Man's Best Friend (1993)

Load of rubbish!!

Fresh and Exciting

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

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.

i couldn't say more...this is a good horror movie actually,but i wonder why this movie is only given a 4.6 stars out of 10, why?? actually it deserves more than 6! Come on...this is a B movie, what more we can aspect?? The acting is quite good, especially Lance Henriksen. He is the only reason why i bought this movie. Ally Sheedy is not that good... but i think she's still OK in this movie. Not bad after all. The best part of this movie is The scene where the dog swallowed that little kitten. It looks very scary and funny a little bit. I really love this movie! So, i guess i'm the only one who's giving this a 10 out of 10 stars isn't it?? People might wonder why i give this 10 right?? I'll tell you why.. i'm just giving this movie a chance..cause this movie deserves higher rating than 4.6, maybe 6 and above to me. People are voting high ratings for the matrix and batman the dark night which i think was very very bad and stupid! Man's Best Friend is far much much more better than those! Give this movie a chance..plizzz....10/10**

okay horror flick but nothing special that could have been a lot better if it wasn't for the uneven pacing and bland dog attacks the script isn't bad and it has some decent ideas but it' just isn't that thrilling. The acting is good Ally Sheedy is excellent here she's cute vulnerable and looks great with tears in her eyes Lance Henriksen is his usual solid self and delivers a good performance still i wish he would pick better projects Robert Costanzo is a disgrace to the acting profession (in my opinion) and i just wanted to beat him! Fredric Lehne is annoying and amusing at the same time he has his moments but he is off and on there SPOILERS!!!!! is a funny moment when the dog puts the steak tar tar in the toilet and flushes it overall nothing special what so ever only worth a watch if your really bored ** out of 5

I remember there was a huge advertising blitz when this film his theaters in the fall of 1993. They tried to make it out like it was the most terrifying American horror movie since The Exorcist. I saw an edited version on tv and rented the video last night. Its an enjoyable film, but it really isn't scary at all! In fact its unintentionally funny in many places, especially with the dumb cops trying to find this killer dog. The two kids in this film are really cute, especially the one who teaches the parrot to curse. Lance Henricksen is a fine character actor (he was the villian in Johnny Handsome and a wonderful Abraham Lincoln in The Day Lincoln Was Shot), he plays a stereotypical "mad scientist" and does a wonderfully hammy job. Ally Sheedy is no Katherine Hepburn, but I think she is a much better actress then given credit for. She was unfairly stereotyped as a "Brat Packer". She gives a good performance in this film as an airhead reporter who breaks out this killer dog. My favorite scene is the one where the dog chases that cat and swallows it whole, I love the expression on the kid's faces! There is also a funny scene where the dog sees an attractive female dog and-well watch the film and see. What makes this a better film is the fact the director does not use a lot of gory special effects, I wish a lot of these slasher film makers would take heed. A lot of the PETA crowd will probably be offended by this film, but its a nice way to waste 90 minutes. By the way, I knew before I even saw this film that they would HAVE to include a scene involving a very unlucky mail carrier and they do.