses is his work. The very place that he was spending too much time at, to the detriment of his family-life, is where he chooses to resolve his problem. It is there that Richard Crenna faces down the "evil dog"/mid-life crisis and in doing so makes it disappear. Having faced his demons, Richard Crenna returns home to find his loving family has missed him. The movie ends with this workaholic taking a vacation with his family. Finally Richard Crenna has given his family the time and attention that they deserve and as a result his mid/life crisis has ended. But before the movie ends, the son cautions Richard Crenna that there are other "devil dogs" out there. In other words, Richard Crenna may have other crisis to face, but hopefully in a more appropriate manner.So was there really ever a "Devil Dog" or was this just a manifestation of Richard Crenna's anxiety over losing touch with his family? An argument can be made that the "Devil Dog" does not directly on screen attack any other character in the movie. Nor does the movie explicitly demonstrate that the "Devil Dog" really has any special powers or abilities. All of the weird things that happen in the movie can be explained away as coincidence or hallucinations in Richard Crenna's sick mind.

A trio of satanists, led by a beautiful ex-Bond girl, buy a best-in-class mutt named Lady for their devilish breeding program. After a ludicrous sabbat with dubious acolytes mumbling their mistresses mumbo jumbo, the coven vacate the shed they are in and the evil one (literally, and thankfully off-screen) enters.Switch to the Barry family. Richard Crenna and Yvette Mimieux discover their dog Skipper has been the victim of a satanic hit and run. You know the satanists are responsible because a neighbour saw the BLACK station wagon responsible. Daughter Kim Richards is heartbroken and vows never to own another dog ever. Her resolve lasts all of 5 minutes as soon a fruit and vegetable selling satanist turns up with Lady (happily recovered from her ordeal) and her cute-as-buttons brood of hell hounds... And so the Devil's evil plan is set in motion.Lucky quickly dispatches by fire the Spanish maid who sees through his fluffy cuteness, and brainwashes the children. He then brutally murders next doors dog, then the neighbour himself.Despite its overall atmosphere of tedium, this film does have one effective scene and another which tips the beastliness over into bestiality. The former has the by-now-full- grown pooch mesmerise Crenna into almost jamming his fist into the whirring blades of a lawn mower, whilst the latter sees him lure Yvette into the bedroom (Lucky is well named). What happens in there is left to the imagination but afterwards she is transformed into a lusty slut only too willing to carry out her masters bidding.So there is plenty too laugh at for bad movie lovers, but sadly the second half of the film drags on its lead like an enthusiastic untrained 1 year old. Crenna consults a range of needless stock characters (a doctor, a supernatural bookshop owner and a ridiculous old shaman played by Victor Jory), all of whom could have been condensed into one, before eventually vanquishing his canine foe in an equally senseless encounter with sub par special effects in an abandoned factory.I seriously doubt whether this mixture of comedy devil worship and its entirely unthreatening doggy villain will raise anyone's hackles. Although I've given this a very low score, I have to admit that I quite enjoyed watching it, it just should have been about twenty minutes shorter.

After the family dog is squashed like a pancake in the road, the children are devastated. When the sister falls in love with Lucky on her birthday, a sweet puppy, the family takes him in... until sad and horrible things begin to happen that lead the husband to believe that the puppy might be a Pagan demon possessing his family and killing people.Okay, I'm not gonna lie, this film was pretty dorky... but come on, it's still pretty funny if you watch it without taking it too seriously. It has some eerie soundtrack that you've gotta give 'em credit for, half-decent acting and this doddering geek of a neighbor who gets into a fight over the family's new dog in a really funny display of anger. Watch it with an open mind, it might not be as bad as you think.