Sam Fuller received an unexpected 11th hour offer to make a studio picture when Paramount came a calling - they were looking to rush some films into production before a writers strike and Fuller had come champions among the baby boomers on staff.
It's an interesting story, like most Fuller movies are, with a terrific central idea - a dog knocked over by Kristy McNichol saves her from rape and then is revealed to be a white dog, i.e. a dog trained to attack black people. Despite this idea the film struggled with accusations of racism, which would've confused Fuller who had a long distinguished record of tackling race head on.
McNichol is a little flat compared to other Fuller protagonists - maybe because she wasn't a stripper, journalist or soldier... she's an actor, and Fuller presumably knew a lot of them, but she's passive. I guess that's the role. Paul Winfield is excellent as the dog trainer determined to de-racist-ise the dog... even though it kills a fellow black (a moving scene because the poor guy did deserve it, he was simply walking in the wrong place at the wrong time).
The character played by Jameson Parker, McNichol's boyfriend, is pointless - I kept expecting him to be killed but he sort of appears and leaves, never to return. The character of the person who owned the dog is under-utilised - he appears in one scene, it's a good one (a "kindly" old man with his two little granddaughters, a great creepy touch) but I wanted more - that should've been the third act.
You can feel the handcuffs on Fuller slightly and it needs another act but it remains a compelling work. Burl Ives offers support.
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