Too many fans seem to be blown away

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Story in a nutshell. Girl finds dog. Girl bonds with dog. Girl learns to her horror that dog has been trained to kill black people. Girl finds a black dog trainer who attempts to deprogram dog from killing black people. During his deprogramming, dog escapes from his pen and kills a black man inside a church. Black trainer finds dog and instead of killing it or letting the authorities handle it, takes it back and continues with the deprogramming. Trainer finally believes he has succeeded and calls girl to come and see how far dog has come along. Success! Dog no longer wants to kill black people. Now dog wants to kill fat old Burl Ives'-looking white men. Trainer shoots dog. Dog dies. Why does this movie have seven stars?

Deemed too controversial by Paramount in 1982, Samuel Fuller's bare- knuckled study of the psychology of racism went virtually unseen for over two decades, playing sporadically at film festivals and private screenings until Criterion remastered and re-released it on DVD in 2008. Fuller was understandably devastated and perplexed by the decision, as it was incredibly well received in the countries that actually saw a limited released, but it was made in a time when serious and unblinking social commentary was favoured less than greased-up man-mountains wielding dual machine guns.From the very start, Fuller's movie is an exercise in resourceful simplicity, as young actress Julie Sawyer (Kristy McNichol) hits a white German Shepherd with her car, and takes the injured and seemingly innocent animal to the vets for a check-up. The dog's ferocity rears its head early on, as it takes down a rapist that breaks in Julie's house and restrains him until the police arrive. Its eagerness to attack is interpreted as protection of its owner, but when the hound starts savagely attacking black people, it soon becomes clear that this is no ordinary dog. Despite her boyfriend's pleas to put it down before it kills somebody, Julie believes that it can be cured of the affliction it was taught from a young age.The first third of the movie plays out like exploitation with the subtlest of satire running through the story, almost like the type of movie Larry Cohen used to make only without a flying serpent or mutant baby. The attacks are brutal and well-made despite its low budget, and the movie proceeds almost like a slasher (gnasher?) as the beast bares its teeth with its coat festooned with blood. The animal is truly terrifying, and makes for a chilling movie 'monster'. Yet you see a glimmer of redemption in those sad eyes, and Julie does too, taking it to animal trainer Carruthers (Burl Ives) who, like everybody else, warns her to kill the beast before it kills somebody. One of his workers, dog trainer Keys (Paul Winfield), recognises it as a 'white dog' - one conditioned from a pup to hate black people.It is a this point that White Dog becomes an enthralling and intelligent expose of racism, posing far more questions that it quite wisely fails to answer. The pure hatred bred into the animal rings true with humans; the kind of ignorant, confused and misdirected fury so prevalent in America. The film also asks whether or not this kind of conditioning is curable. Keys certainly tries, exposing more and more of his black skin to the dog as they gradually form a bond, but the German Shepherd remains unpredictable, managing one night to escape its confines and commit an act of pure savagery in the holiest of locations. The film highly suggests that you may remove the racism, but the hatred will remain, and it's a sobering thought. This is blunt, unflinching B-movie film-making that will have you on the edge of your seat as you watch, and reflect heavily on its themes afterwards.

A weird, ragged, angry film about racism from the directorial mind of Samuel Fuller.Fuller is one of my faves, but this movie isn't one of his best. The premise is fascinating: the story of a dog that's been trained to only attack black people argues that man and dog have much in common -- people learn racism, they're not born with it, but once they have learned it, can it ever be trained out of them? The answer in the movie isn't exactly "no" and it isn't exactly "yes" either; it's more like "maybe," but if so we'll just be screwed up in some other way. As with any Fuller film, "White Dog" asks interesting questions, but unlike other Fuller films, the execution in this one undermines its power. For starters, Kristy McNichol is not up to the acting task given her; in fact, she's quite terrible, and not a single line she delivers or emotion she conveys feels authentic. The film also suffers from weak editing, pacing, and writing. The screenplay is lazy, asking us to accept story developments that serve the plot but don't make logical sense.Overall, "White Dog" feels like a movie that was made by someone who still has compelling stories in his head but has lost the energy to tell them.Grade: B-

Without any reservations about the subject matter, White Dog explores conditioning and re- conditioning of racism. It is about how racism can come about, and how it can be defeated. It is incredibly thrilling, perhaps the best use of an animal in any piece of cinema I have ever seen (and that includes CGI animals).Samuel Fuller had an interesting and new take on racism and how it can be handled. He wanted to investigate how racism can be tackled in a different way, through understanding and care. The racist just so happens to be a dog, who has been conditioned to attack black people at sight. In an attempt to recondition the dog, its trainers and owner goes through great length to hide their questionable efforts from the community around them.Another theme presented in the movie, which has already been hinted at, is the sacrifices people make in their attempts to achieve something greater. It shows how obsession can make a person lose sight of what he/she originally intended. Samuel Fuller's background as a crime reporter definitely shows in White Dog, which depicts animal attacks that makes the Discovery Channel pale in comparison. The use of graphic imagery of attacks and aggression seen in the dog makes the viewer fearful of what might happen at any moment.But sadly, there are many moments which clearly states that it is a B-movie, and therefore it is not as good as it could have been. There is nothing like a very cheesy moment to set you back from the actual intention of the piece itself. The ambiguous ending also causes a lot of people to miss out on the meaningful message at the very end, which I encourage everyone to find and think about.Overall the movie is very rewarding. The movie also makes one wonder why the movie never was given a chance in theaters, and why Samuel Fuller had to 'flee' the country after it was made. Without a doubt the movie is anti-racist, but I guess that is not how it was received...