White Fang (1975)

Very well executed

hyped garbage

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The words 'Lucio Fulci' and 'children's film' aren't what you would regularly see very often, and when you add 'animals' to that, alarms bells start ringing. Now, Fulci doesn't really register on the old Italian Film Directors Who Kill Animals For Their Films List, unlike Umberto Lenzi, Ruggero Deodato, Sergio Martino and Antonio Margherriti, but these White Fang films, of which he made two, sail close to the wind. However, I'm also of the opinion that, judging by the above examples, if an Italian director did go out of their way to film an animal being hurt, they would include that in the film, and that does not happen here. That's a long way of saying that you could probably watch these films guilt free, although this supposedly family-orientated film does start with a bunch of dogs eating a deer carcass. Thus begins Fulci's take on the classic Jack London novel about a dog who is a wolf/dog or something who never stops barking. It takes place in the Klondike in Canada during the gold rush, where a bunch of prospectors live in the mining town of Dawson, run by villain Beauty Smith (John Steiner, the best thing in the film). These unheeding miners are being ripped off by Beauty, who also runs the local bar, and keeps the alcoholic priest (Fernando Rey) in place so that no fully functioning minister can expose his nefarious actions. Beauty therefore is miffed when a government man turns up to set up a mining commission, who also brings along writer Scot (Franco Nero), a man with principles who immediately finds himself up against Beauty, as well as giving a few of Beauty's men a sock on the jaw. A nun also arrives in town to set up a hospital, and add to that the Inuit fella who not only brings his sick son into town, but also seems to have a very protective dog, White Fang, who takes an instant dislike to Beauty's dog Satan. There's a lot of characters to follow and a lot of plot threads, but most of it revolves around either Beauty or White Fang, so that's not too bad. Basically, a group of folk start to gather against Beauty and usually White Fang steps in to sort things out. This being a children's film, naturally this involves characters being stabbed in the gut, or White Fang either fighting a dog, or being forced to fight a bear! This film is PG, apparently! I think he killed someone as well, come to think of it.The set design is rather outstanding for this one, so there must have been a bit of money behind the scenes for a change, as Fulci uses every chance he has to sweep the camera across the town of Dawson and the various crowds. It gives the film an epic feel and really helps bring the cold atmosphere of Canada to life. The main attraction here is John Steiner as Beauty Smith. He's so evil he even has a pencil-moustache, although he doesn't twirl it. He's snidey, snobby, sneery, hates everything, makes passes at women, double-crosses everybody he encounters and only shows the barest of humanity when he accidentally kills someone. It's a hard call to outdo Franco Nero onscreen but Steiner does it effortlessly. Although Nero kind of gets sidelined with all the sub plots to be honest.My son watched about two minutes of it (and of course he walked in on White Fang fighting Satan) and was disturbed by it. The two animal fights are bad enough (although it's obvious in the bear fight that someone in a bear suit was involved to a certain extent), but the knifing of someone in the guts would be too much to handle for most kids. If Fulci complained so much about being pigeonholed as a horror director, why do so many of his non-horror films end up in that category anyway? So, to sum up, I have no idea whether I liked this or not. Therefore I give it a seven, just like every other film I review.

When you're looking for someone to direct a family adventure film in the style of Lassie then the name of splatter icon Lucio Fulci doesn't exactly spring to mind. Nonethless, Fulci was on hand (at an early stage in his career and before he became typecast as a horror director) to direct this expensive-looking and glossy family film which is a successful cross between spaghetti western motifs and the more traditional family adventure, with the heroic dog of the title (so called because he's half wolf, and thus has gleaming white fangs) rescuing small Eskimo boys who have fallen into the ice and biting the arms of the bad guys. The reason this works is because it looks so good; a crisp, colourful and sometimes beautiful movie that makes as good a use of its lush locales as Fulci's DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING did. Complimented by quality sets, a fine cast, and fast pacing, WHITE FANG is one of the director's superior movies and a delight to watch.Fulci's later penchant for extreme gore and violence is in evidence here in bits and pieces, violent scenes which are surprising for a kid's movie. Men are stabbed, shot and bloodily mauled, and there are also a couple of real-life animal fights between two dogs (and later a dog and a bear) which definitely weren't faked and are pretty hard to take in some ways - unsuspecting parents be warned. The script is strong and focuses on characters over action, making this a people-orientated drama and therefore stronger than most. In fact, despite a few minor interludes and the excellent finale involving an exploding dam, there isn't all that much action here, at least not action in the traditional sense - there's only one fist-fight for instance. Exciting sequences are highlighted by a strong stirring score and good camera work, with none of the eyeball close-ups which later distinguished the director's work.There's an ensemble cast rather than one lead here, so although Franco Nero gets top billing he doesn't play that pivotal a role. He's a journalist who comes to blows with the wicked villain Beauty Smith, but he doesn't really get to do much in the action stakes which is a shame (all of the dangerous stunts and fights are left to the dog, which is easily as likable as Lassie and even dragged a few tears from these hardened eyes during a moment in which we're led to believe White Fang is no more). Still, Nero's presence is a pleasure and he would go on to return in the sequel, A CHALLENGE TO WHITE FANG, reuniting the director and much of the same cast. Next up are the two female characters, Virna Lisi who gives some authenticity to the performance of the charitable nun Sister Evangelina; and Carole Andre who has the young romantic interest part.Stealing most of his scenes is the underrated John Steiner, here excelling as the incredibly slimy villain of the piece with a fine taste in clothing, an impeccable accent, and long floppy hair. Exuding charm and menace wherever he goes, Steiner is one of those villains you love to hate and his performance here is another in a long line of solid, rewarding turns. The rest of the cast perform well, with familiar faces like Rik Battaglia turning up in supporting roles, and even Missaele, playing the Eskimo Boy, isn't too grating although thankfully he isn't required to do much to further the plot along and therefore the camera doesn't focus on his character too closely. Mainstream film fans will no doubt enjoy WHITE FANG as being a well-made, if rather violent, family adventure yarn which the kids will no doubt like whilst fans of Italian cult cinema ought to watch it to see the cast and director star in a film a little different from, but no less appealing than, their normal fare. Recommended.

White Fang (1973)*** (out of 4)Jack London's classic story is brought to the screen in a rather good adaptation from director Lucio Fulci. Most people know Fulci for his graphic horror films starting with ZOMBIE and continuing throughout the 1980s. A lot of people seem to forget that he also directed comedies, action films, Westerns, giallos and even family movies.WHITE FANG is certainly a family movie, although there are enough dark spots to where even the adults are going to be entertained. We have Franco Nero playing the good guy who befriends White Fang and an orphan Indian boy. John Steiner plays the villain who also wants the dog but for a different set of reasons. Then there's Fernando Rey as Father Oatley and Vima Lisi plays Sister Evangelina.I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed this film. The cinematography is quite good and there's no question that you really do feel as if you're in the Alaskian wilderness, although the opening scenes with White Fang in the trap were obviously filmed on a set. The performances are very good and we're also given a good amount of action throughout the picture. There are some dog fights that are pretty violent but they're also quite intense and well-done.Fulci proves here that he was able to do more than just throw graphic violence and gore at the screen. The film certainly contains some flaws but for the most part it's a very entertaining movie.

The story has little to do with Jack London's original novel. I thought the acting was very unnatural, the dubbing was done very sloppily and the story itself contains a fairly large number of inconsistencies and loose ends. Apart from that, the pace of the movie was horrendously slow at some parts.